I have a soft spot for Garrard, the Garrard of old, prior to the asset stripping of Plessey. But I am now retired - of limited means, so no 301 for me, the 401 I did have has been returned to it's original owner. I enjoy my Lab 80 mk1, it is a bit noisey but not from the listening seat.




Then I scored a dirty old 4hf of TM that has been sitting in the to do pile for a while:





And then tonyd gave me a kick up the arse by offering this one at a very reasonable price (along with cartridge, headshells, docs and templates). Just what I needed...





It did not need much to get it going - finish up the signal wiring, adjust idler height, stylus pressure and pickup rest off switch. It plays! I, however, do not share Tony's love of orange. I prefer a brutalist aesthetic which matches my budget constraints. 
So the work has started:





This is a repurposed hunk of slate - 50 mm thick and a bugger to cut. Once done it will be housed in a ply skirt. It is basically a copy of what I made for the 401 I had. The ply is the remains of a sheet I used for the Lab 80. I want to attempt mitring the skirt - something I've never had much success with in the past - you have to challenge yourself tho' eh.





The ply is 1060 x 600. I hope to get the skirt and have enough left for two layers of plinth for the 2nd 4HF. The slate plinth will have enough room on the back for an additional arm, a clone of the Supatrac Blackbird as seen in this thread from Lencoheaven.

So that is the plan, and it is underway. In the meantime any input, prodding or guidance will be appreciated. 
First up is the question of the spark supressor. The 4HF from Tony has a worn one in that it will start all by itself if left plugged in. This part is the same on 4HF, Lab 80, 301 and 401 - and most likely some others too. I plan to try and fix by replacing the 0.05 uf cap but I am not sure on how to go about the unpotting of the part - anyone have any experience with this? (pics stolen from www).

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

I like the Orange!

But a slate plinth would be even better.

50mm thick!? Sounds like a match made in heaven.

 I found an old pic of the 401 with the much missed Poppy posing alongside. I recall Owen directing me to the likely source of the slate:



You can see the circle of contact holes in the piece I am cutting up now.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

I like the old Garrards, they look timeless. Poppy likes the 401….
It would be difficult to unpot the original suppressor. I’d get a new one.
www.classichifi-shop.co.uk/product/suppressor-garrard-301401-original-casing-uprated-capacitor-and-resistor/

AMR-iFi R&D

Good luck PH. Like Citroen I quite like the orange but it'll be hard to go wrong with slate and wood.

Jan 16, 2023 20:27:32 GMT 12 colinf said:

I like the old Garrards, they look timeless. Poppy likes the 401….
It would be difficult to unpot the original suppressor. I’d get a new one.
www.classichifi-shop.co.uk/product/suppressor-garrard-301401-original-casing-uprated-capacitor-and-resistor/

Yes - unpotting seems marginal, but @ £13 = NZ$25 ish x 3 +shipping the cost soon mounts up. I wonder if this would be an ok substitute?

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

That should work fine. It has 47 ohms built in resistance.

AMR-iFi R&D

That arm was the first one I had, mid-late '60s as a schoolboy. Got as a separate unit. I don't remember if it got to a table.

Pretty soon afterward I had a Garrard SP25MKI, with the heavy platter (as has the MKII) and a Sonotone 9TAHC cartridge.

With Rola C8MX speakers, point source with a whizzer cone!  Mine were at first playing in, from, the carton they came in.

Then Dad built some ported cabinets for them.

We don't know how lucky we are! ;=})

Jan 17, 2023 20:42:08 GMT 12 RdM said:

That arm was the first one I had, mid-late '60s as a schoolboy. Got as a separate unit. I don't remember if it got to a table.

Pretty soon afterward I had a Garrard SP25MKI, with the heavy platter (as has the MKII) and a Sonotone 9TAHC cartridge.

With Rola C8MX speakers, point source with a whizzer cone!  Mine were at first playing in, from, the carton they came in.

Then Dad built some ported cabinets for them.

We don't know how lucky we are! ;=})

I have 2pair of C8MX in the shed somewhere, scavenged out of my old school's intercom system. 

Progress has been slow due to wet weather, the difficulty in cutting slate and waiting on parts from element14.

I had far less trouble cutting out the insert for the 401 - I wish I could remember what made it so comparatively easy. I did it with a jigsaw and a metal blade - took my time and got it done. This piece has managed to grab two blades, breaking from the jigsaw, gripping them tighter than excalibur.




I got so pissed off with the whole affair I resorted to the hacksaw, which worked remarkably well until the blade could no longer reach - turn to the masonry bits and I should have it done sooner rather than later.




Today element14 suppressors turned up - I don't know about their business model tho'. I had to order over $50 worth of components to avoid postage charges - since I had a few other bits and bobs I wanted this was not a problem for me, but prior to today I have had three different deliveries. Two separate deliveries of banana plugs, one for the black and one for the red ... oh well.
Anyway today the suppressors arrived so I took out the old one and thought about trying to fit the new one inside the old as size was not an issue.




I soon gave up on trying to dig out the old potting compound - it stunk and clung like shit to a blanket, so I had a think and then deemed to saw off the end (same hacksaw blade as the slate) retaining the mounting hole and then epoxy the cap to that:


 
Presto! A bit of cork to shim it up and Bobs me uncle. 
More later...

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

Finally completed the cut out.




I will do a test fit and tidy up tomorrow.

Removed the springs from the first deck, I wonder if anyone would have a use for these - don't know of a Garrard forum like Lencoheaven. Might try on their FB page.




onward and upward

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

Well I tidied up the cuts, made a trial fit, made some more cuts and lo:






Looking quite good through these eyes. Need to get some longer m6 bolts for mounting, and start on the skirt. I was so pleased I rushed no 2 into tonyd's frame:




Quite pleased that I spotted a missing circlip in just placing no2 in the frame, might be able to pick one up locally...

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

Well well well. That was a big one, the cyclone I mean. Here in Gizzy we got hit quite hard, lotsa rain, lotsa wind, lotsa flooding and no power, internet down for a week. Gave me time tho to get the first plinth completed. I am quite pleased with the look from a distance. Just don't get too close.




My mitring ambitions came to nought, seems my table saw does not have the accuracy for such cuts, nor do my hands or my eyes. The upside is that I could resort to my bodgy aesthetic to hide my incompetence. I found Short Cut Metals online, they cut small amounts of stuff for the likes of us DIYers, and ordered mild steel angle iron to cover the corners, treated with CRC Rust converter gives them a matching finish to my chipamp and the slate top plate.

Also managed to wire up two of the MPM4 headshells with a Shure M44-7 and a Stanton 500. I need to equalise the weights yet ad one is 28g, the other 26g. Once I get them the same I should be able to swap to compare.




Hey ho! No. 2 waits in the wings.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

The pics of the devastation are scary….
Looks good. Is that not the slate plinth?
Does it run at the right speed? I had a Garrard TA (I think) which always ran slightly slow, almost as if the pulley was for 60Hz operation.

AMR-iFi R&D

Great pics, once I viewed them in a larger size!

Ah, I loved that arm, what memories. The bearings seemed good, and quite a chunky arm. Amazing that you got two head shells!

Yes while I have a hand mitre saw and also an as old as I am Tanner table saw with a tilting table up to 45 degrees, I haven't tried fine cabinetry joints with either yet!

The slate looks good, must make it a substantial deck!  Thanks for sharing.

Re the floods and devastation in the region, I have a friend south of Hastings on the Paki Paki road who was out of touch for a few days.

Of course there's been lots of coverage in the media, radio too. Dissected a bit by Mediawatch. A battery powered transistor radio would have been useful kit.

Elsewhere, I found quite a lot of photos of not only the current damage, but also of flooding in that region over a century ago, from this Facebook group:

(I don't post on Facebook but use a minimal login to be able to read)

www.facebook.com/groups/oldhawkesbay/

Within the posts, or it may have been in the comments, which I expanded and read too, there's a sequence of 60+ current pics to view.

www.facebook.com/shellieevansphotography/posts/pfbid0uaUAxEALxbc1GvUfgCZ4AFHCpUUXbJSb4wbdBPKS8g6PVvaubKG1RMqQsuV7bCr9l

Also on her own page:

www.facebook.com/shellieevansphotography/photos

But before that, I'd looked up known flood plains in Hawke's Bay. He wasn't in one, although Paki Paki may have been flooded historically.

catalogue.data.govt.nz/dataset/hawkes-bay-flood-risk-areas

There's a similar map for Auckland, where I am. Yet people persist in building and living on flood plains. (And near volcanoes, of course!)

Another friend in Karekare has got back in touch, cellphone coverage only via 2 degrees, still no power, although his Lone Kauri Rd access/egress recently restored after some days.

I mentioned kerosene fridges, remembered from early years;- still made. Possibly the best resilience might be from a pure sine wave petrol or diesel generator.

Talking with an electrician/technician/ham and also audio enthusiast tonight who looked at installing small scale solar, say a caravan, was shocked at the shoddy stuff on the market.

~ RdM

Feb 21, 2023 2:50:02 GMT 12 RdM said:

[...] but also of flooding in that region over a century ago [...]

[...] Yet people persist in building and living on flood plains. (And near volcanoes, of course!) [...]

Apologies for the tangent, I did think of starting a new thread in Other, Photography etc. Just a final note re the above; from a tweet less than 24hrs old:

Best wishes.  There is talk of tsunami swept away human bodies as well as animals, from helicopter pilots, in the thread that was in.  Gruesome.

Back to the slate.

Feb 20, 2023 19:51:12 GMT 12 colinf said:

Looks good. Is that not the slate plinth?
Does it run at the right speed? I had a Garrard TA (I think) which always ran slightly slow, almost as if the pulley was for 60Hz operation.

Yes - slate top plate - 20 kg gross at the mo'. Speed is a wee bit wobbly at the moment - on start up, but settles down after about 30 min. Initially seemed to be running a bit slow, with speed control turned fully to the "+" side could just get to 33 rpm, now tho I get 33 at about the halfway mark  - just a bit of running needed.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

Ok, you might want to lubricate the motor bearing, esp the neglected bottom one. (Only going on experience from 301/401.)

AMR-iFi R&D

Motor bearings lubricated, top and bottom, actually did the second one today, along with spindle bearing which was dry as a bone but looking good nonetheless. Slight dimple in the bottom thrust pad so I turned that over, disassembled and reassembled motor, lubricated, added power, disassembled, lubed and reassembled idler. Powered on and adjusted to 33.3 - all good. Despite it's looks this may be a better motor unit. Time will tell.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

And then another one turns up:





A bit of a basket case this one. Platter mat stiff and cracked, same with the idler wheel, headshell missing from tonearm, extensive corrosion...
Just what I want 'cause this means I can't really fuck it up if it is already pretty well fucked.

My mate is not impressed. Why do you need another one?

Well... you never know.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.