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

GP49000 · 15th Nov 2012, 8:59 pm

Thanks to those who posted the kind words about the Garrard information and pictures posted thus far. I agree with Sue that this kind of thing needs to be preserved for future reference; so much has already been forgotten since Garrard in Swindon shut down. Precious little appears to have been saved in the way of archives from the company's past, and about the history of Garrard's products. Perhaps this is because not only is Garrard itself no more, but the corporate entity that was Plessey was bought up and dissolved, too. Or perhaps Gradiente has saved something of Garrard's heritage? Considering it would have had to be moved to Brazil, I would not be hopeful.

One member has referred a Garrard that was overlooked. It is a version of the Autoslim Belt Drive, with manual record size selector like the SP25 Mk V, 125SB and 35SB; instead of their S-shaped arms it has a fully counterbalanced, straight tonearm resembling that of the SP25 Mk IV and with its 60 Mk II-style pivot housing and tracking weight adjuster, but with a different, fixed headshell, lacking provision for a removable cartridge mount. It is claimed to have been in a Garrard-branded GA150 stereo music centre; reference to that model shows it used an Audio-Technica magnetic cartridge, which would have required a high-quality tonearm. See photo, below.

ANYONE who has further reports about Garrard models that we haven't discussed, please contribute! While I know little or nothing about the inner workings and details of Garrards prior to the 1953-era RC80, I have collected a modest number of photographs of the earlier models, and plan to post them later. Anyone with personal knowledge of these earlier models could be very helpful!

Garrard "Belt Drive" from Garrard GA150 stereo music centre:

15th Nov 2012, 8:59 pm	#61
GP49000 Hexode Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sonoma County, California, USA. Posts: 405	Re: Garrard record player deck identification. Thanks to those who posted the kind words about the Garrard information and pictures posted thus far. I agree with Sue that this kind of thing needs to be preserved for future reference; so much has already been forgotten since Garrard in Swindon shut down. Precious little appears to have been saved in the way of archives from the company's past, and about the history of Garrard's products. Perhaps this is because not only is Garrard itself no more, but the corporate entity that was Plessey was bought up and dissolved, too. Or perhaps Gradiente has saved something of Garrard's heritage? Considering it would have had to be moved to Brazil, I would not be hopeful. One member has referred a Garrard that was overlooked. It is a version of the Autoslim Belt Drive, with manual record size selector like the SP25 Mk V, 125SB and 35SB; instead of their S-shaped arms it has a fully counterbalanced, straight tonearm resembling that of the SP25 Mk IV and with its 60 Mk II-style pivot housing and tracking weight adjuster, but with a different, fixed headshell, lacking provision for a removable cartridge mount. It is claimed to have been in a Garrard-branded GA150 stereo music centre; reference to that model shows it used an Audio-Technica magnetic cartridge, which would have required a high-quality tonearm. See photo, below. ANYONE who has further reports about Garrard models that we haven't discussed, please contribute! While I know little or nothing about the inner workings and details of Garrards prior to the 1953-era RC80, I have collected a modest number of photographs of the earlier models, and plan to post them later. Anyone with personal knowledge of these earlier models could be very helpful! Garrard "Belt Drive" from Garrard GA150 stereo music centre: Attached Thumbnails