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Grado wood tonearm

2526

2526

AK Subscriber
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I just bought a Thorens TD-124 that has an early Grado wood arm. I have gotten the info available at Vinylengine, but wonder if anyone here has experience with this arm, i.e. setup, sound quality, etc. I would use a Shure v-15 type IV for now. If it is worth the bother of setting it up, I will, but the arm appears to be pretty primitive. I am not adverse to upgrading to another (reasonably priced) arm - any suggestions?
Thanks!
 
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Some of those Grado arms command a high price. I believe one recently sold in the vicinity of around $1000, although I don't know if that was the norm or a fluke.
 
I have one fitted with a V15 type IV as well, and like the combination. If you think that it looks primitive now, the hand-written Grado manual probably won't do much to instill confidence, but I think it's a fine arm. And it has the added benefit of looking cool as hell. As Deli said, though, these do tend to command decent $$, so you could always sell it and buy something more to your liking.
 
I would use a Denon DL-103 on this Grado tonearm if it were mine and mounted on my SP-25. Excellent performing tonearm and superb looking and adds class to any classic turntable. Period correct looking on your Thorens TD-124.
 
I have been using a Grado arm with Shure cartridge for many years and am satisfied. It's with my Rek-O-Kut B12H and works well.

I could nitpick but I imagine most arms would have some disadvantage here or there.

$1000? Unbelievable.

You drill a hole for the metal grommet that passes the wiring to the underside of the plinth. The arm has lateral balance adjustment. The balance is set by moving the rear weight; I probably still have the supplied lead washers for adding weight if needed. Using the weight to set stylus pressure is the best way, I have found.
 
I've used onE for years (on a Grado turntable). The arm is pretty decent and (as mentioned) cool as hell.
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I'm running a Shure M3D which works well with this arm. You'll probably need a lighter counterweight if you want to run a modern (less mass) cartridge. I made one out of brass stock and it works fine if I run a Shure V15 or M97xe.

$1000??!!! not typical if it happened. $200-$400 is more likely.
 
goldwax said:
:worthless
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Unless you can give us a pic the info supplied so far is of limited help to you. Grado made at least 4 tonearms - the first 3 were of the wood variety and the last was metal tubular (called the Laboratory Series Tonearm and that's the one going for big bucks on eBay).

The first 2 wooden arms were similar and MASSIVE - one was statically balanced and the other had a spring loading for dynamic balancing. They both appear nearly identical on first glance and were made in the late '50s or very early '60s and are best suited for low compliance cartridges like the Denon 103. The most distinguishing aspect of this arm is its flat/sliding rear counterweight. The third wooden tonearm was also called the Laboratory Series Tonearm (pre-dating the metal tubular version) and was a MUCH LESS MASSIVE arm in its design (better suited for a high compliance Shure MM). You can immediately tell if you have this latter 3rd arm by its removable nylon headshell plate within the wooden tonearm's head that holds the cartridge (for quick cartridge changes). It also has the "outrigger" lateral balance and a circular main counterweight.

I'm pretty sure most of this is fairly correct since I actually owned both the 2nd and 3rd generation arms as a kid in high school. If there are mistakes, please correct.

Dale
 
My setup looks almost exactly like that. My wood base is walnut and it's a B-12H but otherwise identical.

I forgot to mention that the arm support is built lopsided so you can rotate it to get the arm angle just right. Changing cartridges is a pain with that screw too small for the fingers, and the contacts are not always reliable. Oops I said I wouldn't nitpick...
 
I've only seen two wooden Grados - the one pictured here with the black cone-shaped weight, and the more expensive version with a thumbscrew that adjusts an indexed sliding weight.
 
Yellow!!!

That yellow base is awesome. Is that an analine dye DIY job? What wood is that dye applied to?
watt said:
Older pic, but here's mine:

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One of these days I'm going to get around to cleaning, belting, and relubing this estate sale find.
 

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Designdweeb said:
That yellow base is awesome. Is that an analine dye DIY job? What wood is that dye applied to?
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It's the stock plinth. I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your dye question, or even if it's a dye at all. You do see this color plinth when B12s come up for sale, so I'd bet that it was one of the wood options from Rek O Kut, or from whomever was supplying their box plinths.
 
watt said:
It's the stock plinth. I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your dye question, or even if it's a dye at all. You do see this color plinth when B12s come up for sale, so I'd bet that it was one of the wood options from Rek O Kut, or from whomever was supplying their box plinths.
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i have one with the same color pilth but the 12" rok arm... mine needs to come a long ways to look that good though, looks awfully nice with that arm for sure.
 
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