About Garrard
Restored & Improved
History of Garrard 301 & 401
The Garrard 301 decks first appeared in 1954 in the hammertone colour configuration, approximately 16,000 of these were made.
Then came the changeover to the cream colour. Nothing else was changed and production continued.
Later a rim was introduced which we think was added to strenghthen the chassis and stop warpage.
When production reached around 40,000 Garrard 301s they changed from grease spindle bearings to oil bearing. These oil bearing 301s ran the full course to the end of production about 1965.
The last serial numbers were in the 80,000’s but some have numbers with 120,000’s so there is a big gap between say 83,000 to 120,000. We believe that the 120,000 serial numbers were the ones they made in between the introduction of the Garrard 401 in 1966. We believe they did this so they knew they were the later ones.
In summary the production runs are as follows
1954 start Hammertone 1-16000 known as schedule 1 (grease Bearing)
1956 -1957 cream rimless 16001 – 16500 known as schedule 1 (grease bearing)
1957 -1965 rimmed production oil bearing
The Classic 301 is a “new” Garrard 301 using many new upgraded components combined with a small quantity of refurbished Garrard parts.
Looking for Garrard spare parts? Click on the image below to visit our parts shop.
Classic 301
Whats inside
The Classic HiFi 301
is built on the looks of the Garrard 301
Strengths of the 401
The Classic HiFi 301 takes onboard some of the strengths of the 401
Modern Engineering Techniques
The hardware, linkages, fascia plates, platter mat etc are all built to replicate those classic looks but utilising up to the minute modern engineering techniques
New Chassis
Chassis of the new 301 is significantly stiffer than the original 301
CNC Machined
from a solid slab of aluminium
The sound of the Classic 301
Standard builds on the strengths that give that Garrard its signature sound
So what does it sound like?
The Solid chassis has all the great attributes of the 301 that we love but then takes it to a new level.
So as you would expect the bass is superb, solid fast but no bloom or overhand but what really strikes you on first experiencing the solid chassis compared to the standard 301 is the incredible ambience and depth of the soundstage, all of a sudden it is though a veil has been lifted from in front of the sound stage and an almost holographic imagery exists.
There is an amazing amount of space around performers and the deck never gets flustered what ever you throw at it, no matter how complex the music the solid chassis retains a grip and control.
