reubensm
Well-Known Member
So here goes, have been talking about this project for some time now but got some time to sit down and write about it.
The requirement:
An idea came to my mind, planned to have a display of old equipment in my new listening space and was on the look out for a really old Garrard changer. The intention was only to put it on display and did not really care whether I could find one in working condition or not.
The opportunity:
While going through the forum one day, I noticed a forum member had picked up an old record player and some records. He put out a picture for us to identify the model of this Garrard record player. I was able to identify it correctly of course. He said it sounded sweet and got it for a steal. Some time passed and he started talking about its value and plans to sell it. I got in touch with him and he quoted 15k (if I remember right) for the whole set (record player and in-built valve amplifier). This is quite high and hence I backed out. He got back to me and offered the record player deck. We talked about the price (over email only) and settled for Rs.3050/- which included shipping charges of Rs.550/- (Rs. 2500/- for the deck). I decided to go ahead. I asked about the packaging and was assured that the deck would be packed properly with double boxing and thermocol padding.
The deal:
I paid up online and it was time for our forum member to ship. After a bit of asking, he sent me the tracking number. This is where my surprises started. The seller sent me a note stating that his driver used the courier charges which he gave him to buy liquor and actually booked my package as a payment on delivery (for shipping charges). The shipping charges was Rs.680/- instead of the quoted Rs.550/- and when the package arrived I had to further pay Rs.680/- to the courier guys (which meant in effect, I had paid Rs.1230/- instead of the quoted Rs.550/-. Now thats some start. Now an even bigger shock awaited me when I actually saw the package, the courier guys took out from their truck. The package consisted of a flimsy JBL sub-woofer box which was completely torn on one side, sticking out of it were some folded newspapers and I could see the side of the decks chassis protruding out. The very sight was shocking and very sad indeed. I felt cheated already. The package had not come from the forum member but from somebody else, which made me assume that he was acting as a middle man for a seller of used electronics. On opening up the box, an even bigger surprise awaited me. The tone arm assembly was completely broken off and missing. The center spindle was also missing. The platter was on there but some of the mounting was missing. The platters rubber mat was missing. The scene was absolutely horrific. A lovely vintage Garrard RC210 changer reduced to such a state. I got back to the forum member and he offered a full refund with courier charges. I packed back what was left of the deck (in proper packing) but when I was about to courier it back to him, his colours changed and he stopped corresponding. I decided to push for the courier charges refund first. He was beating about the bush and a to and fro continued over email for nearly 2 weeks. He threatened me with a deformation case and what not (if I presented this case to the hifivision community). Luckily accounting and legal aspects are part of my profession and hence I was able to easily tide over the threats. Finally he gave in and sent me a refund cheque for Rs.690/-. I expected it to bounce but it didnt after all. The forum member stopped communicating with me and also went quiet on the forum. Now I had this piece of scrap which I effectively paid Rs.3050/- for.
Here are some pictures of the shabby packaging. Im sure not even a complete dummy would send a turntable from the North to South India in such packaging.
Prelude to the Project:
It was hard for me to stomach the details of the deal. Felt really sad and cheated. Everytime I looked at the changer, I felt quite disgusted. It was not about the money but how such a lovely deck could have been ruined so badly because of irresponsible packing. Had got this originally for display purposes, but the design of the room had changed and instead of displaying vintage equipment, thought Ill display gold/platinum framed disks of famous albums. Hence, this chassis hit my restoration thought process. I consulted with my brother and we decided to bite the bullet and restore this deck (or what was left of it).
Yet another surprise:
We decided to connect the mains wires of the deck and see if the motor was turning. Of course, since the spindle was missing we could not check if the platter was actually turning but atleast, a working motor would have brought some relief. On connecting the mains, we noticed that the motor was humming, but it did not turn. Bad news. Decided to take the turntable and motor apart. On opening it we were absolutely shocked. There was what felt like centuries of dirt and dust. To add to that, the motor was dry and full of muck. There was hair rolled round the motor shaft and it had stalled. There was no way this turntable could have played when the forum member tested it. Wonder how it sounded so sweet to his ears.
Work starts:
Got the motor fully cleaned, lubed and serviced. Put new bushes for it and the motor was back on the chassis. The idler was surprisingly as good as new (but covered in about 5-6 layers of oily muck). Took a whole day to clean the idler and it looked brilliant after that. Some of the springs in the area had stretched and lost their tension, due to many years of non-use and rusting. Had a few spare springs with us and hence we were able to easily replace these. Meanwhile, a colleague in the UK helped source a replacement spindle assembly and tone arm assembly. These came with a colleague down to India, carried by hand.
Back to life:
We fitted the spindle assembly (this was a complex task and thank god, we had the original service manual) which took a whole week. The platter was now in place and so was he tone arm assembly, complete with its original spring (counter balance). We plugged it up and saw the platter spin for the first time. The deck was extremely silent, so typically of an old Garrard that is cleaned and serviced. We were very excited. However another part was yet to be sourced, the headshell.
Yet another surprise:
Before throwing out the box and its newspaper packaging, took out some of the newspapers to read through them. Noticed a small packet hidden between some of the papers. It was a shocking discovery, not because it was found in between the papers but due to the content of the little plastic packet. There was a broken Sonotone cart in there, a cantilever which had been separated from the stylus assembly and a few screws (presumably the mounting screws of the turntable). With some careful surgery, we were able to fit back the cantilever to the rest of the stylus assembly but the cart was badly broken.
Mr. Kuruvila, the gentleman:
Thought Id run a check with Mr. Kuruvila on where I could buy a ceramic cartridge. Before I could flip an eyelid, Mr. Kuruvila offered to send me a Sonotone replacement cartridge. It was a terrific gesture and he refused to charge me for it. Fantastic!! He had it hand carried from Kottayam to Trivandrum through one of his relatives. It was a pleasure meeting the lady, she was very kind. I collected the cartridge in person. However on taking a closer look, I noticed that the assembly which held the cantilever in position was eaten away by time (these carts are very old and from the 1950s and early 1960s). It was in splendid shape otherwise, but sadly we could not make use of it. What a pity after such a lovely gesture by Mr. Kuruvila. Now, we needed to get a Garrard replacement headshell and ceramic cartridge.
Back to sourcing:
Searched ebay.com and managed to locate a replacement headshell in the United States. Now we also needed to source a new cartridge. Decided to source a stereo ceramic cartridge instead of a mono one. This would also mean that the tone arm wiring would need to be changed (we had connected up the mono wiring on the replacement tonearm assembly). Managed to get a stereo ceramic cartridge with a flip stylus (microgroove/78) from an on-line seller which was basically NOS. This was a great find and this is where we stand today. The headshell and cartridge will arrive in just over a months time.
In the interim:
Meanwhile as we await the headshell and cart, Ive decided to use the time in between to construct a plinth. Ive got some spare wood from my house construction and have put it in the rain to soak properly (the monsoon is on currently in Kerala). Once the rains are over, will dry it out properly in the hot Kerala sun and then start work on the plinth. Its going to be a very simple plinth and cabinet which is adequate for such decks. Im sending across some pictures of the deck which I took today (at this stage of the project). Keep watching this space for further progress.
The deck in transportation mode:
The deck ready for action (after a good cleanup, its looking really fresh and nice):
The model number:
A new spindle (very complex assembly):
A view of the tonearm assembly after the replacement tonearm is fitted:
The replacement tonearm:
The speed selector (with the Made In England tag):
The manual/automatic operating levers:
The motor (honestly its good as new, now. Garrard motors are built to last a couple of lifetimes):
The overall under-chassis mechanicals after re-fitment:
The tonearm assembly (under-chassis):
The tonearm counter-balance mechanism (now you know why older Garrads are not suitable for magnetic carts):
The tonearm wiring connectors (tag board):
The heart of the deck, the spindle assembly (one complex piece of machinery, never attempt to fix this without a manual):
The contribution from Mr. Kuruvila, well packed (very kind of him to help out):
Mr. Kuruvila's cart with the stylus fitted. Note that the cantilever is not engaged by the cart assembly:
The requirement:
An idea came to my mind, planned to have a display of old equipment in my new listening space and was on the look out for a really old Garrard changer. The intention was only to put it on display and did not really care whether I could find one in working condition or not.
The opportunity:
While going through the forum one day, I noticed a forum member had picked up an old record player and some records. He put out a picture for us to identify the model of this Garrard record player. I was able to identify it correctly of course. He said it sounded sweet and got it for a steal. Some time passed and he started talking about its value and plans to sell it. I got in touch with him and he quoted 15k (if I remember right) for the whole set (record player and in-built valve amplifier). This is quite high and hence I backed out. He got back to me and offered the record player deck. We talked about the price (over email only) and settled for Rs.3050/- which included shipping charges of Rs.550/- (Rs. 2500/- for the deck). I decided to go ahead. I asked about the packaging and was assured that the deck would be packed properly with double boxing and thermocol padding.
The deal:
I paid up online and it was time for our forum member to ship. After a bit of asking, he sent me the tracking number. This is where my surprises started. The seller sent me a note stating that his driver used the courier charges which he gave him to buy liquor and actually booked my package as a payment on delivery (for shipping charges). The shipping charges was Rs.680/- instead of the quoted Rs.550/- and when the package arrived I had to further pay Rs.680/- to the courier guys (which meant in effect, I had paid Rs.1230/- instead of the quoted Rs.550/-. Now thats some start. Now an even bigger shock awaited me when I actually saw the package, the courier guys took out from their truck. The package consisted of a flimsy JBL sub-woofer box which was completely torn on one side, sticking out of it were some folded newspapers and I could see the side of the decks chassis protruding out. The very sight was shocking and very sad indeed. I felt cheated already. The package had not come from the forum member but from somebody else, which made me assume that he was acting as a middle man for a seller of used electronics. On opening up the box, an even bigger surprise awaited me. The tone arm assembly was completely broken off and missing. The center spindle was also missing. The platter was on there but some of the mounting was missing. The platters rubber mat was missing. The scene was absolutely horrific. A lovely vintage Garrard RC210 changer reduced to such a state. I got back to the forum member and he offered a full refund with courier charges. I packed back what was left of the deck (in proper packing) but when I was about to courier it back to him, his colours changed and he stopped corresponding. I decided to push for the courier charges refund first. He was beating about the bush and a to and fro continued over email for nearly 2 weeks. He threatened me with a deformation case and what not (if I presented this case to the hifivision community). Luckily accounting and legal aspects are part of my profession and hence I was able to easily tide over the threats. Finally he gave in and sent me a refund cheque for Rs.690/-. I expected it to bounce but it didnt after all. The forum member stopped communicating with me and also went quiet on the forum. Now I had this piece of scrap which I effectively paid Rs.3050/- for.
Here are some pictures of the shabby packaging. Im sure not even a complete dummy would send a turntable from the North to South India in such packaging.
Prelude to the Project:
It was hard for me to stomach the details of the deal. Felt really sad and cheated. Everytime I looked at the changer, I felt quite disgusted. It was not about the money but how such a lovely deck could have been ruined so badly because of irresponsible packing. Had got this originally for display purposes, but the design of the room had changed and instead of displaying vintage equipment, thought Ill display gold/platinum framed disks of famous albums. Hence, this chassis hit my restoration thought process. I consulted with my brother and we decided to bite the bullet and restore this deck (or what was left of it).
Yet another surprise:
We decided to connect the mains wires of the deck and see if the motor was turning. Of course, since the spindle was missing we could not check if the platter was actually turning but atleast, a working motor would have brought some relief. On connecting the mains, we noticed that the motor was humming, but it did not turn. Bad news. Decided to take the turntable and motor apart. On opening it we were absolutely shocked. There was what felt like centuries of dirt and dust. To add to that, the motor was dry and full of muck. There was hair rolled round the motor shaft and it had stalled. There was no way this turntable could have played when the forum member tested it. Wonder how it sounded so sweet to his ears.
Work starts:
Got the motor fully cleaned, lubed and serviced. Put new bushes for it and the motor was back on the chassis. The idler was surprisingly as good as new (but covered in about 5-6 layers of oily muck). Took a whole day to clean the idler and it looked brilliant after that. Some of the springs in the area had stretched and lost their tension, due to many years of non-use and rusting. Had a few spare springs with us and hence we were able to easily replace these. Meanwhile, a colleague in the UK helped source a replacement spindle assembly and tone arm assembly. These came with a colleague down to India, carried by hand.
Back to life:
We fitted the spindle assembly (this was a complex task and thank god, we had the original service manual) which took a whole week. The platter was now in place and so was he tone arm assembly, complete with its original spring (counter balance). We plugged it up and saw the platter spin for the first time. The deck was extremely silent, so typically of an old Garrard that is cleaned and serviced. We were very excited. However another part was yet to be sourced, the headshell.
Yet another surprise:
Before throwing out the box and its newspaper packaging, took out some of the newspapers to read through them. Noticed a small packet hidden between some of the papers. It was a shocking discovery, not because it was found in between the papers but due to the content of the little plastic packet. There was a broken Sonotone cart in there, a cantilever which had been separated from the stylus assembly and a few screws (presumably the mounting screws of the turntable). With some careful surgery, we were able to fit back the cantilever to the rest of the stylus assembly but the cart was badly broken.
Mr. Kuruvila, the gentleman:
Thought Id run a check with Mr. Kuruvila on where I could buy a ceramic cartridge. Before I could flip an eyelid, Mr. Kuruvila offered to send me a Sonotone replacement cartridge. It was a terrific gesture and he refused to charge me for it. Fantastic!! He had it hand carried from Kottayam to Trivandrum through one of his relatives. It was a pleasure meeting the lady, she was very kind. I collected the cartridge in person. However on taking a closer look, I noticed that the assembly which held the cantilever in position was eaten away by time (these carts are very old and from the 1950s and early 1960s). It was in splendid shape otherwise, but sadly we could not make use of it. What a pity after such a lovely gesture by Mr. Kuruvila. Now, we needed to get a Garrard replacement headshell and ceramic cartridge.
Back to sourcing:
Searched ebay.com and managed to locate a replacement headshell in the United States. Now we also needed to source a new cartridge. Decided to source a stereo ceramic cartridge instead of a mono one. This would also mean that the tone arm wiring would need to be changed (we had connected up the mono wiring on the replacement tonearm assembly). Managed to get a stereo ceramic cartridge with a flip stylus (microgroove/78) from an on-line seller which was basically NOS. This was a great find and this is where we stand today. The headshell and cartridge will arrive in just over a months time.
In the interim:
Meanwhile as we await the headshell and cart, Ive decided to use the time in between to construct a plinth. Ive got some spare wood from my house construction and have put it in the rain to soak properly (the monsoon is on currently in Kerala). Once the rains are over, will dry it out properly in the hot Kerala sun and then start work on the plinth. Its going to be a very simple plinth and cabinet which is adequate for such decks. Im sending across some pictures of the deck which I took today (at this stage of the project). Keep watching this space for further progress.
The deck in transportation mode:
The deck ready for action (after a good cleanup, its looking really fresh and nice):
The model number:
A new spindle (very complex assembly):
A view of the tonearm assembly after the replacement tonearm is fitted:
The replacement tonearm:
The speed selector (with the Made In England tag):
The manual/automatic operating levers:
The motor (honestly its good as new, now. Garrard motors are built to last a couple of lifetimes):
The overall under-chassis mechanicals after re-fitment:
The tonearm assembly (under-chassis):
The tonearm counter-balance mechanism (now you know why older Garrads are not suitable for magnetic carts):
The tonearm wiring connectors (tag board):
The heart of the deck, the spindle assembly (one complex piece of machinery, never attempt to fix this without a manual):
The contribution from Mr. Kuruvila, well packed (very kind of him to help out):
Mr. Kuruvila's cart with the stylus fitted. Note that the cantilever is not engaged by the cart assembly:
Last edited:
.
