UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Garrard record player deck identification.

GP49000 · 17th Dec 2012, 8:38 am

Single play Unimechs

There were relatively few single play Unimech models in the first two or three years of production. In the marketplace, they had to contend with not only competitor's models, but with the Autoslim-derived single play models from Garrard itself, the SP25 series. The contemporary SP25 models had heavy, nonmagnetic platters, better-tracking tonearms and smoother-operating controls, and besides all that, the SP25 models had made a name for themselves. The single-play Unimechs sold poorly, with only the 6-200CP having some success, probably because of its price, substantially lower than that of the SP25 models. Photos of any but the 6-200CP are scarce.

Like the SP25 models, all could play a single record automatically, would repeat the record if the user pushed the operating control to AUTO, and at the end of a record would lift and return the arm, and shut off.

The 6-300P was a 6-300 lacking record changing facility, supplied without multiple-play spindle and lacking the overarm and the supporting structure associated with it. It had fluid-damped cueing and antiskating adjusted by a knob.

The 6-200CP was a 6-200C lacking record changing facility, multiple-play spindle and overarm. It had non-damped cueing and no antiskating.

The 63SP was an upgraded model with a dynamically balanced, counterweight-adjusted tonearm having needle pivots for vertical motion, a downward-pulling tracking weight spring adjustable with a convenient knob, and a tracking weight scale calibrated in grams. Its antiskating was controlled by a lever, but there was only a single scale calibration. Cueing was viscous-damped. Even this model had the same stamped steel platter as the lower-priced models, and could not be used with cartridges having a strong external magnetic field, though by this time that meant only the Decca London cartridges, which were far more expensive than the deck itself.

Photos:

6-200CP in carrying case
6-200CP in plinth
6-200CP overhead view
6-200CP tonearm head and control panel. Note different GARRARD lettering.
63SP sales brochure

17th Dec 2012, 8:38 am	#85
GP49000 Hexode Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sonoma County, California, USA. Posts: 405	Re: Garrard record player deck identification. Single play Unimechs There were relatively few single play Unimech models in the first two or three years of production. In the marketplace, they had to contend with not only competitor's models, but with the Autoslim-derived single play models from Garrard itself, the SP25 series. The contemporary SP25 models had heavy, nonmagnetic platters, better-tracking tonearms and smoother-operating controls, and besides all that, the SP25 models had made a name for themselves. The single-play Unimechs sold poorly, with only the 6-200CP having some success, probably because of its price, substantially lower than that of the SP25 models. Photos of any but the 6-200CP are scarce. Like the SP25 models, all could play a single record automatically, would repeat the record if the user pushed the operating control to AUTO, and at the end of a record would lift and return the arm, and shut off. The 6-300P was a 6-300 lacking record changing facility, supplied without multiple-play spindle and lacking the overarm and the supporting structure associated with it. It had fluid-damped cueing and antiskating adjusted by a knob. The 6-200CP was a 6-200C lacking record changing facility, multiple-play spindle and overarm. It had non-damped cueing and no antiskating. The 63SP was an upgraded model with a dynamically balanced, counterweight-adjusted tonearm having needle pivots for vertical motion, a downward-pulling tracking weight spring adjustable with a convenient knob, and a tracking weight scale calibrated in grams. Its antiskating was controlled by a lever, but there was only a single scale calibration. Cueing was viscous-damped. Even this model had the same stamped steel platter as the lower-priced models, and could not be used with cartridges having a strong external magnetic field, though by this time that meant only the Decca London cartridges, which were far more expensive than the deck itself. Photos: 6-200CP in carrying case 6-200CP in plinth 6-200CP overhead view 6-200CP tonearm head and control panel. Note different GARRARD lettering. 63SP sales brochure Attached Thumbnails Last edited by GP49000; 17th Dec 2012 at 8:46 am.