Help! I've just bought a Garrard 401!

[DarrenHW]

As per the title I had the opportunity to pick up a Garrard 401 the other day and I couldn't pass it up, I've given it a quick spin and everything seems to work as it should, speed seems pretty stable and it doesn't make any horrible noises however I'm now in a bit of a quandary about what to do with it for the following reasons:

It has no plinth.
This pretty much means I can't listen to it, any recommendations for a budget solution? I have plenty of hard wood / Ply / MDF knocking about. I've found a template for the plinth cut out so DIY is an option.

Arm.
I have an RB300 kicking about I could use with this but have no idea where to mount the arm, can anyone point me in the direct of where I can find this info?

Servicing.
From what I've read so far there are a few oily bits that will need attention, I'm pretty handy but very inexperienced with TT's and I've never dealt with anything this old. Everything looks pretty simple and well built, but I've read threads about stretched springs etc, are spare parts readily available / are they easy enough to service?

How old is it?
The serial number is 06733 and the stamp on the underside is 602 which if what I've read is correct this means it was built in the second week of 1966, can anyone confirm this? If this is correct it makes it one of the early ones (no switched strobe though) as Garrards of this era seem to improve technically the later they were built would a later model be a technically better.

How will it compare with my Techie?
Sorry if this seems like a subjective question, whilst I may be new to this I've been on here long enough to know only I can decide whether I prefer the Techie or the 401 so this is not a "which it be better" question but a request for fellow members who have owned both so share their experience of the TT's.

Do I just sell it on?
As much as I'd like to play with this I do have a conscience. I know there are people who love these old Garrards who (quite rightly) would be disgusted by an inexperienced newbie such as myself fudging about with it, is this a truely vintage TT that should be protected with a preservation order or can I fiddle with it with a clear conscience?

Finally some photos:

[Wakefield Turntables]

Darren it's Andy here, you bought the celestion 44's from me, remember? Anyway I've had loads of fun restoring a 301 so I can give you some advice. I understand your pretty good with woodwork so knock yourself up something from birchply if you have any, it needs to to at least 50-60mm thick, mines 90mm. I tried granite and sandstone plinths and preferred birchply. Skip MDF if you can.

The rega arm will work pretty well and you can find lots of information just simply by googling around but VINYL ENGINE forum might be a very good starting point. You might want to flog the Rega and buy a SME309 and if your budget stretches a decent 2nd hand Denon 103, this is considered a very good match and is indeed what I use on my 301, except I use the 3012 rather than the 309.

At lot of 301/401 owners try and find a 12" arm (usually SME or Ortofon), these are probably what you will see on some of the higher end 401's and may wish to get if you decide you like the 401. The 12" arms are usually partnered with exotic highend carts like Kiseki's, Koetsu's and other exotica, I still believe a decent Denon 103 or Shure V 15mk3 work wonders.

With regards lubrication, you might want to just check how well the various switches work and maybe add a little lube (oo-er) to help them out. Check the bearing this may need a small amount of oil and again there are lots and lots of sites which will tell you how to do this. You might want to have a look at your idler wheel and check for damage. Grab yourself a strobe checker to make sure the decks running to speed, these can be downloaded and printed of you dont have one. You may also want to check the break pad, if its worn replace it, these can be found for a few quid off ebay. I think thats covered most of the basics, get it mounted into a plinth and have a listen. It will compare pretty well against your 1210 (remember I have both ) but wont beat it. I have one purely to listen to classical, jazz, vocal with my Quad ESL57's, I drink single malt and have a very chilled out time with the Garrard . I think the 1210 is the better deck but ultimately only you can decide.

[Qwin]

Nice one Darren

The 401 is a very good deck I have heard some very nice examples.

They need a fairly massy plinth to deal with the large wobbly motor, many use slate but the ones available off the shelf are £700 or more.

You could allways use concrete

[Wakefield Turntables]

You might want to have a look at my restoration thread

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...01+restoration

And if you check in the the Idler section you wil also see a 401 restoration project!

Forgot to mention as well that you might as well stick with your original Garrard rubber mat, I've tried Sorbothane, cork, EVA, Resomat and Acromat and still think the original mat works very very well indeed. This might save you a few quid.

[Ali Tait]

Love my 401, have it in a twin tier slate plinth with a Tecnoarm at the moment, but pman on getting a Trans-Fi arm at some point.

If the deck is in good working order, it's mostly the bearing and motor that need lubricating, and there are some rubber grommets that go hard so are worth replacung. Am at Glasto at the moment, PM me next week to remind me and I'll send a few links of servicing how to's.

A good way to see if it's been recently serviced is to remove the platter and see if the felt ring around the bearing spindle is wet with oil.

[CageyH]

Nice one.
Instead of buying some HiFi stuff, I finished a bathroom off.

[Barry]

Nice acquisition Darren - lucky man!

Your sample looks to be in very good condition. It has a low serial number and is a relatively early model: witness the raised cast logo on the top of the chassis and the double click supressors wired across the switch.

The advice offered by Andy (REXTON) makes admirable sense.

If it were mine, I would partner it with a a Series II SME arm (either 9" or 12") as these were contemporary with the 401. However there are a host of more modern arms available and there is no reason why you should not consider one of them (Ortofon/Jelco, SME, etc) to partner your 401.

Let us know how you get on.

Regards

[Macca]

Looks to be in lovely condition given it is 2 years older than me it has a lot less dings and scrapes. Not heard enough 401s to be certain but I would say they are at least on a par with an sl1200, but with a heftier bass that may or may not be a bit of colouration.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Looks to be in lovely condition given it is 2 years older than me it has a lot less dings and scrapes. Not heard enough 401s to be certain but I would say they are at least on a par with an sl1200, but with a heftier bass that may or may not be a bit of colouration.

My 301 has bass but nowhere as much as my 1210 mk2.

[The Barbarian]

That's interesting cos the only two decks ive ever heard that does real bass{to my ears} is a '401' & Tonwshend Elite Rock