Questions and concerns regarding a late 1950s Pilot/Garrard console

[Goodland414]

Greetings all,

Several years ago, I acquired an old Pilot PT-1028 / Garrard RC121/4D console from a friend's father, who was moving across the country.

While it did initially work fine (albeit with some crackling when adjusting the knobs) after a while it started emitting a burning smell. I suspected that a belt had gone bad (the smell was reminiscent of a vacuum cleaner with a bad belt) so the console essentially sat collecting dust for a few years, as life otherwise got in the way... Yesterday, I finally decided to try and get it up and running again, but have encountered a number of challenges. As I have no experience in working with vintage audio equipment, I am hoping that this community might be able to offer their expertise.

Unidentified insulation
Beginning with the most serious issue... I decided that before all else the console needed a good cleaning, as it's quite dusty. I removed the back of the cabinet to gain access to the speaker cavity, and discovered a large quantity of very old, yellow insulation padding the interior. Based on some cursory Googling, I suspect that this is fiberglass, but I am still very concerned with the possibility that it may contain asbestos, especially as I've already kicked up large quantities of dust during my initial air-blasting of the rear vents.

I hurriedly replaced the back cover without thinking to take a photo (and am very wary of removing it again without further trying to identify this first) but upon close inspection, it does appear that some of the insulation got caught in the side. I'm not sure if this photo will be of any use, but it is all that I have at the moment:

Interior cleaning
Assuming that insulation is merely fiberglass, I would like to give the interior of the console a good cleaning.

As you can see here, the electrical components are covered in quite a bit of (Eisenhower-era?) dust that my air gun can't seem to displace. I am wondering if anybody had suggestions as to how I might go about cleaning this without getting myself shocked or breaking anything.

Cartridge replacement
The cartridge seems to have disappeared at some point within the last few years.

I suspect it may have gotten lost during an interim move that occurred, but there is no sign of it in or around the unit. Of all the issues, this is probably the most straightforward to solve, but I've been having difficulties identifying this vintage tonearm (there is no sort of model name/number on it from what I can discern) so I am not sure exactly what I am looking for.

Conclusion
It would seem that the burning smell is now the least of my issues in getting this console up and running again, so I will not even attempt to resolve that until I have gotten a handle on everything else first... That said, once my mind is at ease regarding the asbestos scare, I look forward to seeing if I can't get this old machine back into working order with your help.

Thank you!

 

[swechsler]

The cartridge is still in there, looks like a General Electric RPX VR. The tonearm and turntable are a single unit, which is why there's no model number.

The yellow stuff is fiberglass, if it's crumbling you might want to replace it with newer stuff, but there shouldn't be any asbestos in it. Wear gloves and a mask (post Covid, those should be easy to find). Keep as much of your body covered to prevent fiberglass splinters (generally not dangerous but they can cause itching), and shower afterwards. Store the removed fiberglass in a plastic trash bag.

Regarding the dust, can you get a vacuum cleaner in there with a soft brush? Or even a clean paintbrush with the vacuum cleaner nearby.

Most, if not all vintage Garrard turntables used rubber idlers, not belts, and the motor turns a lot slower than the one in a vacuum cleaner, so it's unlikely that that's what you're smelling. You'd have to disassemble the turntable to be sure. I'm not an expert on this particular model, but the platter is usually held on with a C washer. Spring clip pliers might help to remove it. After all these years, the idler is probably all dried out, but replacements should be available (it's a fairly generic part). Old tube equipment has a distinctive smell when it's running, caused by the heat and dust and whatever else is inside, and if you're not used to it, it may be disconcerting. This may be what you're smelling.

 

[swechsler]

Regarding getting shocked, you're right to be a little cautious, as tubes run on several hundred volts. However, for the most part, the high voltages are inside the metal chassis, so that's not a concern. What can be a concern is that many chassis from that era had one side wired directly to the power cord. In theory, this was supposed to connect to the neutral terminal on the power cord, but since most plugs weren't polarized, you had a 50% chance of it being wired directly to 120V.

If you keep the console unplugged while you work on it, you should be fine.

 

[swechsler]

Reareading your OP, I don't know that there is any reason, for the time being, to open up the speaker cavity, if you can access all the electronics without doing that. I'd work on everything else first. It's possible that the speaker's crossover (assuming there is one) needs new capacitors, but you should evaluate the system's sound quality before even approaching that.

 

[likebike23]

A quick Google search of asbestos insulation revealed that if it's in bat form or roll form that it isn't likely asbestos. Asbestos is mostly found in loose fill or pipe insulation. It is common to find fiberglass insulation stuffed into speaker cabinets, so I wouldn't be assuming asbestos.

The burning smell needs to be figured out. Perhaps the amp is getting hot somewhere? The electronics are like 60-70 years old at this point and it shouldn't be turned on without precautions being taken. A simple cleaning is something I'd be doing after I pulled the amp out of the cabinet while I was waiting for new capacitors and resistors to be delivered. In other words it should be gone through electronically. It may need a new tube or two.

The turntable is going to need extensive disassembly, cleaning, and relubing. The idler roller will need to be replaced with a rebuilt idler. The cartridge is a legendary mono moving magnet cartridge that is collectible. You cannot play stereo records with it as it has no vertical needle movement and will flatten out the grooves of a stereo record. A new stereo cartridge with the pos and neg leads strapped together will work on stereo records and output a mono signal that the console needs.

The console is pretty nice and worthy of restoring. It's a pretty involved job and patience is key. Do a lot of reading and ask questions and it's doable. It could take a while.

 

[gadget73]

thats a GE RPX Triple Play cartridge. If its missing, any 1/2 inch mount will do, and honestly isn't a bad idea. Wire a stereo cartridge to mono and it will play anything you want without eating the records. The RPX is a fine mono cartridge and a very good 78 one, but its got no vertical compliance and is murder on stereo records.

as for the rest, generic advice about it being an old tube amp that is way overdue for a rebuild applies. Probably the usual round of new caps will take care of it's problems. I'd wager the filter cap is dying, and it almost certainly has paper caps that are definitely bad.