Garrard laboratory deck identification.

[Vinylista]

Hi

Sorry to be straight in with a question.

Can anybody help me identify this Garrard Laboratory series that could be bought in a G-Plan housing?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[Audio1950]

It's an SP25 Mk2.

Barry

[unitaudio]

Hello and welcome to the forum. What you have there is a Garrard SP25 mk2, current from about 1965 to about 1969/70. They're not a bad deck but I've never seen the G-Plan housing before. That's a seriously stylish item!

Regards,
Paul

[vidjoman]

Not sure that's a G-Plan cabinet. The G symbol looks more like Goodmans to me.

[Vinylista]

Hi Sorry, yes. It was manufactured by Goodmans in teak to go with my Stepfather's teak G-Plan units. He bought it with them and the time period would appear to fit.

My Mum called earlier to say she has now found the amplifier unit that went with it.

I am keen to see if I can get it working for them.

They want to sell it, so I would like to restore it for them. In truth, I might even simply buy it off them as I remember it very fondly from my childhood in the 1970s and I now a bit of a "vinyl issue" myself.

It comes with a 5-pin din connector that appears pretty oxidised and the housing is beginning to perish, so I am guessing that will be my first issue.

What are peoples views on dealing with old connectors: replace or attempt to restore the original?

Kind regards,

David

[AC/HL]

First things first.
Get hold of the amplifier and post the model number, and ideally a photo or two. The connector is probably not as bad as it looks, they have a wiping action unless really bad.

[paulsherwin]

Although this was a very decent deck by the standards of the day, it's not a true hifi deck and may not be worth a great deal in cash terms. If you're interested in vinyl then it may make more sense for you to keep it yourself, especially given the sentimental value. It will be much kinder to your records than most of the groove-grinding Dansette type machines which are currently so fashionable.

It will be interesting to see what the accompanying amplifier is like. Is there a radio tuner too?

The first thing to do is to go to your local Maplins and buy a can of Servisol contact cleaner. You can buy this from eBay sellers too.

[Vinylista]

Okay,

Thanks for all the replies so far. I have sent a text to my Mum asking her to take a photo for you ladies and gentlemen to take a look at.

I presume the contact cleaner Paul refers to is this stuff: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/servisol-contact-cleaner-200ml-jp17t

Dave

[Nickthedentist]

Yes, that's right.

[Vinylista]

Okay

Sorry for the delay today, my Mum's photo's came after I had gone out to a rehearsal.

The central unit is a Goodman 3000. It is apparently 555mm x 250mm x 100mm and looks like the attached photos.

Dave

[paulsherwin]

That's called a receiver (amp and radio combined).

It's a nice period piece and should sound good when working, but like the deck won't be worth a fortune. One was sold on the forum for £15 earlier this year: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?p=662073

[Nickthedentist]

These receivers were made by Thorn (Ferguson). Date-wise, circa 1970 I think. You would often find them (or very similar items) branded Ferguson, Marconiphone and so on, and they were also found built into radiograms, see https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=92669

As Paul's said, they're capable performers, but don't fall into the true "HiFi" category and so aren't really collectable. However, you could get it running and enjoy it quite easily, I would have thought.

Nick.

[paulsherwin]

Just for your info, the connectors are all DIN, as was normal at that time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_connector. These are all still available from eBay sellers, though probably not from your local branch of Poundland or Currys. Maplins may sell them.

[Vinylista]

Thanks to everybody for all your advice.

If I can get the whole set working, (we have the speakers as well), what should I advise my parents is a fair expectation of its worth?

Kind regards,

David

[paulsherwin]

It's difficult to value, partly because the speakers may be worth anything from nothing to a small fortune, but assuming they're nothing special then £50 would seem fair to me. You could try for more and see if anybody bites, or use eBay.

[Radio Wrangler]

Goodmans were first and foremost a loudspeaker manufacturer, so the speakers put with that amplifier and turntable could be anything from grotty music centre grade up to very good period hifi grade. Some of these are quite sought after and can consequently be valuable, particularly if they are cosmetically good like the amp and turntable look. This is what Paul means by nothing to a small fortune.

Before you do anything with them, let's get them identified. There should be labels on the back with model number, and photos are good.

Goodmans *were* a very reputable make and their factory at Wembley used to rebuild drive units for people... fitting new cones and coils for very reasonable prices. They didn't go in as much for rubber surrounds as other firms, which means classic Goodmans speakers are less likely to suffer from the failure of rubber surrounds that plague other speakers from the seventies and eighties.

Nowadays, the Goodmans trademark has changed hands and is just that, a brand-of-convenience for all sorts of oriental goods - some total grot, some reasonable quality.

David

[Vinylista]

They are Goodman music suite Model 3005 loudspeakers, 15 Watts into 8 Ohms.

Dave

[Restoration73]

The receiver was made in the Havant factory. Unlike the HMV version with the steel platter, you have the superior SP25 mk2 with the die cast platter. I still use one for playing 78's (with a Stanton cartridge)

[Nickthedentist]

Those speaker have a single, dual-cone driver. So again, nothing too exciting to a HiFi purist.

Repairing and enjoying them yourself might be the best option.

[Vinylista]

Okay,

The first problem appears to be that the deck has a short or a ground in it. It blows my main tripswitch board when plugged in.

Dave