The Garrard 301 Restoration Project PT CI - Inspiration from a massive error...

This update isn't going to be as big as I wanted which means I'll probably post something else later in the week. So, first massive error, I made a complete school boy error by not giving sufficient space to mount the 301 from the SME 3012 which meant not being able to mount the 3012 . Anyway being a positive individual I took the opportunity to build a test rig for the other two SME 3009's.



As you can see the test rig is very very blue peter but it served me well. I have rejigged the position of both tonearms and they now work perfectly which means I don't have to fiddle moving one tonearm to get the other one to work. I have also tested my platter ring and that has plenty of room and does not catch either arm. Using the platter ring adds extra mass and corrects warped records. Both arms are not silent in function. I have been performing experiments with earth leads today to try and minimise the numbers of leads sitting under the 301. I just don't like the idea of additional leads, I always like to keep things simple.



I've been testing both the MONO and the MM 3009 tonearms. Here's a pick of my beloved v15 mk 3.



The test rig will also be used to do some experiments with wood oils and varnish. I intend to make this plinth less brutal in finish. There is now nothing stopping me to go into full production of the new plinth. All tonearms have been showed to work perfectly and they are all silent with zero hum. I will improve on the cable management and I'll talk more about the construction of the new plinth in the next post.

So, as ever stay tuned......