Gates CB-77 broadcast turntable

[two sevens]

Just acquired this 'table and excited to get it in working order! Gates CB-77 with Micro Trak 303 wooden tonearm. Any help or advice is appreciated. There's not a lot of info on restoring these out there...

Seems in good condition overall. Wondering if anyone has info on dismantling the motor and cleaning/oiling? Big capacitor underneath needs to be replaced most likely? Other tips?

What about getting the tonearm back to working order?

Any help is appreciated!!

 

[drtool]

Nice,a record store in town has one they are working on. Good luck.

 

[Sam Cogley]

Motor looks a lot like the Ashland used in the Rek-O-Kut B12H.

Unless the run cap is doing something weird, there is probably no need to replace it.

 

[Todd MacDona]

Hey,
Yours looks great. What does it do now? Does it turn? At a minimum, check for a ball bearing in the platter well, add a touch of oil if that is dry. Also put some oil in the feeder tubes of the motor. When it is sitting not in use, make sure the speed selector is not engaged, if the idler wheel sits against the capstan a flat spot can develop. Looks as good or better than mine.

 

[Stu1958]

Wow, that old Gates TT brings back a lot of memories when I interned at WBKC an AM, sunrise to sunset, station then located in Chardon Ohio in 1977. That Gates equipment was built to last...a great find!

 

[tubewade]

Really nice! I'd love to find something like that. In my "Top 3" decks to own is of course the EMT 930 but it seems I'd need a second mortgage to purchase one of those. Meanwhile I'd gladly accept a nice Gates, Russco or QRK. Great find.

 

[two sevens]

Hi there guys, yes super happy about this find. What a solid tank of a 'table this is! Love the look and feel of broadcast turntables and I want to bring this back to its former glory. The motor does work. The platter spins at 33 1/3 setting but needs a little nudge to get started. Haven't checked speed or anything. There is a ball bearing in the platter well. I need to oil it first and foremost. Idler wheel seems in good condition. Maybe I'll leave that capacitor for now.
Any ideas on getting the tonearm working?
Heavy plywood plinth like for Lenco and Garrard tables would be a good fit I suspect?
Thanks for the advice so far!!

 

[two sevens]

Hey,
Yours looks great. What does it do now? Does it turn? At a minimum, check for a ball bearing in the platter well, add a touch of oil if that is dry. Also put some oil in the feeder tubes of the motor. When it is sitting not in use, make sure the speed selector is not engaged, if the idler wheel sits against the capstan a flat spot can develop. Looks as good or better than mine.

Say Todd, I saw some older posts about your CB-77, did you ever restore it? How about some pictures?

 

[Todd MacDona]

I plan on building a layered plinth for it. I want to find a nicer tone arm for it too. Long term project that I won't let go of.
For your speed issue, try cleaning the underside of the platter. Maybe the wheel can't get traction due to being glazed? If you start it at 33 and switch to 45 does it stop until you nudge it?

 

[two sevens]

Actually the idler wheel isn't making a good connection to the motor at the 33 setting. The 45 works good. Both need speed adjustments and I think I need to lube the idler wheel mechanism....

 

[two sevens]

Does anyone have experience optimizing the position of the idler wheel? I am having trouble putting the platter back on after removing it because the idler wheel overlaps the inner portion of the platter. Additionally, when shifting to different speeds, the wheel sometimes comes out of position and does not make contact with the motor pulley. Finally, how do you adjust speed? At the 33 setting, looks like the platter is spinning too fast...

 

[Todd MacDona]

Put the idler in neutral. The selector should sit on the long spots on the selector area (the black finger spots) The platter should drop into place then. There are screws on the face of the unit by the selector area. They can fine tune the speed. I wouldn't do more than a quarter turn in any direction before I checked the speed. Also, make sure it is warmed up and running good before any changes are made.

 

[Todd MacDona]

Looking at your posted pics, the selector lever is always engaged. When not in use, it should sit on the black finger bits in between the speeds.

 

[two sevens]

Thanks for the tips Todd. When trying to put the platter back into place, the lever was in the correct neutral position...still the idler wheel was in the way...I will have to play with it I guess...

 

[rnorton]

That brings back many memories of my long-past DJ days.

 

[two sevens]

I have been working on the Gates table. Here is what I've been up to:

I cleaned all the grime off and tinkered with the speed change mechanism to get the idler wheel to make contact with the motor capstan in the right position. I put dynamat on the bottom of the platter because it does really ring like a bell, I stripped the old felt and put on new using 3M spray adhesive. I gutted the old tonearm wire in the Micro Trak 303 and added new tonearm wire which goes from cartridge to phono pre / SUT.

So far so good - at some point I'll need to build a plinth...

But I have a question - For the Micro -Trak 303, I ordered a syringe of the 600,000 cst Silicone Damping Fluid but it seems way too thick to apply via a small hole on the tonearm pillar. Anyone who owns/has experience with this tonearm know what to use or what has worked for them?