A.Grail
07-10-2025, 11:13
https://i.ibb.co/5hMBKGJJ/BASTION-PLATE-2.jpg (https://ibb.co/LdknNYss)
The 301 was designed in 1953 and released in 1954. Three years prior to the majors releasing STEREO. Asking a styli to track left & right is one thing asking it to track left right up and down quite another. In short Garrard were on the back-foot with the new fangled format. Several changes ensued (including the oil bearing) but notably the introduction of the rim to the chassis. Garrard knew rigidity was required to bring about accurate tracing of the record groove. (See the underside of the 401 for their answer to the known issue)
https://i.ibb.co/rKCMjRBB/BASTION-301-vs-401.jpg (https://ibb.co/bjSL0M44)
- There are a number of approaches to stiffening the top of the chassis so we played about with H brackets and various other designs with the following criteria - No drilling - gluing - must be fully reversible. In terms of materials we ruled metal out straight away - Steels often become magnetic, can scratch the paintwork and offer poor intrinsic damping. Carbon fiber seemed the obvious solution but there are many types offering a variety of downsides. 'Fun' in the end we were forced to have a company hand lay and press our own - The sunny upside hope here was we could test various types. Sure Carbon fiber is lightweight placing less stress on the already thin chassis but it's stiffness can reach x6 that of Aluminum. With a few more adjustments a high graphite content sheet was pressed which also offered a little in the way of intrinsic damping. We called it the Bastion plate and it works well in meeting the criteria we set out.
https://i.ibb.co/JXW8p9r/Photoroom-20240318-122545.jpg (https://ibb.co/FGkcYF8)
https://i.ibb.co/cSTfjnYc/AUDIO-GRAIL-GARRARD-301-BASTION-1.jpg (https://ibb.co/Jwk69J3R)
We also seem to have caught a bug for Carbon fiber so with a rather British belt n braces thought we also made a bearing brace for the underside of the chassis (a particularly weak spot) anyhow here are some images.
https://i.ibb.co/Qv16NjKk/E16-CD7-EE-E2-A6-4-FBD-959-C-4-AA0-F6611325-1-201-a-Photoroom-2.jpg (https://ibb.co/Sw9Kn73c)
https://i.ibb.co/Y7j1BGc8/DSC-6017-2.jpg (https://ibb.co/zhfBVwXb)
The 301 was designed in 1953 and released in 1954. Three years prior to the majors releasing STEREO. Asking a styli to track left & right is one thing asking it to track left right up and down quite another. In short Garrard were on the back-foot with the new fangled format. Several changes ensued (including the oil bearing) but notably the introduction of the rim to the chassis. Garrard knew rigidity was required to bring about accurate tracing of the record groove. (See the underside of the 401 for their answer to the known issue)
https://i.ibb.co/rKCMjRBB/BASTION-301-vs-401.jpg (https://ibb.co/bjSL0M44)
- There are a number of approaches to stiffening the top of the chassis so we played about with H brackets and various other designs with the following criteria - No drilling - gluing - must be fully reversible. In terms of materials we ruled metal out straight away - Steels often become magnetic, can scratch the paintwork and offer poor intrinsic damping. Carbon fiber seemed the obvious solution but there are many types offering a variety of downsides. 'Fun' in the end we were forced to have a company hand lay and press our own - The sunny upside hope here was we could test various types. Sure Carbon fiber is lightweight placing less stress on the already thin chassis but it's stiffness can reach x6 that of Aluminum. With a few more adjustments a high graphite content sheet was pressed which also offered a little in the way of intrinsic damping. We called it the Bastion plate and it works well in meeting the criteria we set out.
https://i.ibb.co/JXW8p9r/Photoroom-20240318-122545.jpg (https://ibb.co/FGkcYF8)
https://i.ibb.co/cSTfjnYc/AUDIO-GRAIL-GARRARD-301-BASTION-1.jpg (https://ibb.co/Jwk69J3R)
We also seem to have caught a bug for Carbon fiber so with a rather British belt n braces thought we also made a bearing brace for the underside of the chassis (a particularly weak spot) anyhow here are some images.
https://i.ibb.co/Qv16NjKk/E16-CD7-EE-E2-A6-4-FBD-959-C-4-AA0-F6611325-1-201-a-Photoroom-2.jpg (https://ibb.co/Sw9Kn73c)
https://i.ibb.co/Y7j1BGc8/DSC-6017-2.jpg (https://ibb.co/zhfBVwXb)