Garrard 401 and Neat tonearm project

Used Jelco arm here
https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/thre.../#post-4034019

Hello all, as with any project, to avoid mission creep I’ve set myself some terms of reference.

End goal

I really enjoyed Andrew’s restoration project, apart from the undoubted quality of the result I think it’s a public service to rescue something like that. That aside my end goal comes from that thread – spending a few hours, maybe on a Sunday, listening to a few records (I don’t have many and have no real plans to buy many more). I’d love to hear Karen Carpenter’s voice and Dusty in Memphis on this.

I don’t think that warrants much monetary expenditure and I don’t want to fall into the rabbit hole of an analogue quest. I’m really glad some people do though and I’ve enjoyed looking at the pictures of members’ systems here (that’s a tasteful set up Roy and thanks for the steer Alex) and reading comments on different combinations.

Sound quality

This isn’t too much of a concern because it’s in the eye (ear) of the beholder, in their room, with their music and their mood, memories… etc. but hopefully without their high tone deafness in one ear from using guns n’ things. My ‘main’ system has Linkwitz LXmini speakers plus sealed box subs fed by a PiDac or Chromecast Audio through a DCB1 mesmerize buffer to an AV amp with six channels. The upgrade path for this is limited – the amp is functional, but the LX vogue seems to be for Hypex or Modulus amps – maybe one day. I think one of the beauties of the active design is that the characteristics of the amp are less critical.

Reviews on the net describe the sound of those speakers as spatial and accurate and I like that… but… in the living room I have some Rogers JR149’s (leather topped!) fed by a Nad 3020 which sounds like a 70’s/80’s hifi playing music (strangely enough :rolleyes:) fairly cleanly, rather than a concert hall. And I like that too, just as much!

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that the project is mainly nostalgic and aesthetic and involves putting some well made bits together with a bit of experimentation.

Thanks Barry, I'm looking forward to putting it all together. I already have the post for the arm rest and I think the Lenco one on ebay is more like the original. In the meantime I've cuffed this...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...425aface_n.jpgArm rest by stax8, on Flickr

No prizes for guessing what I stuck on top of the post. I did trim it a bit so that I wouldn't bend the arm getting it out!

Martin, that looks like the one. The only picture I have of one from the net is this one I copied from an ebay sale years ago...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...674f50ac_n.jpgAnnotation 2020-06-28 172419 by stax8, on Flickr

If you have any other pictures that would be great, particularly the anti skate bit... and a link to your restored 301 (please).

Thanks again Barry, it's good to know that I might be able to get hold of a decent looking weight. It looks like the anti skate mechanism will apply a non-linear force to the arm which I gather is a good idea in general because the force pushing the stylus in is non linear but how that works in practice remains to be seen. The arm looks a bugger to set up!

An ebay seller is offering a Connoisseur fit bias weight that looks very much like it may do the job: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/williams-...sAAOSwijle42da

Steve, I will see if I can find the photos of the Neat arm, if they aren't on the computer it may take a couple of days to find the correct drive, I doubt I would have deleted them completely.

Here's an old picture of my restored 301, I really should take some new better ones, 301 serviced and resprayed by Ray at CTC, plinth is from Russ Collinson/Layers Of Beauty, arm is a SME M2-12R, cart is a Miyajima Zero A supplied by Hugo, I do have a couple of 401s I intend getting up to a similar level, but those plans have been set back a year or two.

https://i.imgur.com/6jAXuTU.jpg

I think the challenges are as follows:

Motor unit - this seems to be the easy bit, the idler wheel is 'rubbery' with no flat spots and there's no play in its bearing. I recall checking the thrust pad and housing when I looked at it years ago and there didn't seem to be any wear on that compared with pictures from the net. The springs aren't shiny but they are springy so I doubt whether I'll change them unless anybody thinks otherwise - I'm far from an expert. I suspect what grommets there are would need changing plus the felt pad on the main bearing and I'll rewire the whole unit. Any suggestions for other things to check would be great. The main issue with it seems to be the lack of use.

Plinth - I picked this up cheap and I did't really know what its purpose was. At first I thought it was some kind of storage or transport protection but it's clearly not. The two sections of ply were clamped by these mahoosive bolt arrangements.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3418384f_n.jpg2020-07-01_02-11-49 by stax8, on Flickr

They certainly give the plinth some heft and stability but even though I like functional (even industrial - or in this case agricultural!) design I don't like the bolts protruding at the top so I have some squash balls ready. The challenge there will be to trap them securely and evenly - I thought I'd use thick steel square washers with about a 15mm hole to ensure uniformity. Any suggestions welcome...

If I stick with balls then I'll need to cover those holes so I was thinking of a plate of thinnish black acrylic covering the whole thing apart from an armboard which could be a rectangle of acrylic about the thickness of the Garrard top plate. Mind you, I like the idea of veneer instead for the main plinth deck.

Tonearm - I think this could be a challenge. I'll need the falling weight and the wires may need replacing (I haven't done a continuity test yet but they look tired). I've had a look around the net but can't seem to find any information on removing the cartridge connector from the arm tube. Any ideas??

Thanks Martin there's no rush for the pictures - this 'project' has waited over 35 years! That's another lovely set-up. I... must... not... be... tempted. Get thee behind me Satan!

And thanks again Geoff, why couldn't I find that! It does look like it would do the job. He says in the description that he can make a smaller one (for the same arm) as well so I think I should do some research on that type of mechanism, what cartridge I plan to use etc....

Scanned from my 1971 G W Smith catalogue. May be of interest.

https://i.imgur.com/3YMEo2M.png?1

Steve, I just waded through my old Turbolister files, I found the ebay listing for when I sold my arm, but can't copy the photos, however I now know the month and year I took the photos so an easy search, also if I still have them there is a nice close up of the arm rest and a couple of poor photos of the complete arm, I'll see what I can find.