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1965 Garrard Model 50 - why is it so good?

Winters

Winters

Active Member
Good day, everyone.
About two months back I finished the complete restoration of a Garrard Model 50 record changer. This is not the first idler driven turntable I've restored. I also have a Lenco L70, an Elac Miracord 10H and a Dual 1009. I have worked on many other idler units - Lencos, Garrards, Miracords, Perpetuum-Ebners and what not.

I've done some improvements on my Model 50 - the most important being an improved idler wheel with alloy cast hub (from mid 1970s Garrard turntables). The mechanism was meticulously relubed and calibrated.

And from the very first listening session with this machine, I'm in awe. This thing has zero rumble, packs a punch, tracks great on every record and sounds incredible. Cartridge? A plain Pickering V15 with a conical stylus, tracking at 3.5g.

My Model 50 outperforms the highly acclaimed turntables such as Lenco L70, Elac Miracord 10H and Garrard Synchro-Lab 95 (had one few months back). All restored by the same person (me).

Why?

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Looking good. Nice job! I don't really have a dog in this but do you suppose a run of the mill v15 with a .7mil conical tracking at 3.5g qualifies for this type of benchmarking?
 
^^ probably does, fancier nails are more sensitive to alignment, which is not possible with one of these. Conicals forgive many geometrical sins.

Dunno, I have a couple Garrards and like them fine. My AT6 needs a little TLC. It works fine but it isn't quite silent. I don't recall putting a new idler wheel on it, but maybe I did.
 
It beat the Miracord 10H? It must be pretty good then, I love my 10H. I've been on the lookout for an old Garrard, nice to hear they are special.

Anyone have experience with an Autoslim/P? There's one available and I'm thinking about messing with it if I can get it at my price.
 
While it is very good it also has limitations. Lightest it will track and trip the automatic mechanism at will be 2.5 grams. That's working perfectly. The ELAC/Miracord 10H will track and trip at lighter forces.
 
likebike23 said:
It beat the Miracord 10H? It must be pretty good then, I love my 10H. I've been on the lookout for an old Garrard, nice to hear they are special.

Anyone have experience with an Autoslim/P? There's one available and I'm thinking about messing with it if I can get it at my price.
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I do not recommend the AutoSlim/P. Too small platter. And 2 pole motor (not suited for Magnetic cartridges). Better off getting a AT6 or AT 60 if you want a Garrard AutoSlim, the top of the line of this mechanism. The 40 or 50 is below that.
 
tnsilver said:
Looking good. Nice job! I don't really have a dog in this but do you suppose a run of the mill v15 with a .7mil conical tracking at 3.5g qualifies for this type of benchmarking?
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I usually run conicals on all of my turntables, rarely elliptical tips (.4x.7mil) and never anything fancier (though I've tried it when I was into more modern gear).
I mostly collect 1950s and 1960s records (mainly European jazz and rock) which are often far from perfect condition and fancier styli tend to introduce a lot of crackle or surface noise on worn or low quality LPs.

Since I finished this Garrard, I have redone my Lenco L70 which has a new Audiosilente idler wheel. And it still has slightly more rumble that this Garrard, the tonearm is unbalanced and skips where this Garrard just plows through the scratches.

gadget73 said:
^^ probably does, fancier nails are more sensitive to alignment, which is not possible with one of these. Conicals forgive many geometrical sins.

Dunno, I have a couple Garrards and like them fine. My AT6 needs a little TLC. It works fine but it isn't quite silent. I don't recall putting a new idler wheel on it, but maybe I did.
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I had an early AT6. It's basically the same but the tonearm is more advanced and lighter and in my opinion, doesn't really track as well. It still requires at least 2.5g of tracking force but is not as firm and sturdy as the one on the Model 50. My Model 50 refuses to skip even on severely scratched records that skip on modern turntables with anti-skating.

likebike23 said:
It beat the Miracord 10H? It must be pretty good then, I love my 10H. I've been on the lookout for an old Garrard, nice to hear they are special.

Anyone have experience with an Autoslim/P? There's one available and I'm thinking about messing with it if I can get it at my price.
Click to expand...

First of all, the 10H is a beautiful table. And a great machine. But I've always had one issue with their idler wheels - rumble. I've tried many different idler wheels on my 10H and all tend to induce rumble.

I think part of the trick with my Model 50 is the newer idler wheel. I'd highly recommend that to any Garrard Autoslim-based turntable. The newer wheels were introduced by Garrard in the mid-1970s on models such as SP25 mk IV or the idler-driven Zeros. They are perfectly balanced, alloy-cast and just behave smoother than the older style Garrard wheels.
 
KentTeffeteller said:
And 2 pole motor (not suited for Magnetic cartridges). Better off getting a AT6 or AT 60 if you want a Garrard AutoSlim, the top of the line of this mechanism. The 40 or 50 is below that.
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The SL65 is the same mech but with the slightly better motor. Not sure how much it matters in practice but there is a big difference from the 2 pole to the 4 pole motor. The mechanical vibration from the 2 pole is audible in use. I had one in a KLH changer and you could feel the chassis vibrating when the motor was running. It was audible through the speakers too.
 
I remember those Garrards. Some oof these older turntables will surprise you. My first 1009 Duals sounded terrific. Way better than I thought it would. Picked up a Dual 1225 off Bartertown. It was a console pull. Missing a base and cartridge sled/cart. Had these pieces. Dint expect much from it. Have several 1219s a Zero 92 and a BSR 810. Needed a lubrication and stuerpimple. Cleaned up nice. Sounds surprisingly good. Was able to fix a TK14 sled. Got to be careful when parts get loose on these. Had an extra M91ED cart for it. While not as good as your Garrard it’s not bad. Nice for someone starting out in records. Part of the fun is the ability to work on these knowing what you will face!. Learned a lot with my Zero and a prior SL95s. Very satisfying. Enjoy. Looks great..
 
Yes, the B model does. The original SL-65 uses the old style Garrard offset headshell, the change was most likely done in the name of cost cutting. Plessey did things like this as time progressed onward cost Garrard gradually their quality reputation.
 
There's just something about idler wheel turntables that sounds right. I had a Lab 80 for a while, really sounded nice with a Shure M91 with an original Shure conical stylus. I should have never sold it.
 
After getting my Lenco L75 up to snuff after a general servicing I concur: a properly setup idler has that something special!
I also think idler drive goes extra well with a heavy platter, like the 4kg one on the L75.

Ooops, once more drifted away from the Garrard subject :D

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