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L12 owner restoring a Garrard Lab 80

Stephen Barnard

New Member
I currently run a high-end (Aro, Keel, Krystal, Radikal) LP 12 - happy man. However I play a lot of mono jazz records and have heard many times that to do them justice I need a mono cartridge - not easy to swap out cartridges on a Aro.

About two weeks ago I literally found in someone’s garbage a Garrard Lab 80 - it is a beautiful piece of mid-century design and I love it’s look. I’ve started playing around/ restoring it and am thinking about making it my mono deck.

Here is the question(s) - Does a Lab 80 have the potential, with a mono cartridge, to sound better playing a mono record than the described LP12 with a stereo cartridge? If so what mono cartridge do you recommend - hearing them before purchase is next to impossible. Thanking you in advance for your thoughts.
 
one of my favourite decks; looks-wise.

can't advise re: mono carts, but would just check that your lab 80 has the right diameter motor pulley thingy for uk mains.
I bought one on ebay a few years back from a chap in portsmouth, and it had the US pulley - ran at the wrong speed, and bodging it was beyond me.
very unlikely for such a thing to happen to someone else, but just thought I'd mention it.
 
Way to go, Hoser, recycle eh?

One doesn't necessarily need have a mono cartridge to play mono records, as stereo cartridges can be channel summed. The most important thing here is getting the stylus tip correct for the groove dimensions. The most popular 'all-rounder' tip used is 0.7mil spherical, however, if most all of one's mono Jazz collection consists of 'wide' microgroove then purists will go for a 1mil spherical.

Keep in mind that mono microgroove records have a consistent groove depth with the intended modulation being in the lateral plane only. In order to 'strap' a stereo cartridge such that it electrically responds to lateral modulations only one need connect the two channels in series; specifically, by bridging R+ve (red) to L-ve (blue) (i.e. across the pins with an 'S' shaped push on wire jumper, never soldered!) causing L+ve (white) to becomes L+R+ve, and R-ve (green) to become L+R-ve. Lab 80 features a terminal block/muting switch assembly beneath that facilitates paralleled channels mono vs. stereo connections, however 'in series' at the cartridge is the way to go here.

Having said the above, the real work will be getting a Garrard Lab 80 back up to standard. Have a good read of the service manual before deciding if/how you'd like to proceed. It is somewhat of an understatement to say that servicing a Linn is a piece of piss by comparison. I'd only add to the manual that, after all of these decades, you'll want to include reconditioning the 'intermediate wheel' rubber (aka idler wheel, that is, assuming it hasn't perished nor been permanently flat spotted), as well as the rubber motor bushings. Thoroughly clean and lube everything they say to simply lube, and use the lubricants listed or the closest equivalents; Garrard still knew what they were on about back then.
 
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I can’t really add much more to what Craig has said other than to confirm that the Lab 80 is a deck that can perform surprisingly well, given the right knowledge and effort.

A good many old Garrards can perform far better than most people give them credit for.
 
Here is the question(s) - Does a Lab 80 have the potential, with a mono cartridge, to sound better playing a mono record than the described LP12 with a stereo cartridge?

In a word, no (a Lab 80 is not a 401). If you sum the channels from your stereo cartridge on the LP12, it will sound much better than a mono cartridge on a (1960s) Lab 80. Now, the Lab 80 will be fine for playing old, beat-up records that you don't want anywhere near your Krystal!
 


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