Garrard AT6 Restoration Advice?

I have just rescued a Garrard AT6 from an old radiogram cabinet. Unfortunately there seems to be no life in the unit. It's clear it will need a complete overhaul.

I would like to do the work myself, I have little experience with electronics, usually satisfied with tinkering on accoustic gramophones.

I am a little concerned though of the wear my Vogue records recieve from my early 50's turntable (garrard) with the steel gramophone needles. I figure the AT6 will be kinder on my expensive 78's plus I've always thought record changers are really cool!

Any suggestions on my course of action? Also what is the best cartridge to replace the existing one with? Do I need to wire it mono? I will mostly be playing 78's.

Cheers

You will find the AT-6 to be a wonderful acquisition. It can track low enough to use some of the best cartridges. It is actually better than the Type A, A-II or A-70 in tracking ability. It is wired for stereo,. and some even have antiskating.

My suggestions for restoring it:

1. The idler wheel needs attention if it hadn't been replaced after 1970. It has probably disintegrated if it was made earlier than that. If more recent, it has probably hardened or cracked.

Garage-a-Records can supply reconditioned drive wheels.

Or you can try Caig CaiKleen RBR if the wheel is intact, but hard. This stuff is amazing.

2. The motor probably needs cleaning and lubrication.

3. The original damping lubricant used on the trip mechanism has probably turned to goo. This causes the stylus to repeat grooves as the pickup nears the center of the record (the Garrard Syndrome). Every Garrard turntable I have ever repaired has had this trouble. Here is what to do on AT-6:

- Remove the spindle, turntable retaining clip, and the turntable. Be careful not to damage the clip, as it holds the spindle in place.

- Remove the change cycle cam retainer and the change cycle cam.

- Note carefully the positions of the trip parts on the cycle cam.

- Remove the circlip holding the trip parts on the cam, and disassemble the trip mechanism.

- Use solvent to clean the holes and shafts of these parts. Remove all of the goo.

- Use a piece of #0000 aluminum oxide sandpaper to polish the shaft which fits inside the small hole. Make sure an entirely new surface is created. I usually pinch the shaft between two folds of sandpaper between my fingers, and spin the trip plate with my other hand.

- Put some graphite of the kind used to fix cylinder locks in the small hole, and reassemble the trip parts. Blow away the excess graphite.

- Clean and grease the cam groove and cam center hole. Be careful to not get any grease on the trip parts.

- Reassemble the cam on its shaft. Turn the cam COUNTERCLOCKWISE to seat it, stop[ping when the gap in the gear teeth faces the spindle. Note that this moves the tonearm, so protect the stylus from improper setdown.

- Reassemble the turntable and spindle.

- This repair is permanent. You will never have the Garrard Syndrome again.

If you can get the parts, you can upgrade this to the removable spindle of the AT-60 if you wish. Only the spindle, a spring, the pusher slide, and the turntable retaining clip are different.

Thanks, that's enough to kick me off. I may have more questions to come!
Cheers.

Thank you for the advice. The trip mechanism fix went as described, I'm sure you saved me hours of scratching my head. The mechanics underneath are surprisingly clean and tidy and when cleaned up the item played and worked brilliantly.
I am wondering though if the auto end function can be adjusted. I was testing with an old 78, the label on the record is quite large and the auto change was not tripped when the stylus reached the end. Is this something that can be tweaked?

Also the cabinet I had intended to put the player in does not suit so I am considering building a base or buiding the unit into a wooden box/case that I can run a stereo line into my lounge room stereo system. In order to do this I imagine I will need a phono pre-amp. Is there a cheap/easy solution here that I could build into the box I am making and can take power from the record player? I payed $20 for the at6, I wouldn't want to pay double that for a pre-amp.

Is there a finishing groove on the record?

The velocity trip is used on almost all record changers made since 1953 (except Luxor - a Swedish brand, and most of those little 45 changers). The velocity trip senses the increase in speed of the arm toward the spindle at the end of the record. Old records without finishing grooves will not trip any record changer except a Luxor.

Records were made without finishing grooves before there were such things as record changers. The last turn of the groove just locked into itself. Victor was the first company to use finishing grooves, introducing the eccentric finishing groove in 1923 to work their auto-shutoff device.

Columbia introduced the spiral finishing groove to work their auto-stop device. So both kinds of records worked the Columbia position trip device, but only the Victor records worked the Victor eccentric device.

Once the record changer appeared in 1927 and the jukebox in 1929, all record companies rapidly adopted the finishing groove. Jukebox operators wouldn't put records without eccentric finishing grooves in their machines.

Four different methods have been used to trip record changers, with varying degrees of success:

- Position Trip - This was used in cheap record changers made before 1953, and on most of the little 45 changers. It is very unreliable, because it trips the instant the arm reaches a particular location. Lack of standardization between record manufacturers doomed this. The shortest records don't trip the changer at all, while the longest ones trip the changer during the music.

- Eccentric Trip - This was originally developed by Victor, and spread to all records for jukebox use in the 1930s. The finishing grooves on most 78s made after 1930 were made off-center, so the pickup arm moves back and forth at the end of the record. Backward motion of the arm trips the change cycle. It was abandoned quickly after the LP was introduced, because the eccentric motion threw the early LP pickups out of the groove instead of tripping the changer. The final nail in the eccentric-groove coffin was the introduction of the 45 without eccentric grooves.

- Velocity Trip - Pioneered by Capehart, this proved to be the most reliable trip method, provided the record has a finishing groove. It senses the increase of speed as the arm enters the finishing groove. It works on all records with finishing grooves. Velocity trip has been the dominant method for multispeed changers since 1953.

- Progress Trip - Luxor was the only company that used this. It is the only trip which works on all records. It senses the lack of forward progress when the record is over. It also starts a change cycle if the record starts repeating the same groove. The disadvantage is that it takes half a minute to start the change cycle. But it is the only trip method ever made which works with a record with no finishing groove.

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I have a few LPs with eccentric finishing grooves. They work fine on my Collaro changer, but throw the stylus out of the groove on my Lenco L-78 and my PE-2038B. Those arms have too much mass to reliably follow the eccentric motion at low tracking forces.

Hi Jakub,
Noticed this on UK ebay, and thought you might want to check it out.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GARRARD-AT6-INSTR ... dZViewItem

Hi Guys,
Hoping you can help, I have discovered my Parents old Dansette Hi Fi with Garrard AT6 turntable installed, however slight problem as no stylus! I have trawled the net searching for one but no joy. Have you any idea where I would get one? Or am I just missing something obvious like refernce number etc?
Cheers

We would need to know what make & model cartridge you have. Several places come to mind though. garagearecords, needledaddy, carolesneedles. There is a company on the net that is based in Japan ( I can't remember the name. Check audiokarma.org). There is an outside chance that you may have to replace the cart but I doubt it. BTW It would be best to begin a new topic rather than hyjack someone's post as it could very easily get missed. Best.

Thom

Those AT6 chassis were the bread & butter for Garrard.

In addition to rc's lubrication points, also check and clean/re-oil the rotating bearing that rides in the cycler cam groove. They always get tight and cause undo friction during change cycle. One thing I will add is that main ball bearing platter race. It's good to completely flush/clean out the old dried grease, and re-grease it.
Completely flush & clean all the associated parts too...
The rubber washer, polished washers.... all get gritty with dirt.
When reassembling, avoid getting grease on that rubber washer, drop in the 1st polished washer, fill the ball bearing with a high-quality lube gel, and smear a little on the platter shaft.
The main thing is keeping any grit/debris from getting in the area, as this will cause rumble later on when the balls roll over grit. Don't forget that 2nd polished washer on top the ball bearing, and never drop/force the platter on the bearings.
Don't forget to clean the platter rim real good too, those changers are notorious for slipping/stopping during change cycles.