Garrard 301 restore

jperry:

The USA rebuilders I Googled charge $450-$650 plus parts (figure an additional $200-$250 for there/back shipping).

As mentioned, the deck first and then what's leftover for the tonearm.

The OP has a functioning base, which is fine to get it up and running.

I (being a pot licker) would then experiment by "stuffing" the hollow base/plinth with various inserts/layers of plywood, probably using double sided tape in the beginning to hear how the added mass alters the sound.

The use of tape would give it somewhat of a constrained layer, which some seem to prefer in high mass TT plinths, plus it would allow easier experimentation.

DeKay 

@dekay +1

I think my real point, although not well articulated, was don't buy a base that you need to upgrade.

I agree with you, and I am always happy to see another person put a Garrard back in service.

I have one and I am very happy with my Garrard 301.

jperry:

I owned Thorens TD121/TD124 in the late 70's and preferred my TD160's.

This was long before plinths/arm board material was a consideration.

This said, I did like the stock 301 back then, but never found one on the cheap (paid $25-$35 for the Thorens idler/belt jobs @ local house sales).

I used all the decks with SME 3009 II non-improved and 3012 arms (depending upon the base) but even though the older Thorens decks were fuller sounding in the bass/mid-bass they lacked definition there and the mids/highs lacked the reverb quality I got with the 160's.

The TD121/124 were cabinet finds in crappy bases with slide out rails on the bottoms (one was a long base though).

I recall using white glue on the corners of the bases as both were starting to separate/fall a part.

Never heard a "modernized" 121/124/301, but would like to.

DeKay

Unless the base/plinth is falling apart, your budget priority should be on getting the table serviced and selecting a good arm.  A well conditioned 301 deserves the best possible arm.  I know that really good arms are way out of your budget, so I am only trying to make the point that this table is so good there is no arm that would be inappropriate.  The Artisan Fidelity site, for example, shows this table coupled with a lot of top notch arms.  My local dealer's favorite arm with the 301,401 and 124 was the higher end Ortofon arms made by Jelco (Japan).  I don't know what arms he now favors now that Jelco is no longer in business.  He has plenty of customers with these idler table, with Ortofon arms and cartridges as high end as Koetsu Rosewood Platinum Signature and Blue Lace cartridges.  

The unit is super clean but clearly needs work that I would prefer to leave to the pros.

Please see my profile and system for confirmation that I have experience with restoration of the 301. My recommendation is to send the 301 to Greg Metz of STS/Classic Thorens just outside of Nashville for meticulous restoration. Greg is a perfectionist. His prices are just a tad on the high side but you get what you pay for.

Now this is going to perhaps offend you or some others but without knowing what you do for a living and/or what your financial responsibilities are, it is a complete shame, imho, to limit the potential of a "super clean" 301 with your budget. $4500 is a much more reasonable budget. Wait, save, re-allocate, do whatever you need to do but restore the 301 with an adequate budget for restoration, tonearm, and plinth. Please :-).

Also, someone above mentioned that there is a school of thought that super-dense plinths such as slate deaden the sound. I agree. The sound with a slate plinth and top end tonearm and cartridge will sound more precise but sterile. The liveliness is gone. But on the other hand the 301 has a somewhat noisy motor/idler drive such that a mid-weight plinth with good footers will help. So don’t expect perfection and instead accept the inherent compromises. I happen to have one of the Muldovian plinths linked above just sitting around collecting dust. PM me and if you want it, you can have it at a price that will be bound to make you happy. But-I warn you in advance-while it looks very nice and seems to be built well-it is still rather cheaply made.

And last, while there are tons of great tonearm choices out there and no single best-for-the-money choice, you might add these to your consideration; https://purefidelity.ca/product-category/tonearms/