A slow process but the plinth for the Garrard 401 project is coming together

New face plate and knobs arrived today.

 

I am glad that I went for the full chrome one piece set of knobs rather than just buying the knob inserts.

 

The knob on the speed selector is the one piece chrome knob vs the original knobs on the on/off and pitch selectors

Edited October 16, 20205 yr by Tax

401 unit cleaned and relubed.

 

Waiting for the plinth to go through the glueing process.

Nearly there! Plinth based on my design. Possibly better then the Artisan Fidelity, but jeeze it is a full on project with the plinth build costing nearly 5 X the price of a 401 chassis on its own.

 

Next is sanding it down and polishing.

 

Any advice from members who are wood working specialists on what to use for the finish?

 

I am considering using Osmo Polyx raw oil in a satin finish.

Holes for the feet drilled on my neighbour's drill press and the Isoacoustics fitted for a level check.

 

Realised that the speed selector switch arm lever was fouling on the innards when 33RPM is selected so a bit of last minute chisel work before the sanding begins....

6 minutes ago, Tax said:

Holes for the feet drilled on my neighbour's drill press and the Isoacoustics fitted for a level check.

 

Realised that the speed selector switch arm lever was fouling on the innards when 33RPM is selected so a bit of last minute chisel work before the sanding begins....

Looks great. Looking forward to seeing the finished product and hearing your thoughts on the sound of the 401.

On 30/10/2020 at 2:57 PM, PKay said:

Looks great. Looking forward to seeing the finished product and hearing your thoughts on the sound of the 401.

Thanks PKay!

 

More sanding this afternoon and have now given it the first coat and now will let it dry for at least 24 hours.

I have enjoyed putting in the effort in sanding and polishing. Here is the bottom of the plinth. This layer is Blackwood.

Looking Great Tax. Cannot wait to hear it when it all comes together.  You have the ears to make it sing! ?

 

On 03/11/2020 at 4:06 PM, nevillekapadia said:

Looking Great Tax. Cannot wait to hear it when it all comes together.  You have the ears to make it sing! ?

 

Thanks @nevillekapadia

 

Here is what it looks like. Just finished bolting everything on this afternoon. I have mounted my FR66s  for now as I am still waiting for my new 12 inch tonearm to arrive from OS.

 

Hoping to listen to it tonight.

Edited November 5, 20205 yr by Tax

That is beautiful mate.  Once sorted, are to tempted to side-by-side it with the MS out of curiosity?

Absolutely stunning!

 

Great skills and an amazing end product. Well done!

15 hours ago, acg said:

That is beautiful mate.  Once sorted, are to tempted to side-by-side it with the MS out of curiosity?

Thanks Ant!

 

This 401 project was designed and built specifically for the second system in the hope that it would blend in with the room aesthetic.

 

Will wait till your next visit for a side by side comparo where you can be the judge ?

 

14 hours ago, Frank Prowse Hi-Fi said:

Absolutely stunning!

 

Thank you!

14 hours ago, patjoy said:

Great skills and an amazing end product. Well done!

Thank you!

I cannot take all the credit as I had some good advice here on SNA and the help of a professional woodworker who did the cuts, drilling and glueing to my design and specs. I did the sanding and polishing.

 

 

41 minutes ago, Tax said:

Thank you!

I cannot take all the credit as I had some good advice here on SNA and the help of a professional woodworker who did the cuts, drilling and glueing to my design and specs. I did the sanding and polishing.

 

 

 

There's something extremely satisfying and somewhat zen about that process I find.

 

Great work too Tax, looks the bomb!

On 06/11/2020 at 9:51 AM, Grizzly said:

 

There's something extremely satisfying and somewhat zen about that process I find.

 

Great work too Tax, looks the bomb!

Thanks Griz!

 

Yes, This project afforded an equal dose of turmoil and zen. Gladly now in the zen phase ?

Fantastic, great job. Art and Music come together with a turntable and custom plinth. 

 

 

The most Amazing,beautiful turntable i ever seen it's a dream.When art meets music life  acquires substance.Great job well done.

@Suresh Johnit would be great to see some photos of your 401 build. Possibly not in Tax’s thread but perhaps in DIY or vinyl section.  There are some very impressive setups such as Tax’s. 

Edited November 12, 20205 yr by PKay

Fantastic work Tax, how does it sound?

On 10/11/2020 at 11:35 PM, russell66 said:

Fantastic, great job. Art and Music come together with a turntable and custom plinth. 

 

 

 

On 11/11/2020 at 6:55 PM, PROMITHEAS said:

The most Amazing,beautiful turntable i ever seen it's a dream.When art meets music life  acquires substance.Great job well done.

Thank you both, for your kind words.

2 hours ago, Telecine said:

Fantastic work Tax, how does it sound?

Thank you Tele!

 

I am a bit frustrated at the moment as the new 12 inch tonearm I had intended to pair with this build is still stuck in the postal system overseas so in essence I have not made an effort to do some serious listening yet.

 

The 401 project is a success in that I would be happy to downsize from the big Micro Seiki in my main rig but there can only be one King and the Micro it still is.

 

I installed the FR66S with both the SPU Meister Silver and the 90th Anniversary for a play last week and was quite happy with the sound so this weekend I intend to be playing with the DV507 Takeda Miyabi and the shorter FR64S with the FR7f special.

 

Will keep you posted.

After a period of possibly 4 years or so of receiving this Lyra Helikon Mono Cartridge as a get well gift from a good audio friend in Texas, I finally got my @rse into gear and mounted it on the Dynavector DV507Mk11 tonearm last night. Just set up P2S quick and dirty and have guessed the overhang as I do not have a Unipro template for this tonearm.

 

Here are a couple of YouTube clips so you can hear what it sounds like.