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My Garrard Lab 80 Obsession

I'm afraid I don't :no:. I have my own but I need to keep my TT covered. I gave it a pretty aggressive cleaning job even though it was good enough when I got it. Of course, I removed the platter and carefully cleaned under it. Thats like sweeping under the refrigerator :D. I did remove the switchplate and clean under that, as well as the tonearm rest. (couldn't stand having any accumulated dirt where the switchplate/tonearm rest meet with the motorboard). I scrubbed the wood with fine steelwool and lemon furniture oil (beware - it darkens the wood).

I have the solid trapezoidal shaped solid walnut base but accidently broke the dustcover. Maybe I'll have one made at Tap Plastics for it. The walnut base is really hot!

Lets keep this thread alive! :music:
 
Oh, and something else. I last saw he MkII on eBay at $150. Don't know what that went for. The plastic base with the faux wood is pretty attractive and I prefer it to the boxy one that most of us have. If it had the potlid cover I would have bought it and sell the lesser of the two turntables. :D
 
I'm a big fan of the MkI Lab 80's. I like the fully exposed tone arm and the fact that the earlier Lab 80's are completely manual in manual mode. The overall quality of my table is very impressive. No one makes solid metal tables like this anymore. Also, I have found the bias compensator to be completely unnecessary when VTF is around 1 or 1.25 grams.
 
A Precautionary Measure

Here's a cue tip when using the cue function:

Don't ever do this when lowering your tonearm (squeezing it with both fingers against the plastic) ...

lab80e.jpg


Our lab 80's being 45 years old have aged quite a bit and the plastic tonearm rest might be weakening at the base as we continually exert pressure everytime we squeeze them together. Instead of squeezing, just push the metal part instead against the plastic with your thumb, but don't touch the plastic part at all. That way you will be preserving a longer life for it. :thmbsp:
 
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My bid was $150.00 but I fell asleep and someone beat me to it.
I sure hope it was an AK'er.
 
gillsev said:
Okay so $157.50 + $34.00 = $191.50 :D
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Way overpriced! What was special about it? These are really good TT's, but paying almost 200 dollars is kind of crazy when just last November I bought 2 Lab 80's, different auctions, and my combined total including shipping was less than $160.00. One was mint and one was a nice parts table. The mint one even came with the funky plastic dust cover.
 
131east23 said:
Way overpriced! What was special about it? These are really good TT's, but paying almost 200 dollars is kind of crazy when just last November I bought 2 Lab 80's, different auctions, and my combined total including shipping was less than $160.00. One was mint and one was a nice parts table. The mint one even came with the funky plastic dust cover.
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Nothing special really. Just that it was a MKII with the contemporary plastic base and very clean and excellent condition. I guess with the original box included, meant a lot ...

ebay1u.jpg


ebay2.jpg
 
Seems abit pricey, but still alot less than some restored Type A's that have recently been going for $300-$400+! I guess it comes down to how badly someone really wants the turntable, and the overall condition that it's in.
 
Well if it's pretty much mint and the original box comes with it that usually makes a difference. They are nice TT's with great styling, very classy. I think it's hard to appreciate them without seeing them in person and realizing they are cross bred from clocks and tanks.
 
KevinL said:
I like the plastic base. Nothing special about the video though - just watching a record spin around. It would have been nice if he videoed the automatic mechanism at work.
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Did you read his comment though, that he got both - the amp and the Lab 80 for only $20? What a steal!
 
gillsev said:
Did you read his comment though, that he got both - the amp and the Lab 80 for only $20? What a steal!
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I'm afraid I didn't read the comment but $20 is definitely quite a haul! Oh, and I have a box too :banana: but not the inner cardboard that is cut to shape to protect the TT.
 
grooveman said:
Seems abit pricey, but still alot less than some restored Type A's that have recently been going for $300-$400+! I guess it comes down to how badly someone really wants the turntable, and the overall condition that it's in.
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Off topic but here's my Type A. I'm very proud of it. It even cycles at 16.

TypeA.jpg


Its the result of 3 things: I bought a junker unit because I wanted the blonde oak base which looked terrible at the time but I restored it. The vacuuform dustcover I bought by itself. The TT itself was originally a unit with a home made base. i put a Grado DJ cartridge in it.
 
Nice Type A!! I really would like to score a dust cover like your's! Btw....my Type A won't drop 45s using the LRS-3 stacker spindle. It will if I hold it in my hand and turn the end tip of the spindle. But when inserted, it doesn't drop the 45, but the arm lifts and goes over and attempts to lower. I posted this problem on the Garrard Forum at Vinyl Engine but got no responses. Any ideas what's causing the 45 from dropping? Sorry if this is abit off topic, but would really like to stack and play my old 45s! Thanks.
 
JHS2RT said:
But in the transision from the original Lab 80 to the Lab80 MKII they (Garrard) made the originals with the MkII tone arm..... They are very rare .. They pop up on the bay from time to time.
I own a restored and mint MKII and just love it --it tracks a SHURE M95HE @ 1 gram.
I think they were the most drop dead prettiest turntable ever made ---and that arm is something to admire.
James
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Ah, so the combination MkI chassis and MkII arm explains my Lab 80 then. When I first got it I was a bit perplexed as it had the size indicator and all of that, yet the arm from the MkII. I agree that they are lovely. Still working on getting mine to where I'd like it, mostly because it came with some sort of non-original plinth that really doesn't work very well.
 
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