Garrard 301

Of all vintage turntables, the Garrard 301 is one of the best known. Our Garrard 301 is the humble version: cream finish (not hammerite), non-strobe platter, and oil (not grease) bearing. It’s equipped with an early Thomas Schick 12 inch tonearm (the early ones were designed without anti-skate), and currently sports an Ortofon SPU Wood A (with adapter, as the Wood A is stubbier than the standard GM SPUs).

Serial number indicates 1959 as the year of manufacture.

We’ve removed the original rubber platter mat and replaced it with a Funk Firm Achromat on a thin mat of neoprene. The plinth was made by Russ Collinson (who appears no longer to be in business, unfortunately) of layers of birch ply, topped by a solid layer of oak, and finished with permanent gloss varnish. It sits on three large Shun Mook Diamond Resonators, which in turn sit on a thick base of Welsh slate. The custom rack is constructed of heavy American black walnut.

This unit was serviced some years ago by the legendary Terry O’Sullivan of Loricraft, who removed the cadmium coating from the undercarriage parts (warning to Garrard 301 owners — don’t try this yourself, as cadmium is toxic), and cleaned the motor, bearing, and other parts. The bearing, by the way, is original. Unless a Garrard bearing is worn, we wouldn’t recommend any of the various third-party bearing “upgrades”.

The platter rotation is dead accurate without the use of any separate power supply. Sound is huge, hearty, emotional, and involving. We’re big fans of idler wheel drives.