Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

mmmonkeyman · 27th Feb 2018, 10:54 pm

Hey folks. I've been searching around for info on a Garrard A.C.6 and this seems to be the place with all the info!

Picked this up today - just couldn't resist the look of it. The motor and mechanism work fine but there's no needle so can't check the output.

A few questions about though...

1. Any idea what type or where I can find a needle.
2. Can this connect to a normal hifi amp via a phono input?
3. Does any one have any idea where this originally came from? The box is too well made to have been knocked up someones garage. It has pressed panels and the holes look punched. It must have been somewhere where they needed robust equipment that got moved around.

Any info on it would be greatly appreciated as I've never seen anything like it before

'LIVEWIRE?' · 27th Feb 2018, 11:41 pm

If, as I suspect, this uses the traditional steel needle, these can be obtained fromwww.gramophones.me, or maybe one of the other suppliers listed on this site. You are aware, I take it, that the A.C.6 can only play 78RPM records? AFAIK, the output from those early magnetic pickups will not work well, if at all, when connected to the 'Phono' input of an amplifier. They were designed to match the 'gram' input of valve radios. The input impedance and sensitivity of those mono circuits is different to the 47kohm input of a magnetic cartridge preamplifier in a more modern stereo amplifier.

RojDW48 · 28th Feb 2018, 1:34 am

Margolin (later Dansette) made a wooden version of that kind of slide-out record deck. The tonearm/cartridge takes a standard wind up gramophone needle. The rubber suspension inside the cart (which allows the needle to waggle the armature to create an electronic signal) is almost certainly rock solid by now! They are revivable - I had lots of help from members of this forum with a similar player. I shall track the thread down and post a link to it.

Techman · 28th Feb 2018, 1:39 am

You'll need to buy needles in the hundreds as they have to be replaced after every one or two record sides. The pickup, like all the surviving examples like this will need re-building as the internal rubber parts will have gone rock hard with age which will cause it to have very little output and also carve up your valuable 78 rpm records, thus ruining them.

It's an interesting and unusual unit being in a portable metal case and is likely to have been designed as an early example of a travelling DJ deck. Don't forget to check the electrical safety of this unit, particularly the earthing with it being at least 70 years old, in an all metal case and running on mains electricity!

Edit to say - post crossed with Roger with regards to the hardened rubber suspension in the pickup head.

paulsherwin · 28th Feb 2018, 1:43 am

It could have been designed for use with a PA amp at events like race meetings or village fetes.

Decks like these aren't very practical today, even if you just want to play 78s.

Techman · 28th Feb 2018, 1:49 am

Yes, it looks like the sort of thing Grampian would have made to go with one of their PA amps with metal casing, series valve heaters and AC/DC operation.

RojDW48 · 28th Feb 2018, 2:11 am

Here's the thread - quite long but lots of useful detail - https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=121284

mmmonkeyman · 28th Feb 2018, 10:30 am

Thank you very much for all the input. It's always good to find a forum with members like you

It is more of a curiosity piece than anything so not an issue should it be irreparable.

I find it difficult not to fix things though (a bit OCD I think) so will likely have a go at it at some point. Will have a read through that needle post - thanks RojDW48.

In the meantime (and likely forever more) it will remain a conversation piece...

Edward Huggins · 28th Feb 2018, 12:11 pm

This may have been made by Pamphonic as there was a matching cased amplifier c.1947.

Audio1950 · 28th Feb 2018, 12:12 pm

To save you buying a load of needles just to experiment with, if you send me a PM with your name and address, I'll happily pop a dozen or so in the post.

Barry

Bookman · 28th Feb 2018, 4:17 pm

I have an identical unit in quite good condition that is awaiting attention. Its a PAM.

mmmonkeyman · 28th Feb 2018, 7:05 pm

Excellent!! So all I need to find are the matching speakers and amplifier!

Here's a link to the PDF at pamphonic.co.uk - http://www.pamphonic.co.uk/014_Pam_-_let_music_make_yours.PDF

I guess working amps are as hard to find as the record player?

Nickthedentist · 28th Feb 2018, 9:44 pm

Amazing!

That website is run by Jeremy, who's a member of this forum too.

Mods... could you add Pam to the thread title?

Nickthedentist · 28th Feb 2018, 9:45 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmmonkeyman

Excellent!! So all I need to find are the matching speakers and amplifier! [/URL]

I guess working amps are as hard to find as the record player?

See here: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=133060

mmmonkeyman · 28th Feb 2018, 10:29 pm

I'd give them £20 for it just to make up the set - working or not

Station X · 1st Mar 2018, 9:27 am

Try sending a PM to the owner.

mmmonkeyman · 5th Mar 2018, 10:43 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audio1950

To save you buying a load of needles just to experiment with, if you send me a PM with your name and address, I'll happily pop a dozen or so in the post.

Barry

Thanks for that - I've PMed you

27th Feb 2018, 10:54 pm	#1
mmmonkeyman Diode Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Dundee, Scotland, UK. Posts: 5	Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... Hey folks. I've been searching around for info on a Garrard A.C.6 and this seems to be the place with all the info! Picked this up today - just couldn't resist the look of it. The motor and mechanism work fine but there's no needle so can't check the output. A few questions about though... 1. Any idea what type or where I can find a needle. 2. Can this connect to a normal hifi amp via a phono input? 3. Does any one have any idea where this originally came from? The box is too well made to have been knocked up someones garage. It has pressed panels and the holes look punched. It must have been somewhere where they needed robust equipment that got moved around. Any info on it would be greatly appreciated as I've never seen anything like it before Attached Thumbnails

27th Feb 2018, 11:41 pm	#2
'LIVEWIRE?' Rest in Peace Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: N.W. Oxfordshire(Chipping Norton) Posts: 7,306	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... If, as I suspect, this uses the traditional steel needle, these can be obtained fromwww.gramophones.me, or maybe one of the other suppliers listed on this site. You are aware, I take it, that the A.C.6 can only play 78RPM records? AFAIK, the output from those early magnetic pickups will not work well, if at all, when connected to the 'Phono' input of an amplifier. They were designed to match the 'gram' input of valve radios. The input impedance and sensitivity of those mono circuits is different to the 47kohm input of a magnetic cartridge preamplifier in a more modern stereo amplifier.

28th Feb 2018, 1:34 am	#3
RojDW48 Nonode Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Bristol, UK. Posts: 2,074	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... Margolin (later Dansette) made a wooden version of that kind of slide-out record deck. The tonearm/cartridge takes a standard wind up gramophone needle. The rubber suspension inside the cart (which allows the needle to waggle the armature to create an electronic signal) is almost certainly rock solid by now! They are revivable - I had lots of help from members of this forum with a similar player. I shall track the thread down and post a link to it. __________________ '....don't go mistaking Paradise for that home across the road!' (Bob Dylan)

28th Feb 2018, 1:39 am	#4
Techman Dekatron Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Lincolnshire, UK. Posts: 5,000	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... You'll need to buy needles in the hundreds as they have to be replaced after every one or two record sides. The pickup, like all the surviving examples like this will need re-building as the internal rubber parts will have gone rock hard with age which will cause it to have very little output and also carve up your valuable 78 rpm records, thus ruining them. It's an interesting and unusual unit being in a portable metal case and is likely to have been designed as an early example of a travelling DJ deck. Don't forget to check the electrical safety of this unit, particularly the earthing with it being at least 70 years old, in an all metal case and running on mains electricity! Edit to say - post crossed with Roger with regards to the hardened rubber suspension in the pickup head.

28th Feb 2018, 1:43 am	#5
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,966	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... It could have been designed for use with a PA amp at events like race meetings or village fetes. Decks like these aren't very practical today, even if you just want to play 78s.

28th Feb 2018, 1:49 am	#6
Techman Dekatron Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Lincolnshire, UK. Posts: 5,000	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... Yes, it looks like the sort of thing Grampian would have made to go with one of their PA amps with metal casing, series valve heaters and AC/DC operation.

28th Feb 2018, 2:11 am	#7
RojDW48 Nonode Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Bristol, UK. Posts: 2,074	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... Here's the thread - quite long but lots of useful detail - https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=121284 __________________ '....don't go mistaking Paradise for that home across the road!' (Bob Dylan)

28th Feb 2018, 10:30 am	#8
mmmonkeyman Diode Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Dundee, Scotland, UK. Posts: 5	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... Thank you very much for all the input. It's always good to find a forum with members like you It is more of a curiosity piece than anything so not an issue should it be irreparable. I find it difficult not to fix things though (a bit OCD I think) so will likely have a go at it at some point. Will have a read through that needle post - thanks RojDW48. In the meantime (and likely forever more) it will remain a conversation piece...

28th Feb 2018, 12:11 pm	#9
Edward Huggins Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Southwold, Suffolk, UK. Posts: 8,336	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... This may have been made by Pamphonic as there was a matching cased amplifier c.1947. __________________ Edward.

28th Feb 2018, 12:12 pm	#10
Audio1950 Dekatron Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Whittlesey, near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 3,763	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... To save you buying a load of needles just to experiment with, if you send me a PM with your name and address, I'll happily pop a dozen or so in the post. Barry

28th Feb 2018, 4:17 pm	#11
Bookman Hexode Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Taunton, Somerset, UK. Posts: 318	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... I have an identical unit in quite good condition that is awaiting attention. Its a PAM.

28th Feb 2018, 7:05 pm	#12
mmmonkeyman Diode Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Dundee, Scotland, UK. Posts: 5	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... Excellent!! So all I need to find are the matching speakers and amplifier! Here's a link to the PDF at pamphonic.co.uk - http://www.pamphonic.co.uk/014_Pam_-_let_music_make_yours.PDF I guess working amps are as hard to find as the record player? Attached Thumbnails

28th Feb 2018, 9:44 pm	#13
Nickthedentist Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oxford, UK. Posts: 17,861	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... Amazing! That website is run by Jeremy, who's a member of this forum too. Mods... could you add Pam to the thread title?

28th Feb 2018, 10:29 pm	#15
mmmonkeyman Diode Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Dundee, Scotland, UK. Posts: 5	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... I'd give them £20 for it just to make up the set - working or not

1st Mar 2018, 9:27 am	#16
Station X Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4, UK. Posts: 21,289	Re: Unusual Garrard A.C.6 - a curiosity... Try sending a PM to the owner. __________________ Graham. Forum Moderator Reach for your meter before you reach for your soldering iron.