Turntable clamp

[tiv48]

ah on that site its pivot to spindle my arm is the lvx p to s= 211mm
mission p to s =215 mm
thorns p to s =210 mm
i tried a rega rb250 p to s = 222mm but the traking error was to great .
i would like to try an sme 3009 but it looks daunting.
have you found a good mat im still experimenting
rob t

[ucl82]

Hi Rob,
Pivot to spindle for my mission is listed as 210mm so the same as the Lenco stock arm.
The SME 3009 is a very well regarded tonearm and should work brilliantly if you can come up with a correct mounting point for it. It may be worth going over to the Lenco Heaven web forum, a very friendly bunch who have done just about every modification possible to the standard deck. May be worth building a nice plinth for it as well, some of the chaps there say they've sold their VPIs etc after mounting the Lenco deck in a slate or heavy timber plinth!

They are seriously good decks and now coming up in price however. When I got mine the average price was about £50 for a good one, now they sometimes sell for over £100. Still much less than a Garrard 301 or 401.

I haven't started experimenting with mats yet. I haven't got a great 'speaker layout in my bedroom sadly so little things like mats aren't my main worry at the moment but once I've got a place of my own with a dedicated Hi-Fi room I hope to start experimenting with the smaller stuff. For what it's worth I've heard a lot of good things about cork mats but also many people saying the original Lenco one is good. Sadly I haven't had much time for vinyl recently, the last time I was able to listen to a full LP was December! I need to do some work on my Luxman amp which has got a slight hiss but once that's sorted I hope to get back into the swing of things. I will also hopefully post up some pictures of my homebrew vacuum record cleaning machine.

Josh.

[tiv48]

i used to have a Garrard 401/sme3009 still have the arm the lenco lacks bass compaired to the 401 but some of that maybe due to the plinth,i think the goldring decks are under rated the same as dual idler drive ones. i paid £20 for my gl75 the arm bearings were shot, i did think of repacing them but had the linn arm so never got round to it
rob t

[ucl82]

The original Goldring Lenco arm is ok but tracks a bit heavily. Very pretty though. Mine too had shot v blocks, got some from this place: http://svalanderaudio.com/vinyl/lenco.php, which is the cheapest place you can get them from. They worked well but just fancied an upgrade to something a little lighter. I was considering a Linn arm but was offered this Mission which works well.

[Retired]

Hi,

A neat little turning job Josh. A lathe is the daddy of all machine tools and I wouldn't be without both mine.

You mention obtaining a Gryphon bench grinder. I worked at the company (Brook Motors) who manufactured these grinders and can confirm they are brilliant. The grinders were made at the Honley factory whereas I worked at the parent factory in Huddersfield.

It must be at least thirty years ago I pulled one of these grinders off a wagon and plugged it in just for interest. It was very sweet running and when switched off after being powered up it ran for ages before finally coming to rest. I couldn't afford one even with my works discount.

I joined the company in 1976 and believe at that time the parent factory employed 1,600 people. During my 24 years with the company we would take over other companies but ended up being taken over ourselves. At it's peak the parent factory was producing over 1,000 motors per day for Home Trade with another 300 per day for export. We became the central despatch hub for our six factories and I was very much involved in despatch and packing.

I did well through working for Brook Motors but it was extremely stressful working there to the extent I eventually came down with shingles putting the writing on the wall for me to call it a day. I took voluntary redundancy together with my works pension in December 2000.

Unfortunately it had reached the point where I would arrive at work on a Monday morning wondering what the company would be called that week. I've not been back since leaving but am informed all the factories are now closed with the exception of a section remaining open in Huddersfield operating as a despatch for Brook Motors being manufactured abroad.

Kind regards, Col.

[ucl82]

Thanks Col
A lathe is certainly a fantastic tool and we we have a larger workshop one will be on our shopping list. We have seen some combined metal and wood working lathes so one of those might be a possibility (we even saw a Myford one complete with bandsaw and planer attachments!)
It's absolutely fascinating hearing a bit about the company behind our grinder. Sadly it seems their history is much like most other British tool companies and no doubt now being cheaply made abroad Ours is a floorstanding model and runs very smoothly indeed and like you say takes a long while to power down! I have seen retail prices for new ones and was rather shocked to say the least, ours had been stored in a leaky shed at school for longer than any of the teachers could remember but as soon as I put a plug on it it fired into life. Only cost us £25 as well! Cheaper than the most basic of new grinders and far better built.
The school still has another Gryphon grinder which is never used and also two Gryphon buffing wheels which I assume use the same motor. We hope to sort out a buffing machine sooner or later (have you ever seen timber with a buffed finish? A near perfect mirror sheen can be obtained), and I am also on the hunt for a basic single phase motor to make a disc sander (your belt sander thread has inspired me!).

Josh.

[Paula A]

You can make a fab mat for yourself.. take one of those nasty thin half round inners (so loved of the classical record companies) and a big lump of Plasticine.. rolling pin and a kitchen table helps too.. the rest should be obvious
I'm lucky in that regard, my Grundig direct drive has a nice dense smooth mat.

[tiv48]

the best sound i can get out of my gl75 is no mat just a layer of cling film on the platter, the worst was a thick (about 4mm)rubber mat took all the life out of the music, next best is cork.
ps untill i started using the tannoys the differances were not so noticable
rob t