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Fairchild 440 w/Pritchard Arm - Worth restoring?

About a dozen years ago, a friend gave me an old turntable. I didn't have time to deal with it then, so I put it in the attic, and there it sat. I recently moved to a new house and when I was unpacking I ran across the box with the turntable. I was going to just toss it up on eBay (and still may), but I want to learn more about it first.

I plugged it in, and the motor made a bit of squawking, but it ran. I opened the motor housing and put a few drops of oil in the end cap where the shaft spins. Sealed it back up and it purrs like a kitten. The box had an old but unused belt, so I put a few drops of oil on the spindle bearing, and dropped on the platter with the belt. I checked the speed with my strobe, and with a little adjustment, I got the speed spot on and steady.

I haven't checked the tonearm and cables, but looks like this machine could actually play vinyl. Looks like these were sold as kits. The base is walnut, but whoever built the kit used some plywood for the top. If I were going to keep the turntable, I'd make a new top of walnut and refinish the rest of the base.

I can't imagine the Fairchild replacing the SME 20 as my main vinyl spinner, but it does pique my interest. Does anyone have any experience with these units? Any issues pairing a cartridge with the Pritchard tonearm?

Thanks for you insight.

Ken
iflyfisher

Showing 1 response by normansizemore

normansizemore
601 posts
 
iflyfisher,

Restoring old tables is a blast.  Many beleive that becuase things are old they are out dated and not worth the effort.  Not true.  I've done a few Duals, a Garrard and am about to tackle a 60 year old EMT.

Back in the day, Fairchild was well respected.  Their products were well made.  I think the motor in your tuntable was also used in many others, including 3M and Advent cassette decks.  I have spares if you need.

If your table has the gimbal mounted Pritchard arm then I would keep it.  They came in 9 & 12 inch configurations and were excellent trackers.

Roll up the sleeves!  You just might have a gem on your hands.

N
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