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Quote:
Originally Posted by poppachubby
ahhhhh, nice. I read about a Garrard model which had a swiveling headshell. As the arm moved inward, the cart would maintain a perfect angle. Nice innovation.
That's the Garrard 100S, SB, B, ... and the like, they had this very special "tangential" tonearm, it's prone to malfunctioning though due to the complex construction and the dirt, and some wearing out too over the ages, but if you manage to clean it up properly, it's a very good arm :)
More on that here:
thevintageknob: Garrard 100SB
Keep them spinning,
Bert.
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The Garrard Lab 80 is, to my eye, the best-looking record changer ever built. The Lab 80 Mk II had an improved set of operational features but Garrard "junked up" the look of the control panel. Still good-looking, just not as clean, chaste, and classic-looking.
The mechanical issue which probably disabled them the most was the design of the mechanism cam. The cam follower operated all manner of stuff and most of the time it worked fine. But if you spun the platter backwards while the mechanism was engaged, the cam follower would go into a dead end and break off. Garrard upgraded the design of the follower to make it more sturdy; it could then ride out of the "dead end" most of the time without damage. But that update didn't happen until the late production of the original Lab 80 model, into the Lab 80 Mk II. Although the new design could be ordered from Garrard as a replacement part, I figured a way to repair them without ordering a new follower.
I fixed a lot of Lab 80s over the years. Even got to be considered a "Lab 80 expert" as other stereo stores would send Lab 80s to me to fix! However after all that, I (sadly) don't have one of my own any more. I spin my records on a Garrard 301, though; so I am still a Garrardista!
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