My Garrard RC210 Restoration - Tragedy to Ecstasy

[reubensm]

On another note, please excuse the phonecam pics quality. My camera is currently with a friend.

 

[Record Player]

After a long gap, here's a post with pictures. Have been so busy over the last few weeks, hence the delay.

The cartridge was all mounted up in the headshell and calibrated. Here is a picture of the mounted cart with the headshell leads:

The cart was mounted back on the tone arm, and finally we have some action. Here's the RC210, firstly playing a Ventures 78 in manual mode, followed by the RC210 playing 2 78s in auto-changer mode. The turntable is mechanically not fully up to it and needs some calibration. On the contrary to previous owner KAPs' statements about this playing working well and sounding sweet, I am sure it was almost never used for atleast 40+ years. A few of the key springs have stretched and have to be replaced. More on this during the days to follow.

Also note, the Garrard label on the headshell is yet to be fixed on. Thought I'll do that at the very end, just in case I need to calibrate the cartridge position.

Lovely Reuben. This is coming along well. My, these projects really take a lot of time and effort which requires a significant amount of knowledge and patience.

I assuming this came without a plinth. Are you going to first test on bricks/stones or a wooden plinth directly?

Cheers...

 

[reubensm]

Lovely Reuben. This is coming along well. My, these projects really take a lot of time and effort which requires a significant amount of knowledge and patience.

I assuming this came without a plinth. Are you going to first test on bricks/stones or a wooden plinth directly?

Cheers...

Yes, these projects are back-breaking and require a lot of patience. You can see the delays in the very date sequence of my posts. I am yet to build the plinth and also the ceramic phonostage. Currently the turntable is playing directly through the Aux input of the NAD 3020. The sound is quite screechy and without much bass. I'll have the phonostage built first (probably this weekend) and then try out the brick experiments.

 

[reubensm]

So its time to get started on the ceramic phonostage. I've started another thread covering the build from start to finish (in favour of effective cataloging). Here is the reference URL: http://www.hifivision.com/phono-turntables/48499-ceramic-phonostage-build.html#post550935

 

[reubensm]

so finally got the following done:

1) ceramic phonostage build and testing
2) cartridge and tonearm wiring
3) plinth and RCA sockets mounted
4) phonostage mounting, direct to the tonearm tag board, hence the tonearm wires and grounding are soldered directly to the phonostage, eliminating any intermediate cabling whatsoever (and noise/hum as well)

And here is the almost finished product, only the inbuilt powersupply for the phonostage is pending. The turntable deck itself needs some more work on the idler, the current idler is producing a bit of rumble and needs a change. Also the Turntable needs a turntable mat.

The turntable in action (manual operation), playing 78s:

Output RCAs from inbuilt phonostage (no ground wire required to amp):

Temp powersupply wire for inbuilt phonostage, connected to an external powersupply:

The German FRIWO switchable powersupply, set for 6 volts:

Turntable working in automatic mode:

The woodwork needs one final coat of polish. Its quite a site to see this deck play.

 

[Record Player]

Truly a tragedy to ecstasy Reuben. Its brought back to life and it looks fabulous and also just looking at how the changer plays is indeed quite a sight.

You have just boosted me a bit here! I've been ignoring the Garrad AT-6 since the 1200s came in. I think its time I bring it up on the rack now and start 78s play .

Happy New Year me friend...

 

[reubensm]

Truly a tragedy to ecstasy Reuben. Its brought back to life and it looks fabulous and also just looking at how the changer plays is indeed quite a sight.

You have just boosted me a bit here! I've been ignoring the Garrad AT-6 since the 1200s came in. I think its time I bring it up on the rack now and start 78s play .

Happy New Year me friend...

Happy New Year to you too RP, I must say, these old Garrards are well and truly, a treat!!

 

[reubensm]

So, have completed the phonostage and Powersupply build http://www.hifivision.com/phono-turntables/48499-ceramic-phonostage-build-6.html#post561750 and the stage is now set for finishing the overall project. The turntable has been taken out of the plinth and the plinth is off for its final coat of varnish. Then the TT will be mounted back with the internal PSU. That will complete the project.

 

[reubensm]

Well, my RC210 project is nearing completion and its time to add up my spend so far, on this project:

Garrard RC210 in non-working condition with broken tonearm assembly, missing spindle: Rs.3050/-
Replacement tonearm and spindle assembly (from a friend in UK): Rs.500/- (5 BP)
Replacement headshell (from a friend in the USA): Given as a gift
Headshell mounts, screws, leads and bushes (from ebay USA): Rs.300/- ($5)
Ceramic Cartridge (got an EEI CS2000 and a spare HMV stereo ceramic cart with matching stylii from a FM): Rs.1200/- (http://www.hifivision.com/sale-owner/46722-eei-ceramic-pickup-cartridges.html)
New power cable: Rs.65/-
New RCA sockets: Rs.25/-
In built ceramic phono-stage: Rs.40/-
In built ceramic phono-stage PSU: Nothing (with components from my scrap box)
Simple box-type plinth (fabricated locally by a carpenter): Rs.525/-
Varnish: Rs.25/-

Total spend: Rs.5730/-

 

[sunder]

so finally got the following done:

1) ceramic phonostage build and testing
2) cartridge and tonearm wiring
3) plinth and RCA sockets mounted
4) phonostage mounting, direct to the tonearm tag board, hence the tonearm wires and grounding are soldered directly to the phonostage, eliminating any intermediate cabling whatsoever (and noise/hum as well)

And here is the almost finished product, only the inbuilt powersupply for the phonostage is pending. The turntable deck itself needs some more work on the idler, the current idler is producing a bit of rumble and needs a change. Also the Turntable needs a turntable mat.

The turntable in action (manual operation), playing 78s:

Output RCAs from inbuilt phonostage (no ground wire required to amp):

Temp powersupply wire for inbuilt phonostage, connected to an external powersupply:

The German FRIWO switchable powersupply, set for 6 volts:

Turntable working in automatic mode:

The woodwork needs one final coat of polish. Its quite a site to see this deck play.

Reubensm, it is lovely to see in classic white! You have been maintaing in clean condition! Congratulations!

 

[AmitKumar]

Hi Reuben,

I saw these pictures just now, this Garrard has come up very well. Your golden hand has turned this piece into a fabulous machine. Pictures are really good, especially i liked those with changer playing the records. i never saw a picture of changer playing the records earlier. Thanks for posting these pictures.

Regards, Amit

 

[reubensm]

Hi Reuben,

I saw these pictures just now, this Garrard has come up very well. Your golden hand has turned this piece into a fabulous machine. Pictures are really good, especially i liked those with changer playing the records. i never saw a picture of changer playing the records earlier. Thanks for posting these pictures.

Regards, Amit

Here's a nice video of a Garrard RC210 going through its paces. I used this video for getting an idea of the functionality while doing the repairs.

My new 1960 Garrard 210 turntable - YouTube

 

[reubensm]

Update: the cabinet has come back from varnish, not very satisfied with the outcome as it seems to be very sticky, so its going to be re-done.

 

[reubensm]

For some time now, this thread has been inactive. Thought I'll post an update. I am collecting the changer from my brother's place today. Shall post some pics of the final setup over the weekend.

 

[reubensm]

Got some unfortunate news. I had given this turntable to my brother to complete the project, final coat of varnish, wire up the internal powersupply for the phonostage and complete the project. What happend was that he got busy with his life and left the turntable in storage, gathering dust. I finally collected it back and last weekend, set about completely cleaning and re-oiling it. Completed it and also wired the powersupply internally. When I played it, I noticed that the cartridge was picking up hum from the powersupply's transformer. So I have decided to scrap the internal powersupply and introduce a connector on the back panel, for me to connect my Friwo external powersupply. The turntable is dead silent with the external powersupply. The last piece of the puzzle would be to get the idler fixed. It is quite worn though it works. Lets see how that pans out. Photos over the weekend. Its a lovely nostalgic experience to watch the turntable function in auto-mode. I played the Burning Train LP over the weekend on this TT and was surprised by the lovely sound quality, coming from the EEI CS2000 via the ceramic phonostage. Thoroughly enjoyable.

 

[reubensm]

Completely overhauled the RC210 all over again. Mounted the powersupply for the inbuilt ceramic phonostage inside the cabinet and immediately noticed that the whole cabinet was reverberating the transformer hum resulting in some horrible sounds when the stylus entered the grooves. Scrapped the inbuilt powersupply and reverting back to my external high quality German Friwo powersupply. The changer is now working perfectly well.

 

[Saket]

Completely overhauled the RC210 all over again. Mounted the powersupply for the inbuilt ceramic phonostage inside the cabinet and immediately noticed that the whole cabinet was reverberating the transformer hum resulting in some horrible sounds when the stylus entered the grooves. Scrapped the inbuilt powersupply and reverting back to my external high quality German Friwo powersupply. The changer is now working perfectly well.

When I overhauled my Technics, I noticed that the transformer was placed in a rubber shell and then into a tin shell. That rubber shell was there to dampen the vibrations of the transformer. You can try mounting the transformer in such a rubber shell and try other dampening methods if you want an internal power supply. You can also try mounting the transformer on springs. Just a thought.

Regards,
Saket

 

[reubensm]

When I overhauled my Technics, I noticed that the transformer was placed in a rubber shell and then into a tin shell. That rubber shell was there to dampen the vibrations of the transformer. You can try mounting the transformer in such a rubber shell and try other dampening methods if you want an internal power supply. You can also try mounting the transformer on springs. Just a thought.

Regards,
Saket

Great idea, I'll try that but I must also get a better quality transformer. The one which I was using was salvaged from an old recharchable battery charger

It produces a humming sound. Let me try this with a better quality transformer, shall post my findings.

 

[reubensm]

Recently, a gracious old gentleman handed an old Garrard RC210 suitcase record player to my wife. He was probably about to throw it away when wify told him that I am into reviving these oldies. Will be back by next month and eager to start off this project. Here is a pic of the RC210, it really looks in very bad condition:

Also got some other stuff along with it. A very vintage Philips portable cassette recorder (with a Joy-stick control) and a portable reel-to-reel recorder. The surprising add-on was a small pile of Malayalam 78s.

 

[reubensm]

Did some research and noticed that the suitcase of the RC210 probably looked like this one which houses a 4HF. This restoration is going to be fun. I'm back next month and can't wait to get started.