Vintage turntable repairers -- your least favorite decks to work on
- Thread starter bangsezmax
- Start date
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
Garrards with C4 cartridge carriers. Commonly love to go intermittent. Replaced a far more reliable headshell system in the name of cost cutting. Plessey at work. The Garrard GT 35 has a Matsushita motor which has common issues like speed going wonky and the motor control IC is unobtainable. All of the Garrard Unimechs were horrible, controls were unrefined in their feel, modular design meant extensive disassembly to overhaul or repair.
flavio81
Turntable technician
I always thought those Garrards were the worst that brand did. And i have not serviced one yet. But looking at your comment, I'd say the only GOOD thing about them is that they use Matsushita electronics.
Doug G.
Lunatic Member
The BIC 1000 is a great turntable but there are a number of micro switches to perform all the functions. It helps to have a thorough understanding of the sequences and mechanics and electronics before attempting to fix one.
The tonearm always going to the 7" position on BICs is always caused by the long cam followers (size select and tonearm rest) sticking and not allowing them to move into position to stop the arm. Cleaning and relubing is the solution.
If the pins are broken off the red cam, abuse is indicated.
The most difficult changer I ever worked on was a late forties Webster. Of course, I was only three at the time.
Doug
Two of those cheap thin metal levers underneath are stuck together instead of being able to move independently. Silicone fluid from the cueing has probably leaked out and mixed with the petroleum lubricant; the mixture gets sticky. Clean them out and your fix is in!
Until something else gets stuck from the silicone fluid. Or one of the sharp edges on the metal levers slices through a pin on the plastic cam wheel...
MOST of the Garrard GT belt drives with speed issues can be fixed by recapping the control board (the big power supply filter is almost always OK, actually). The UPC1003 IC was unavailable for a long time but they seem to have popped up again from EBay sellers in the Far East. I don't know if they are any good.
The capacitors in the Matsushita electronics are the problem...even on Technics (several Technics models used the same circuit and motor, and they have just as many of the same problems as the Garrard GT-35).
The Garrard Unimechs are good if you like tearing out your hair. Either you use a can of penetrating lube with a long snorkel and lots of prayer, or you spend altogether too much time taking the subchassis out. And once you are done, you've got a full-size record changer that works like a cheap minichanger (because that's what the Unimech subchassis was), with high lateral tonearm friction (except the upscaled Model 70, 770, 775, etc. which had an upgraded bearing that must have cost Garrard all of a schilling to add to the basic Unimech).
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I electroplated copper onto the brass motor pulleys. Advantage: once you had the speed right, it would not fall off like the tape or wear off like the nail enamel.
Doug G.
Lunatic Member
The lube on the follower pivot gets sticky on it's own. Silicone compound leaking into it would only help but it's doubtful that would happen. The cue lift pin is a ways away.
I have never seen a BIC where the followers sliced through a pin. Heck, my own 980 is 38 years old and there is barely any wear evident on the pins.
Doug
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I first saw the sliced-through pins during a stint when I filled-in for a tech at a BIC warranty center. It was a known problem! When they closed I bought their parts stock, which still included a hefty supply of plastic cams. They came in handy when, later on, the auto trips started to become unreliable. Something happened to the little white rubber friction ring, making it too slippery, and the new cams, which came with all the levers installed but free of any lubricant, was the easiest fix.
The silicone would spread out everywhere when it leaked out of the cue damping cylinder. WHEN it leaked out, not IF.
Everybody's experience is different, though. Where I was, other shops' technicians hated the Garrard Lab 80. They sent them all to me and I made lots of money off them.
I'd call that donut a design flaw. It's critical to the auto functions, it's very fussy about the proper friction, and it's about as buried as it can be.
Westy56
A symphony of paradox
I mistakenly said the opposite earlier in the thread. A very simple TT to service. :yes:
I thought of another one -- the dreaded belt-drive BPC Sonys 
uke:
Including but not limited to:
PS-LX100H
PS-LX150H
PS-LX200H
PS-LX250H
PS-LX300USB
PS-LX350H
I swear the motors are the same ones used in the Crosley's. Pitch is adjusted by sticking a jeweler's screwdriver into one of the two holes (one for 33 and one for 45) in the motor housing at which point the motor will race. You have to kind of "guess" how much to turn it before pulling it back out to see what the speed really is.
Oh, and they're the most failure-prone motors ever.
Oh, and they (mostly) have built in AT3600 carts so there's nothing to improve there.
Oh, and they're also lightweight, flimsy plastic. Even the 350H, which does a very good job masquerading as a Technics 1200. From a distance, at least.
I hate when customers bring them in because I have to tell them that the performance and reliability ceiling on those is very, very low. Might as well just chuck it and start over. And there's no trade-in value.
They're an abomination, and a stain on the Sony name.
uke:Including but not limited to:
PS-LX100H
PS-LX150H
PS-LX200H
PS-LX250H
PS-LX300USB
PS-LX350H
I swear the motors are the same ones used in the Crosley's. Pitch is adjusted by sticking a jeweler's screwdriver into one of the two holes (one for 33 and one for 45) in the motor housing at which point the motor will race. You have to kind of "guess" how much to turn it before pulling it back out to see what the speed really is.
Oh, and they're the most failure-prone motors ever.
Oh, and they (mostly) have built in AT3600 carts so there's nothing to improve there.
Oh, and they're also lightweight, flimsy plastic. Even the 350H, which does a very good job masquerading as a Technics 1200. From a distance, at least.
I hate when customers bring them in because I have to tell them that the performance and reliability ceiling on those is very, very low. Might as well just chuck it and start over. And there's no trade-in value.
They're an abomination, and a stain on the Sony name.
NoTransistors
Dual Turntables Super-Restorer
The PE turntable is the worst piece of junk I have ever had the misery to attempt a repair on. The BSR 710/810 and all Garrards pale in comparison.
Cut my mechanical skills teeth on a Triumph TR7.
Cut my mechanical skills teeth on a Triumph TR7.
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
Perpetuum-Ebner changers were very quirky, and the most complex mechanism ever built in a changer. Only Germans could build that. On the other hand, they are worth the trouble as they are very excellent performing changers.
I only had one PE turntable come through the shop and it was several years ago. IIRC it had a proprietary cartridge (Ortofonish-looking) and was missing the stylus so it was deemed not worth the effort by the owner. Guess I should count myself as lucky there.
I have two. One looks nice, but mechanically it has been a mess. The cam is slightly distorted, so I had to file it down so it wouldn't jam things up. The center spindle sleeve isn't fixed to the mounting plate anymore, so it will sometimes move with a stack of records on it and knock the whole works out of kilter. The other is rougher looking, but works just fine. Nothing more than the standard clean and lube to make it work perfectly. I may just give up on the quirky one as a changer, fit the single play spindle in there and never remove it.
NoTransistors
Dual Turntables Super-Restorer
There is nothing special about the sound from a PE. No rumble, but the front and the entire rear of the arm are cheap plastic, just like on most low-end guys. Even when they work, there will be an occasional hiccup.
The Dual 1019 kicks its ass, and is a joy to work on [almost].
Now, how about those Lincoln turntables from the early 1950s?
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
The Lincoln or the Thorens TDW-224 the only changers I regard as worse (but they are not hardly ordinary changers). Agree in practice the Dual 1019 being superior to a P-E in every way and vastly easier to maintain. Which is also in my book, the finest changer Dual ever built.
There is a every wide range in the quality level PE produced depending upon the model. I have one coming to work on soon for a friend and I'm hoping it is one of the better ones.