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rek o kut w/ grado wood tonearms ?

H

Hwy61

Member
Thinking of buying a near mint Rek O Kut B-12GH I .. excellent to mint original condition... save for the 2 Grado wood tonearms mounted... not the same arm (I realize there are 2 types of Grado wood tonearms but dont know the model#s...this has one of each mounted.) ..No cartridges present...

I wonder what this is worth ?? I see rough Rek o kuts not bringing much on the auction site, but have heard that the Grado wood arms bring good $$ from some folks....collectors or such... Im thinking I would like to keep and refurb the tt, possibly liquidate the grado arms and find another suitable replacement.... but have no idea really what all this is worth....etc... :scratch2:

Any thoughts on what the rek o kut table is worth ? how bout the Grado wood arms ?? assuming there is one of each and again in excellent to mint condition with no cartridge...

Thanks in advance..
 
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I didn't know there was such a thing as a wood tone arm. I've never seen one (unless they are cleverly disguised by dipping in chrome or something).:D
I wonder what advantages or disadvantages there are to them?
 
I have just that - a B12H with a wooden Grado arm. It has worked fine for me for over 50 years and still works. There are minor issues but they are indeed minor.
 
Wood is light, stiff, and fairly self damping. If the piece to piece variation can be managed, and well seasoned wood used, its actually a fine tonearm material. Along with Grado, ADC and Grace made wood arms in the modern era. Probably others, but I can't think of them right now.
The Garrard Lab 80 arm (and others) had a wood insert (afromisia wood, whatever that might be) fitted to the cast metal arm to damp it, but though Garrard refered to it as if it were mostly wood, it was mostly metal (and lots of it too.)
 
Dunno what money these tables fetch? They are just plain gorgeous!
If I ever find one I'll be very tempted to buy it!
 
Thanks for the input... all of my searches havent turned up much information about the Wood Grado tonearms...ie value.... I saw in the post referenced above some mention of one selling for $1000 but that seems insane and not likely.... Seem to be rather scarce and not to come on the market too often, which might explain why more folks arent speaking on the question of value.... I agree the Rek O Kut with 2 wood Grado tonearms mounted is a thing of beauty... Hoping I can add this one to the now growing list of items in my "collection"... I picked up a Pioneer SX-790 (seems it might have an issue on the tuner side) and a Harman Kardon HK-560 (works like a charm) today at a GW....this one doesnt test anything, they just price (about $8 for receivers) and stick em out on the floor.... There isnt an outlet in the place so there is no way to even see if they power up... So I guess it is a pure crapshoot... but picking up the 2 for a little over $15 was just too good a deal...and now seeing that both work is even better..... Need to do some research on that sx-790 tuner section...

Thanks again for the input..
 
Hi Nat, gathered some additional info on the Garrard tonearm.

Nat said:
Wood is light, stiff, and fairly self damping. If the piece to piece variation can be managed, and well seasoned wood used, its actually a fine tonearm material. Along with Grado, ADC and Grace made wood arms in the modern era. Probably others, but I can't think of them right now.
The Garrard Lab 80 arm (and others) had a wood insert (afromisia wood, whatever that might be) fitted to the cast metal arm to damp it, but though Garrard refered to it as if it were mostly wood, it was mostly metal (and lots of it too.)
Click to expand...

"Afromosia is an exotic wood that resembles teak and thus is sometimes referred to as African teak. The heartwood starts out from a yellow to brown color, but over time will darken to give it the appearance of teakwood with yellow to golden and brown to mahogany colored pattern. Afromosia though has a finer grain structure and is not as oily as teak. Due to the large size that these trees can attain, large boards can be attained as well as sizable veneers. The wood is found throughout Central and the West Coast of Africa along the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Congo, Nigeria, and Cameroon. It is used for turning, decks, flooring, inlays, interior and exterior furniture, tool handles, cabinetry, decking, veneers and is often used as a wood for walking canes.

Due to the woods hardness, it is recommended that carbide tools are used to minimize tool wear and that holes are pre-drilled prior to installing fasteners. The wood contains a fair amount of tannins which will causes staining of metal when used around water such as in boat building or decking."

My Lab80 tonearms are mostly Afromosia attached to/over a small extruded aluminum piece that holds the VTF mechanism/headshell attachment mechanism/counterweight. They sound pretty good for a 60's design. Regards.
 
Its been a year or so since I repaired a friend's Lab 80, so maybe my memory isn't as exact as it should be, but I still am pretty sure that the wood is just an insert -- the bearings and the connection to headshell and counterweight are made by the metal (which doesn't look like aluminum to me, but I'm no expert). So the function of the wood is either damping or ornamental, probably both. It may stiffen the metal, but what with manufacturing tolerances with biological materials, and the glue used, I suspect the contribution to stiffness is low.
Note that I don't say the arm doesn't sound good -- just that it's massy. I was suprised at how good the table sounded, even though you wouldn't think it should.
 
Nat said:
Its been a year or so since I repaired a friend's Lab 80, so maybe my memory isn't as exact as it should be, but I still am pretty sure that the wood is just an insert -- the bearings and the connection to headshell and counterweight are made by the metal (which doesn't look like aluminum to me, but I'm no expert). So the function of the wood is either damping or ornamental, probably both. It may stiffen the metal, but what with manufacturing tolerances with biological materials, and the glue used, I suspect the contribution to stiffness is low.
Note that I don't say the arm doesn't sound good -- just that it's massy. I was suprised at how good the table sounded, even though you wouldn't think it should.
Click to expand...

Hi Nat, just checked out one of my Lab 80 tonearms with a magnet. The metal material is definitely non-magnetic, probably aluminum. Also, the metal looks as if it is machined, definitely not a cheap operation. I agree the metal/wood combo was probably for performance and aesthetics. IMHO the Lab 80 wins all industrial design awards, bar none. :yes: :D

Too bad the tonearm is a short single pivot design. Peace. Happy Thanksgiving. Regards.
 
Just to be clear.. I have no affiliation whatsoever with the tonearm for sale on Ebay... I just hijacked the pics to illuminate what I had been discussing...ie-the Grado wood tonearms...
 
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