As a teenager in Melbourne circa 1970, I designed and put together a high quality hifi system, including construction of a substantial wooden cabinet to house all the components.
This accommodated a Quad 33/303 preamp/power amp combination, a Revox A77 tape recorder, a Garrard 401 turntable and SME 3009 tone arm, together with a set of three Ortofon phono cartridges — one for 78s, one for mono microgroove, and an Ortofon SL15 for stereo discs. Speakers were Celestion Dittons supplemented with a set of Stax electrostatic headphones for personal listening.
To reduce the influence of vibration from the wooden floor (i.e not a concrete slab), the turntable and tone arm were fitted to a “floating” plinth suspended by springs and carefully balanced to join seamlessly with the top of the cabinet.
Altogether the audio quality from this setup with pristine equipment was superb and I spent many hours listening to a gradually growing collection of classical and popular LPs.
After I moved out of the family home, the Garrard 401 and the SME tone arm remained behind in their large cabinet and were seldom used for the next 40 years.
About 20 years ago, it was my task to help tidy out my parents’ house, at which stage the Garrard turntable, the plinth and the SME tone arm came into my care.
The turntable was then used only occasionally, because by this time the LP collection had been replaced by CDs and a music server. However I had inherited from my father a collection of 78s and original acetates, some of which were of historical value. So being able to play and digitise these was desirable.
Earlier this year I noticed that, while the Garrard 401 turntable still worked and could play records, the speed change knob was difficult to turn, as was the on/off knob.
After more than 50 years, much of that time sitting idle, the turntable was well overdue for some TLC.
History, initial condition and observed problems
The Garrard 401 is a hifi classic and there are numerous online forum posts and videos showing units which have been acquired second hand and which often require refurbishment. Some of these specimens are in very poor condition.
In comparison, the Garrard 401 being discussed here was in excellent cosmetic condition, having had only one owner and having been protected in the abovementioned hifi cabinet since original installation.
Functionally these were my observations:
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The platter would take a little time to get up to speed and to slow down again after the brake had been applied.
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The turntable was a little noisy in operation.
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The on/off switch and the speed-selector knob were noticeably stiff.
Online repair resources from TechnoBaz and elsewhere
I was fortunate to come across a series of four videos from “Techo Baz 55” showing a complete rebuild of two Garrard 401 turntables. The first video in the series can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yA4MvNqoG4
Techo Baz is based in regional New South Wales and publishes many videos on the repair and restoration of old electronics (including turntables and valve radios).
His four video series became my guide for disassembling, cleaning, lubricating and re-assembling the Garrard 401.
New power cable
The Garrard 401 was originally supplied without a power cable. A connection point is provided by a terminal block mounted on the motor suspension frame. I had originally fitted some 2-core cable with a separate earth cable made from single-core cotton-covered cable and a 1960s era bakelite 3-pin plug. For this renovation, that old power cable was replaced by a white 3-core cable with moulded 3-pin plug which had been rescued from a discarded appliance.
Cleaning of parts
There are three systems of levers that connect the three front panel knobs to the speed change mechanism, the fine speed adjustment system (which uses a movable magnet to create eddy current drag in an aluminium disc), and the start/stop switching and interlocks.
These levers and other moving parts are made from thin steel plate (electroplated to suppress rust) cut and pressed into various custom shapes. The electroplating has a yellow colour, so is probably cadmium, which these days is considered toxic, so care was taken to wash hands well after handling these parts.
Since the various levers are all in the horizontal plane, they had accumulated a thick coating of dust after more than 50 years. They were cleaned with water and dishwashing detergent and microfibre cleaning cloths. While some of the levers could be removed easily, I decided to leave others in place since they could be cleaned and re-lubricated without removal.
Some smaller parts that had oily residues were cleaned with Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA). Cotton buds proved useful to clean in small, confined areas.
Motor disassembly, cleaning and lubrication
After watching the Techno Baz videos, I decided to disassemble, clean and lubricate the motor, using the videos as a step-by-step guide. This turned out be straightforward. The motor was certainly in need of lubrication. See the photos below.
Re-assembly
Although re-assembly was largely a matter of following the same pattern in reverse, I found the Techno Baz videos very useful as a guide. The photo gallery below also follows the re-assembly stages.
The turntable is now functioning much more smoothly than it was. The front panel knobs require less force to operate. It should be good for a few years of use now.
Further upgrade options
The photos below show that the rubber idler wheel has developed some radial cracks, which are probably due to ageing and hardening of the rubber. Replacing this original idler wheel with a new one would be an option. There is a supplier in the UK that makes new idler wheels for the Garrard 401.
Photo gallery
The photo gallery below is a record of the disassembly, cleaning and re-assembly of the turntable. Each photo has an explanatory caption.
Garrard 401 Disassembly and Re-assembly Photo Gallery
Click on photos to enlarge
