Garrard sp25's disco driver 80

But the arm still gets stiff with the screws taken right out.  So it's not that.  

A puzzle is that there is a plastic white screw (even smaller) that goes in horizontally.  It looks as if it might adjust the lift-off point or the parking point for the arm if ther was an auto-return.  But there isn't an autoreturn.  Perhaps a hangover from the SP25 that never got taken off but the screw has clearly been used because the head is slightly gulled.   But it's clearly noting to do with this stiffness problem.  

Next step remove arm from gimbals.  This reveals a larger screw that secures the gimbal assembly to a metal arm underneath - and a VERY thin rod that pokes up through the gimbal assembly.  Damned if I know why.  

Now here's a funny thing.  There's a bit of spring-loaded twist between the gimbal assembly and the metal plate.  

Remove bigger screw and put parts CAREFULLY in order so I can put them back again (I hope).  There's another washer and a funny plate sort of kidneyshaped that looks as if it might be part of the autoreturn mechanism that isn't there.

Lift off gimbal assembly - and lo! and behold there is the culprit, but I don't know what it does!  Going up and down with the plate that the lift arm lifts is a rod or screw with a rubber dum on the top, and a tiny torsion spring round it.  That's GOT to be the source of teh spring-loaded twist, but I'm damned if I can see what it does.

And the friction comes because the rubber dum contacts the underside of the gimbal assembly, when the plate that the lift arm lifts lifts.  Obviously a design feature.  Nothing adjustable about it at all.  Lubrication would last about 10 minutes, not a sensible thought.  The only guess I can make is that it's designed to let you leave the arm securely positioned when you lift it, for cueing purposes.  But since, like the SP25s, the arm comes down sideways when you lower the lift, that's useless as a function.  Second thought - could it be something to do with damping when lowering the arm?  I think I'll have a closer look at that.

Off at a random tangent - are the headshells the same as Mk IV or V SP25s?  It'd be nice to carry a spare headshell with cartridge already mounted.  

The very thin thing is a spring.  The gimbals are not rigid to the metal plate underneath that the big screw goes in to.   Nope, there is spring loaded twist between the two.  

Anyway, it's all back together.  

And flattery will get you absolutely-----------------------------------------everywhere!  

Now for food and a small libation while I cogitate how lucky I am not to have killed myself by playing the thing without ripping it to bits first.   Several of the mains wires underneath seem to have been accidentally hit with a soldering iron while the user was soldering something else, and there are a number of live and neutral wires with bare patches due to melted insulation - in close proximity to each other.  On Sunday I might rewire it completely  - fiddling with the underneath of record decks rather than underneath of girlfriend, much to her annoyance, no doubt.  

Other watchers, a commercially built twin deck also with Disco Driver 80s in just sold on ebay for £58 (I dropped out at £57) and it was fully working with a 100 watt amp in - collect only from Brighton.