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calling Garrard gurus

Cheers, Markus.

I didn't know about the Garrard forum.

The Internet... is there anything it can't do?

Joe
 
Joe,

You really did luck in with that find. Even that old tonearm. Look at this ebay auction. Someone just paid $112 just for the headshell.
 
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People will pay silly sums for things. 10 years ago I got an SME Bakelite headshell with a 401 and 3009. I was going to keep it as a curio until I looked on Ebay, similar things with good photos and blurb were going for £50. I think mine went for £40, I posted it to Tokyo.
 
Setting Son -- Yup, except that the 301 I bought doesn't have a hole drilled in it.

Uncle Ants -- < Smacks head in disbelief >

That Empire headshell went for what I paid for the whole thing -- grey grease 301, crappy wood box, Empire arm and Shure cartridge.

Joe
 
Apart from the minor cosmetic difference, is there any other knownn difference between a cream colour Garrard 301 with the black colour speed/on off metal plates vs one with the silver plate?

thanks,
jasper
 
I dream of doing a "Joe" and find myself a Garrad 301 in a local antique/pawn broker shop too. :p Dream on.
I found this grey colour 301 in bad cosmetic shape on a local hifi forum and the guy wanted 650 pounds for it a while back with no bite from anyone. Worth the trouble or keep looking?

Garrard301Picture719Rev1.jpg


GarrardPicture721Rev1.jpg


Jasper
Melbourne, Oz
 
jaspert said:
Apart from the minor cosmetic difference, is there any other knownn difference between a cream colour Garrard 301 with the black colour speed/on off metal plates vs one with the silver plate?
Click to expand...

A cream 301 can be either a schedule 1 (grease bearing) or schedule 2 (oil bearing), plus if you back through this thread a little you will find that there are two very slightly different chassis castings, early with a flat top, later with a slightly raised rim beneath the platter. There are also some other differences to be found such as sintered bronze and sintered iron bushings on the oil bearing and variations to the switch cover (clear plastic, black plastic, metal), different control plates (at least 5 variations) and the strobe vs. non-strobe platter. The pricing hierarchy seems to be grey grease -> cream grease -> oil, though my personal advice is to buy on quality, not type. The most important thing IMO is that the bearings are all in good condition, i.e. main bearing and motor, to my mind this is far more important than variation, and sadly you can’t tell that from a picture on eBay.

jaspert said:
I dream of doing a "Joe" and find myself a Garrad 301 in a local antique/pawn broker shop too. :p Dream on.
I found this grey colour 301 in a bad cosmetic shape on a local hifi forum and the guy wanted 650 pounds for it a while back with no bite. Worth the trouble or keep looking?
Click to expand...

Personally I think that’s too high, I’d prefer a neater cleaner cream oil bearing for the same cash. As far as I’m concerned that one needs, at the very least, a respray and new control plates (assuming it's not just dirt) to look presentable. It’s also missing it’s transit cage.

Tony.
 
Could be worth it.

You could send it to Loricraft for a full rebuilt and still probably be quids in if they continue to sell on eBay for £1500+.

The grey ones are all grease bearings (that one definitely is), and no different to the cream grease bearing ones.

That one looks like it's been stored somewhere damp, so motor, bearings etc, may not be in pristine condition.
 
Patrick Dixon said:
A lot of the early (grey) ones seem to be missing that, so I wonder if it wasn't originally supplied?
Click to expand...

I suspect it was a 'tweak' to take it off. I don't think any are missing the mounting holes for the cage, which I'd have thought they would be if it was a later addition. Mine was initially missing but Loricraft replaced it for me as part of the service.

Tony.
 
Tony L said:
A cream 301 can be either a schedule 1 (grease bearing) or schedule 2 (oil bearing), plus if you back through this thread a little you will find that there are two very slightly different chassis castings, early with a flat top, later with a slightly raised rim beneath the platter. There are also some other differences to be found such as sintered bronze and sintered iron bushings on the oil bearing and variations to the switch cover (clear plastic, black plastic, metal), different control plates (at least 5 variations) and the strobe vs. non-strobe platter. The pricing hierarchy seems to be grey grease -> cream grease -> oil, though my personal advice is to buy on quality, not type. The most important thing IMO is that the bearings are all in good condition, i.e. main bearing and motor, to my mind this is far more important than variation, and sadly you can’t tell that from a picture on eBay.



Personally I think that’s too high, I’d prefer a neater cleaner cream oil bearing for the same cash. As far as I’m concerned that one needs, at the very least, a respray and new control plates (assuming it's not just dirt) to look presentable. It’s also missing it’s transit cage.

Tony.
Click to expand...

Thanks for low down of the differences between the variance. Appreciate that. I personally prefer the look of the cream one so i will keep looking.

Patrick Dixon said:
Could be worth it.

You could send it to Loricraft for a full rebuilt and still probably be quids in if they continue to sell on eBay for £1500+.

The grey ones are all grease bearings (that one definitely is), and no different to the cream grease bearing ones.

That one looks like it's been stored somewhere damp, so motor, bearings etc, may not be in pristine condition.
Click to expand...



May be if it's 1/4-1/3 cheaper. The problem is i'm in Australia so the frieght/ insurance cost to Loricraft + rebuilt all add up and then there's risk of damage in transit.
 
It depends how much you want it I guess. As Tony says, I'd reckon on stripping it down and repainting the top. The plates may clean up if you are careful - reproductions aren't going to be exactly the same, so it would be a shame to loose them. The bearing will need at least a clean and re-grease - the grease nipple and bearing bottom cap look a bit corroded but should clean up. The motor will need a strip, clean and re-lube at the least - does it run? You may also need to replace the idler wheel and generally clean and re-lube things.

It has potential, but I'd probably want to be paying nearer £400 than £650 for it - although alternative 301s are going to be a bit harder/more expensive to source in Australia than over here.
 
Thanks for your suggestion. I think my heart is set on a cleaner/better shaped cream Garrard 301 now but i will keep an open mind if there's opportunity to bag the rough Grey one for a much cheaper price.
 
Why not make a silly-low offer on the grey one, saying what you've said here, that you'd ratehr splash the cash on a cream one. You might get a nice surprise.

If you get it cheap you could spray it cream, assuming they are identical. OK, it won't be "original" but that's small beer if it's for you. The best non-original restoration I've heard of was a chap who put a bike engine in a knackered Lotus 7 S2. Before the classic car enthusiasts spit their coffee out, he left the car as standard and put the engine in a cradle on the original pickup points. Now that's good engineering, a car that's better to drive than the original but can still be returned to "standard" if you consider this important and want to spend thousands rebuilding a pre-crossflow that's less powerful and heavier than a £1k bike engine.
 
I wouldn't spray it cream. You'd knock a couple of hundred quid of the price, which you could pocket if you sold the rebuilt grey one and bought a nice cream one with the proceeds.

Unless you're in love with that particular serial number of course.
 
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