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Is this Garrard table worth messing with?

I repaired a Garrad Lab 100(?) for a friend's grandmother- had the same changer setup which I found kind of fascinating. Had a real nice sound as well once I put a decent cart on it, kind of hated to give it back.

I'd fix'er up, mount it on some huge homemade wooden plinth and keep it. But that's just me...
 
Damn, this ugly thing is growing on me... I just can't believe that I should so casually dismiss something with so much spinning mass - some real engineering went into this!

I haven't actually powered it up. It was configured to be powered off the receiver that was in the console, and has a three-prong dohicky plug. I might just get curious enough to put a real cable on it. I spent some time trying to figure out all the auto-contraptionery tonight, and it's just too gadgety for me to love it this way. Still...

James R, it's all your fault! Can't stop thinking about it after seeing this! :nono:

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I love the "all white" look.

It might not ever be your main table (given your Linn) but it could be a cool second table... mono or just for less than perfect records!
 
Thanks Justen! There's the justification I needed for this project! I'm not sure why I didn't hit on it before, but here I've got Grandma's collection of 78s, and no way to play them!

Cool.
 
Hey Nate,
I had a very similar TT last year (may have even been the same one) that came out of a Pilot console at an estate sale. Someone had gotten all the good stuff out of the console and the TT was left. I traded it for a Bogen DB20 amplifier. The guy who traded with me wanted the TT pretty bad. I almost wish I had kept it. Now I have nothing to play 78's on.
 
mhardy6647 said:
It's an RC-88, IIRC, and I'd say, "no".
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No it isn't, it's a Lab A, or "Laboratory Series Automatic Turntable Type A" to give it it's full name.

It comes from the same era as the 301 and 4HF and was Garrard's top of the range changer. Built like a tank, fearsomely complicated and something of a pig to service but it can actually be made to sound quite respectable. Do bear in mind that it's happiest tracking at a minimum of around 2.5 grams however.
 
Beobloke said:
No it isn't, it's a Lab A, or "Laboratory Series Automatic Turntable Type A" to give it it's full name.
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Why yes it is, according to the manual that came with it, along with documentation for the cartridge, the warranty cards, the shipping checklist, and a cool full-size template for the mounting board...

"Built like a tank, fearsomely complicated..." Indeed. :yes:
 
My feeble attempt to redeem myself.
From the 1961 Radio Shack catalog; maybe of some entertainment value, at least.

1961garrards.jpg
 
Hell, I paid a lot less for it than that! :D

Where do you come up with that old stuff, man? That's really cool!
 
Nate, I have one of those. If you need a replacement gizmo or whirly gig in the course of your restoration just let me know.

RC
 
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vinyldavid said:
Was just thinking.....NINETY DOLLARS FOR A 301!!!!! Gimme a time machine, PLEASE!
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You'd only be making .65 an hour. And if you brought money with you they wouldn't accept your funny Federal Reserve Notes as cash. Better bring gold. A couple of ounces, since it was worth less than $50 an ounce.
 
Justen said:
You'd only be making .65 an hour. And if you brought money with you they wouldn't accept your funny Federal Reserve Notes as cash. Better bring gold. A couple of ounces, since it was worth less than $50 an ounce.
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Hey, for a NOS 301....
 
Using the inflation calculator, a 301 ($89.00 in 1961) would run you $616.00 if you were to purchase it in 2007.

I'm in!

RC
 
Let's see...gold closed right around $900 today, so you'd spend $1800 for a new 301.

Not me. But your mileage may vary.

Never mind, just checked what they're bring these days. Yikes.
 
doucanoe said:
Nate, I have one of those.
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Dude, you've got one of everything in that basement of yours, don't you? I'll see if I run into any snags along the way...

I rewired the power last night. It was powered by the receiver, through one of those 4-prong plug gizmos. Three conductors in there, one of them was a ground wire. I rewired with a two-prong plug and now I assume I need to add a ground wire, since there isn't one associated with the signal output otherwise... is that right?
 
Redboy said:
Dude, you've got one of everything in that basement of yours, don't you? I'll see if I run into any snags along the way...

I rewired the power last night. It was powered by the receiver, through one of those 4-prong plug gizmos. Three conductors in there, one of them was a ground wire. I rewired with a two-prong plug and now I assume I need to add a ground wire, since there isn't one associated with the signal output otherwise... is that right?
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Most of the tables I have owned had a ground wire. In the case of Type A I'm not sure but I would imagine that it would need to be grounded somewhere along the line.

Based on the pics you took, it appears that one thing you might need would be a mat? I do have one of those as you can see. It even has the Garrard logo on it in three places :D

RC
 
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