Re: Garrard record player deck identification.
The SP25 Single-Play model.
Successful and justly famous among Garrards is the SP25 series. This is remarkable, considering that until very late, they were not sold in Garrards's largest market, the USA.
The SP25 was introduced in 1964 and was built on the compact, popular Autoslim chassis. It was essentially an AT60 record changer without the multiple-play, record-changing mechanism. It also incorporated a built-in arm lift/lower provision which replaced the REJECT function on the control panel. Its large, nonmetallic, cast and machined platter were identical to that of the AT60, as was its fully counterweight-adjusted, dynamically balanced tonearm with built-in, calibrated tracking weight adjuster requiring no external gauge.
The SP25 was also built in custom versions for use in quality radiograms. Of special interest are two versions built for Decca: the Deccadec, which had a special tonearm for fitment of the Decca Deram high-quality ceramic cartridge; and the FFSS Deccadec, with an adapter for fitting Decca FFSS pickup heads, and a special platter completely made of nonferrous metal...the inner drive platter of all other Autoslim models was of steel, and Decca wanted to avoid any interaction with the strong external magnetic field of the FFSS pickup.
SP25 in custom plinth
SP25 overhead view
Deccadec
Deccadec tonearm detail
FFSS Deccadec with Decca head
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