Turntables

[Roy S]

Friend of mine lost his Uncle recently and is currently down in Hythe sorting out his Bungalow. He'd told me there were three turntables there but he wasn't sure what they were but has offered me one if I'd like it. Any ideas what model the Garrard is and what a weird looking arm!

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/Lodger56/Photo0067.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/Lodger56/Photo0068.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/Lodger56/Photo0069.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/Lodger56/Photo0071.jpg

[Macca]

Choice beteen a Lenco and an Lp 12 - nice - The garrard looks a bit too vintage for me.

[Rare Bird]

Garrard..LAB 80.

How much does he want for the GL78?

[Roy S]

Not for nowt unfortunately and I have told him the true value of the Linn. What's the Goldring worth?

[Roy S]

Garrard..LAB 80.

How much does he want for the GL78?

Will find out for you (if I don't have it myself). From what he's told me they should be in good nick but I'm not sure what cartridges etc. they have in them.

Better pic of the Goldring, looks to be in good shape

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/Lodger56/Photo0072.jpg

[chris@panteg]

The GL78 looks a minter , very nice .

LP12 looks in great nick too , and from AT labs , probably needs a service .

[DSJR]

ALL THREE decks will need a service now, especially if they've not been used for a good while.

The Garrard is a Lab 80 and I know a thing or two about these nowadays :lol:

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/cb214f2b.jpg

Mine above is a mk2 Lab 80 and a rather fine piece of mid 60's auto turntable memorabelia it is :) The mk1 version you have is a little more frail around the mech - if someone tries to cycle the auto mech backwards a breakage of an important "peg" will almost certainly occur. However, once the main bearing is greased and gear-oiled, everything that needs lubricating is done carefully and if your idler wheel has no flats on it as mine does (many years stored engaged to the motor), the drive should be smooth and quiet. As for the arm, derided it may be, but it'll happily take many 1.5 - 2g trackers as long as the bearings are set properly, the auto trip is VERY carefully set and the cartridge isn't highly compliant. Mine has had a Shure M55E (pictured), a V15 IV (perfect when using the damper as the current M397Xe uses) and now has a vintage Grado F1+, which it seems to love. I love it to bits, although I'm currently rekindling a love affair I once had with an AP76, which sounds lovely with an AT120E fitted (the 120E doesn't like the Lab 80 arm though)

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/97504fb4.jpg

As for the other two decks, the LP12 has had more than its fair share of bullsh*t written about it and I can't be a*sed any more. Spares hideously expensive but available and it's best left to an experienced dealer to set it up properly - SOME Audio T dealers may be ok, but by NO means all of 'em I can assure you (going on the sticker on the back). I have a GL78 waiting in the wings for DSJR annihilation (:eyebrows:), but even with the existing arm (fit some "Desmo" V blocks to the arm bearings), the results are superb and well worth the effort. If you're not an audiophool or an arch Linnie as I once was, the Lenco will give you so much fun - and don't ditch the arm, as I have hopes that someone will cotton on to making a new arm/headshell/wiring "wand" that will simply drop into the existing bearing assembly before too long and keep the thing basically original. In the meantime a vintage Goldring G800, or modern 1012GX will work fine, AT120E, Shure 97XE, Stanton 681EEE with brush (a pal is using one in a GL75 as I type this) or Pickering XV15/625 should all go well in the stock arm. Best to replace the exit cables to amp though..

Crikey, I can't stop once I start, can I?????

[Roy S]

Thanks for taking the time to impart all that useful info. David. My friend's considering keeping one himself but he's by no means into hifi (although he's got a lot of vinyl, he's into collecting singles and was involved in the writing of one of the guiness book of hit singles). He's currently using a Bush (!) turntable he bought for a fiver at a boot sale plugged into an amp & speakers I gave him (CAC?). Sounds like the cost that maybe involved in sorting out these old beauties may put him off a little!

[DSJR]

The lab 80, if the condition is fine, should enable him to get good sounds from his records. if the thing still has the auto spindle, which doesn't like abuse I admit, then he can stack his 45's and have some fun. All he needs to find out is if the arm and main bearing have all their balls :eyebrows: - the arm should be ok and never needs to be removed, but the platter and the rotating part of the bearing is held on with TWO clips and only one (the black/blue-circlip) should be removed to access the idler and motor bearings. I have a thing about EP80 gear oil and the main bearing can be lubricated a drop at a time from the top - patience over a week or three here for the oil to work its way into the sleeves and down the shaft. The heavy duty main ball race needs some LM grease and because mine had balls missing, I replaced them all with something a touch larger which still easily fitted into their mounting fibre washer. Far easier said than done. Service manuals available from Vinyl Engine.

The Lenco service would almost seem like a walk in the park in comparison, and at least the deck offers a sensitive auto-stop/lift-off at side end. The arm's V blocks wear after ten years or so but the desmo ones I refer to should see us all out in comparison. Idlers usually just need a clean, as does the underside of the platter on its driven surface. The Lenco-Heaven site has threads galore on servicing, modding, butchering and bodging these things.

[Macca]

So he's upgrading from a £5 Bush (was anything by Bush ever any good?) to a Linn Sondek LP12? He's gonna notice that change!

[Roy S]

So he's upgrading from a £5 Bush (was anything by Bush ever any good?) to a Linn Sondek LP12? He's gonna notice that change!

Don't think he will through the amp & speakers I gave him :lol:

[Macca]

Well - source first... what did you give him and how bad can it be? Amstrad?

[Roy S]

Early 80s (?) Goodmans amp (which does actually have a phono stage!) & a pair of JVC speakers from a mini system (which aren't matched to the amp in any way shape or form - amps probably 40-50 watts and speakers are probably designed to take a maximum of 10, told him not to turn it up too loud)

[Macca]

Early 80s (?) Goodmans amp (which does actually have a phono stage!))

Black one with the controls behind a flap?

[Roy S]

No, it's a kind of muddy brown colour (got a tuner & graphic equaliser that match in the loft)

[Rare Bird]

The Garrard is a Lab 80 and I know a thing or two about these nowadays :lol:



LAB 80 eh! id have never thought that :rolleyes:

[Roy S]

This is the graphic equaliser, says its a gsq600 & the amps in the same range -

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/Lodger56/gmge.jpg

[Macca]

That looks black to me? That is later than the one I am thinking of, won't be that bad? - I've heard a Linn Sondek through a really cheap Marantz - and I mean not worthy of the badge - and it was still pretty good.

[Roy S]

Will be interesting. I'll need to convince him that he should sit the turntable on something solid, he currently uses a piece of thick cardboard precariously balanced on a filing cabinet.

[Macca]

:D Keep us posted Roy

[Roy S]

will do Martin, there may be some 'stuff' coming up for sale :eyebrows: