Goldring Lenco GL75 problems

[Old Sparky]

Chief of which, unless I'm missing something, is that the speed selector lever is seized solid on the 33.333RPM setting.  I'm not familiar with this deck, but expected the speed selector lever simply to be moved from one speed to another, but this one won't budge, whether the turntable is stationary or revolving.  It doesn't help that I'm having difficulty removing the platter, either.  According to the manual, the platter is removable by giving the spindle a sharp tap (with a block of wood) whilst lifting the platter, but the platter won't budge, either.  I haven't yet tried Plus Gas or any other lubricant.  Should I do this or does anyone have any other suggestions as to how to go about this, please?

[Mark Hennessy]

At the risk of stating the obvious, you are lifting the speed lever before trying to move it?

[Old Sparky]

TBH, Mark, no. As I said I'm not familiar with these decks, in fact until the other day I'd never even seen one, being more used to servicing BSR & Garrard players, so didn't realise the lever had to be lifted, and I don't think the service info. makes that clear, unless I've missed something.

[ppppenguin]

It's many years since I used one of these decks but from memory you have to lift the speed selector lever slightly as Mark said. If you look at the mechanism underneath there's a lovely conical pulley to give fully variable speed control. Very useful for early 78s which were often recorded at very different speeds.

[roadster]

I still use a GL75 just for playing 78s (and80s). It isn't permanently set up as I only have one phono input on the pre-amp and I also change the disc adapter board to suit the cartridge. I think that it is a very well engineered deck but not really HiFi due to the rumble from the roller drive.

[Old Sparky]

I'll try lifting the speed change lever to see if it will move before going any further. The turntable runs OK with minimum rumble, so if The speed change mech. will work OK, then other than checking the tracking weight, and maybe replacing the stylus, nothing else may need doing to it.

[roadster]

I feel that I was a bit harsh in my last post where I described the GL75 as not really HIFi: it was my firstrecord deck and I was very pleased with it for several years. I should really have said that it will not be as quiet as a good belt drive turntable. My experience with it persuaded me to stick with Swiss turntables, presently using a Thorens TD125, with no plans ever to change it!

[Mark Hennessy]

Given the weight of the platter, these suffer from slow start-up. You'll need to clean the idler, motor shaft and underside of the turntable, as well as checking the various bearings.

And unless they've been changed recently, you'll need some new tonearm V-blocks. They are widely available. This video talks you through the process of changing them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cUOAiV-vL8

Regarding the speed change, you'll kick yourself when you next look at it closely. There are 4 metal "rests", one for each speed. You'll see 3 out of the 4 of them, and of course, as soon as you move the lever away from its current position, you'll see the 4th. These are clearly visible in the above video (at 45 seconds in).

Because of the conical (rather than stepped) motor shaft, you can adjust the speed to any speed you want, but the 4 rests should be in the correct places to give the 4 standard speeds. If they are not correct, you can loosen the screws and adjust the position of each rest. It's really very neat.

I first saw this turntable when I was 18, and figured it out straight away. However, I had much sharper eyes at that time - the first thing I saw was those rests hiding in the slot the lever rides in, and the penny dropped immediately.

In terms of quality, I really don't understand why people rave about them. If I knew they would become valuable, I would have kept it to sell on, but I left it in the attic when I moved away from home - the house has changed hands since then, so I've no idea what happened to it.

The rumble was pretty low for an idler deck, yes, but my example had the desk mounted rigidly on the plinth. The whole plinth, including the lid, was sprung, which meant it was impossible to close the lid without making noises that were picked up by the cartridge, meaning if you were recording a record you had to do so with the lid open. Other plinths were available that didn't have this problem.

Funnily enough, I also replaced mine with a TD125 (and SME 3009, naturally). A rare car boot sale bargain, for just £4. And because it was my birthday, my friend paid! Still have it, though I haven't used it in 15 years. Today I use a Technics 1200, which is better-suited to the suspended floors in this house. Very different to the Thorens, but just as nice IMHO.

[ppppenguin]

My first turntable was a secondhand GL69 (less fancy version of the GL75) with a Shure M44 cartridge. Not bad for a first go. Because I had (and still have) 78s the variable speed was useful. c1980 I bought my Fon CQ30 (variable speed!) with SME 3009 and Shure V15 III. It's my turntable to this day. I have a TD150 with SM 3009 and V15 IV hidden away somewhere. I probably ought to convert it into cash, which will be a lot more than I paid for it secondhand.