Garrard Type A question

[badfinger74]

Hi there,

I'm new here so apologies if I use the wrong etiquette or nomenclature. I joined to get advice on my Garrard Type A. I've had the table for years and only recently tried to refurbish it with a new cartridge (an Audio Technica AT91, I'm aware this isn't the greatest choice for this player but its the best I can do at the moment).

Unfortunately I only know the basics about balance and tracking weight, and I only have experience with newer turntables so I found the original Garrard manual online and attempted to follow its instructions on setting the balance and weight, but ended up turning the wrong screw and my tonearm fell off. Also, a tiny steel ball fell out and of course it rolled away and I lost it. I'm pretty sure it was only one ball that fell out.

Now, the table plays fine until the last bit of the record before the inner groove. There, the tonearm jerks slightly but consistently toward the outside of the record and it often skips. I have the tracking weight at 3 grams. Sometimes with slight adjustments it plays just fine, but I worry about damaging my needle and the records.

I guess my question is, have I screwed myself over with that foolish mistake? Could it be fixed how it is, or would I have to get a new tonearm?

That was a bit long-winded, thanks so much for bearing with me.

 

[Nat]

Go after the ball with a magnet. Cover the whole floor area. Almost certainly it will be where it is hardest to get it, but the magnet will pick it up.

 

[badfinger74]

Go after the ball with a magnet. Cover the whole floor area. Almost certainly it will be where it is hardest to get it, but the magnet will pick it up.

Thanks for your reply, that's a good idea. Do you happen to know how to re-install the ball if I find it?

 

[maxhifi]

Sign up to vinylengine, and download the service manual. It has an exploded view of the turntable, you can figure out from that where the bearing came from. If you can't find it, measure one of the ones which remains and buy some new ones. McMaster Carr is a good source.

Skipping near end of record sounds like the trip mech isn't lubricated properly or is suffering from sticky old grease, and/or you're just trying to track too light for the machine to work properly. Try 3.5g and see how that works. All old grease needs to be cleaned out with isopropyl alcohol, and replenished with something appropriate.

Good luck, I hope you get your Garrard into good working order.

 

[badfinger74]

Sign up to vinylengine, and download the service manual. It has an exploded view of the turntable, you can figure out from that where the bearing came from. If you can't find it, measure one of the ones which remains and buy some new ones. McMaster Carr is a good source.

Skipping near end of record sounds like the trip mech isn't lubricated properly or is suffering from sticky old grease, and/or you're just trying to track too light for the machine to work properly. Try 3.5g and see how that works. All old grease needs to be cleaned out with isopropyl alcohol, and replenished with something appropriate.

Good luck, I hope you get your Garrard into good working order.

Thank you, I adjusted the tracking and it has improved but it's not 100% so I will look at the gears.

Would you think the missing ball is what is causing the tonearm to shake? I'm just wondering if I could get away with not replacing it, but that probably wouldn't be wise in the long run...

 

[Nat]

If the tonearm is now shaking and didn't before, that's probably a good clue to where it came from.
How big was it?

 

[ivan100000]

I had the exact same issue on my Type A, where it would mysteriously start skipping @30 seconds before the end of the LP. It turned out that the little ball bearings you speak of were all completely missing from the tonearm pivot shaft...

 

[badfinger74]

I had the exact same issue on my Type A, where it would mysteriously start skipping @30 seconds before the end of the LP. It turned out that the little ball bearings you speak of were all completely missing from the tonearm pivot shaft...

I only have one ball bearing missing (out of, I believe, four) so my situation may differ from yours, but I was able to correct my situation with a slight adjustment of the tracking weight. The tonearm still isn't heavy enough to really damage my records (though I won't be playing any rare or mint vinyl on it, that's for sure) but I'm still able to get some good use out of my table without that ball bearing.

 

[gadget73]

If its an incredibly small ball, it probably goes under the arm. The platter bearings I want to say are 3/32 and there should be 6 or so. I dumped the arm bearings on my Lab 80 once by accident, they're small to the point of being impossible to find. I broke apart a teeny ball bearing from an RC car and the balls inside were the right size. It does want to be there though. The Lab 80 has a dozen or so of those balls under the arm. I've never taken the arm out of my A, so I have no clue how many its supposed to have, and I'm not real inclined to figure it out. I re-lubed both of them but neither has had the arm off.

The Type A isn't a bad machine if its in proper working order. Just adjust it to whatever the proper weight is for the cartridge and try to stay with conical or spherical tips. They aren't nearly so fussy about alignment and won't damage records from it being less than ideal. I have two, an original tan and white Type A and the greenish A-II. Ivan has the cooler white and grey model.

 

[charlesdemar]

The tonearm ball bearings are really small and there are at least 10-12 of them, I think. Very difficult to get back in and get the tonearm attached. You may have lost more than one and not realize it. I would also say from my experience,it's very difficult to get a type A to trip reliably at 3 grams. It wants more like 4-5 grams.

 

[gadget73]

I think mine run at 4 grams. They might track lighter but the cartridges in use want 2-5 grams.

 

[jgannon]

I have a Garrard Type A (listening to it right now). I think your problem at the end of play is that you still have it tracked TOO LIGHT. I used to have issues with mine toward the end of a record, although I can't remember exactly how it behaved. But I think the issue had to do with my setting the vertical tracking force too light.

The way to set the tracking force on the Garrard Type A in my opinion, is this: There is actually a slide on the arm to set it. But I don't really use it. I DO set it at around 3 just to engage it. But that's it. And then I use an electronic gauge to set the tracking force at FIVE grams. I am using a Shure SC 35C. It's a great conical cart, which has excellent sound, and it's perfect for the heavy arm of the Garrard.

The fact that it's a conical cartridge will keep your records from getting damaged because the conical doesn't ride as deeply in the grooves of a record as an elliptical or something finer.

Five grams is not too heavy for the Garrard Type A. I have had great success with SC 35C tracked there and get great sound from the table. I also stopped having issues such as skipping, repeating, or early ejection at the end of a record. Those actually were the kinds of issues I was having before, now that I think of it.

 

[AJD1964]

The type A was Top of the line for Garrard consumer market in that era - before the lab 80 wasn’t it? I would think a type A could easily track & trip under 4 grams - making me think something else is going on with it.

I never had a type A, but do have the lower end AT6 MK-II, that can run in full auto-stack at 3.0 Grams all day long using M35x or M447. So the type A should be able to as well.