• Please note that Audiokarma will be offline briefly for updates early on Monday morning, September 28th.

The official Fairchild 412 registry thread!

Sam Cogley

Last of the Time Lords
Subscriber
I'm trying to figure out some things about these awesome tables. I know that there are a number of Fairchild owners here, and I'd appreciate it if you'd take the time to list some information if possible:
-Model: 412-1 (also known as the 412 Basic Chassis), 412-1A 412-2 (mechanical two-speed), or 412-4 (also known as the 412-ED, with the very rare electronic drive system)
-Serial Number
-style of data plate (early examples are ink-stamped directly on the chassis, then a separate large black data plate was glued on, later used a smaller black data plate on top of the chassis)
-Chassis: deep or shallow - if deep, does it have the base plate?
-motor: most 412s I've seen have the Papst motors, but I've run across one on eBay with a different synchronious motor, mounted to a different style of plate and suspended on four Lord isolators like the ones used by Rek-O-Kut and Empire
-style of power switch: early examples, including one just over the 1k S/N mark, used a toggle switch. Most have a rotary switch.
-style of belt cover: some 1 and 1A models used a narrow "butterfly" style cover, many used a deeper cover with a transparent green insert that was shared with the -2 and -4/ED On a "single speed" turntable, there was a sticker on the green cover that looked like the knob used on the -2 and -4.
-if your platter DOESN'T have the two belt grooves or the pop-up 45 adapter, please make note of it.
-motor date of manufacture, if any


I have #312 and #452, both model 1s with the deep base, ink-stamped data plate, and Papst motors. #312 has the factory angled base, originally had the narrow butterfly belt cover, and had no base plate. #452 has the wider belt cover, came with a section of countertop it had been set into, and had the base plate.

Sheltie Dave has #450 with ED chassis #106 and another early 412-1 with the wide belt cover.

Vinyldavid has another early model.

Recently seen on eBay:
412-1 S/N 413, wide belt cover, toggle switch, base plate.
412 basic chassis S/N 1_79? (looks like 1279 or 1579), wide belt cover, deep chassis, base plate (installed upside-down in the photos), large data plate, toggle switch
412 basic chassis S/N 2942, wide belt cover, deep chassis, base plate, large data plate, toggle switch
412-1 or 1A, S/N not visible, small angled base, narrow belt cover, shallow chassis, small data plate, Papst motor
412-1A S/N 5113, small angled base, narrow belt cover, shallow chassis, Papst motor
412-1A S/N 5357, narrow belt cover, shallow chassis, small data plate, "Fairchild Synchronous Motor" on a solid mounting plate, suspended by four Lord isolators

Please add your information! :thmbsp:
 
Register to hide this ad
There are a number of 412s documented on the web (including this site), but few have their data plates visible. Here is the information I've managed to glean from a few web sites:


412 basic chassis S/N 2617, toggle switch, small base, narrow belt cover, deep chassis, no base plate, toggle switch, 25 Jan. 1958 motor date http://www.soundup.ru/index.php?opt...catid=9:record-player-gramophone&directory=22

412-2 S/N 487 (? must be 1487), wide belt cover to accommodate speed change mechanism, deep chassis, base plate, large data plate, toggle switch, Papst motor http://www.audioasylumtrader.com/ca...412-2/Dual-Belt-1950s-Turntable-Classic/49576

412-2 S/N ?, wide belt cover to accommodate speed change mechanism, deep chassis, base plate, large data plate, toggle switch, Papst motor https://www.flickr.com/photos/wigwam/sets/72157626649200822/?view=sm

412-1A S/N 4831, small base, narrow belt cover, shallow chassis, small data plate, rotary switch, Papst motor http://garrard301.jp/?p=985

412-1A S/N 7110, small base, narrow belt cover, assumed to be shallow chassis, rotary switch, no photo of motor. http://akakura52.exblog.jp/11996494

412-1A S/N 7812, small base, narrow belt cover, assumed to be shallow chassis, rotary switch, no photo of motor. Encountered on eBay.

412-1? S/N ?, narrow belt cover, shallow chassis, Papst motor, motor date appears to be 1960. Encountered on eBay.

412-1B S/N 10185, large flat chassis, "Fairchild Synchronous Motor" suspended by Lord isolators http://www.soundup.ru/index.php?opt...&catid=9:record-player-gramophone&directory=1

412-1B S/N 11065, large flat chassis, "Fairchild Synchronous Motor" suspended by Lord isolators, purchased 1963 http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=140278


Knowing that S/N 11065 was purchased in 1963, and that 412 production began sometime in mid to late 1957, we can estimate that approximately 1500-2000 412s were made per year.
 
Last edited:
Vinyldavid's table:
412 Basic Chassis S/N 2829, wide belt cover, deep chassis, large black data plate.
 
Found on a FB group:
412 basic chassis, S/N 557, deep chassis, base plate present, belt cover missing, ink-stamped data plate, Papst motor dated 1x Sept. 1957.
 
I have a 411, similar to the early 412s, it has three speeds with the rotating knob for the different pulleys. Square motor actuated by a solenoid, General motor company I believe? Cast iron flywheel with aluminum player that sits on top.

Dave
 
I have a 412 - 4 with the electronic valve/tube speed control which forms the baseplate serial No. 633, screen printed fairchild data plate, papst motor, rotary switch for speed select and toggle on off. It is missing it's belt cover (platter has single crowned flat belt groove) I would greatly appreciate an outline of the cover used on this machine if anyone is willing to trace theirs for me, It will be the small curved one with the green window. or better yet if someone has a scrapper for parts as I also need to get a new spindle made or a second hand platter as the previous owners grand children discovered it in the cupboard and were using it as a roundabout. This one is in the UK and was sent by Fairchild to the Limit motor works in London to see if they could make a suitable motor, a few years later it was being used as a doorstop and was purchased by the previous owner (who was shown around after a job interview) in the 60's for £5 (quite a lot of money then)
 
Last edited:
I can trace the cover from my 411 which I'm virtually certain is identical, but perhaps a photo along with a ruler for scale would be better? You could enlarge to scale and perhaps get better accuracy?
 
The small curved belt cover didn't have a window. Some were plastic, some were aluminum, depending on when it was made. The bigger version had the green window. As far as I know, all 412-4 units were equipped with the deeper, molded plastic belt cover with the green window. It's the only one that would fit the rotary switch and knob for the ED control. 412-2 units also used the deeper cover, as they had a mechanical belt groove switching device. Every 412-1 that I've seen uses the same platter as the 412-2, but they don't have a provision for changing the belt between the grooves unless you stick your finger under the belt cover and manually move it.

A suitable UK motor for one shouldn't be hard to find. The earlier units used the fabulous Papst motor from Germany, which was used in a number of different turntables. Later examples used the ubiquitous motor commonly referred to as the "Borg Death Cube." With the electronic drive, you shouldn't even need to change the motor, just install a proper 220V 50Hz transformer on the electronic drive unit.
 
I have a 411, similar to the early 412s, it has three speeds with the rotating knob for the different pulleys. Square motor actuated by a solenoid, General motor company I believe? Cast iron flywheel with aluminum player that sits on top.

Dave

Could you post some pics? I've never heard of a 411.
 
Just found some online. Very unusual - essentially a 412 but with a big Ashland hysteresis motor and a three speed mechanism. Considering that the platter appears to be the same as the 412, I have no idea how they managed to get the 78 speed to work.
 
Just found some online. Very unusual - essentially a 412 but with a big Ashland hysteresis motor and a three speed mechanism. Considering that the platter appears to be the same as the 412, I have no idea how they managed to get the 78 speed to work.
The speeds work with different pulleys that are selectable by rotating the knob. Mine is not the one with the Ashland (411H), mine has a Borg Death Cube. It looks nearly identical to the 412-2 and 412-4 cosmetically, but I think it's very different underneath. Mine has a large, 8lb or so cast iron sub platter which is about 10 1/2" in diameter, and the aluminum platter that you see sits on top of that. It uses a single drive belt around the cast iron platter. I'll get it out later and take some more detailed pictures.
 
I have a 412 - 4 with the electronic valve/tube speed control which forms the baseplate serial No. 633, screen printed fairchild data plate, papst motor, rotary switch for speed select and toggle on off. It is missing it's belt cover (platter has single crowned flat belt groove) I would greatly appreciate an outline of the cover used on this machine if anyone is willing to trace theirs for me, It will be the small curved one with the green window. or better yet if someone has a scrapper for parts as I also need to get a new spindle made or a second hand platter as the previous owners grand children discovered it in the cupboard and were using it as a roundabout. This one is in the UK and was sent by Fairchild to the Limit motor works in London to see if they could make a suitable motor, a few years later it was being used as a doorstop and was purchased by the previous owner (who was shown around after a job interview) in the 60's for £5 (quite a lot of money then)

contact ak member sheltiedave he has a 412 e/d.
 
Here are some detailed, though not great quality, pics of my 411, S/N 275. Getting it out spurred me to open up the bearing and clean it out. The ball bearing (3/8") had two pretty serious flat spots, but fortunately I had a ceramic 3/8" on hand. I cleaned everything with lighter fluid and then re oiled, still in great shape after 60 years! How close is this to your 412-4?

View media item 6467View media item 6469View media item 6468View media item 6470View media item 6472View media item 6471View media item 6475View media item 6476
 
Back
Top Bottom