beatcomber
AK Member
I just purchased a '60s Grado Laboratory Series wooden tonearm on eBay. This is the seller's description:
For sale is a gorgeous Grado Labs wooden tonearm. This arm was part of a 1960s era turntable refurbish completed this past summer. The arm has a new cartridge, and a rewire was preformed with 22 inches of Cardas 33AWG tonearm wire terminated at the headshell with Cardas silver headshell clips. At the other end, tonearm wire is terminated with small spades, but they can be removed and easily soldered to an RCA. Weight adjustment works perfectly, the pivot shaft is sharp and straight as pictured, and it sounds great.
My '61 Thorens TD-124 originally came from the dealer with this exact arm (I have the original receipt) and I still have the original Thorens armboard that was drilled for it, so it will be easy to try it out on the Thorens immediately.
I've wanted to try one of these out for a while, and finding a clean one that has been completely rehabbed/upgraded at a reasonable price was too good to pass up.
It supposedly will be a good match for modern carts, despite its clunky appearance; I believe Kent is using one with a Grado Gold and speaks highly of the combo. My favorite cart is also a Grado, so it will be interesting to try it out.
I'm also very curious to see how it stacks up against the SME 3009 S2 Improved that I currently have on the Thorens. Assuming I like the Grado arm, I can envision one of two scenarios: 1.) I keep the Grado on the TD-124 and sell the SME; or 2.) I keep the SME on the Thorens and mount the Grado on my Rek-O-Kut, as a second arm.
Stay tuned...
My Thorens' eBay listing photo, with the Grado armboard:
Original receipt, indicating a Grado arm was included in the sale:
For sale is a gorgeous Grado Labs wooden tonearm. This arm was part of a 1960s era turntable refurbish completed this past summer. The arm has a new cartridge, and a rewire was preformed with 22 inches of Cardas 33AWG tonearm wire terminated at the headshell with Cardas silver headshell clips. At the other end, tonearm wire is terminated with small spades, but they can be removed and easily soldered to an RCA. Weight adjustment works perfectly, the pivot shaft is sharp and straight as pictured, and it sounds great.
My '61 Thorens TD-124 originally came from the dealer with this exact arm (I have the original receipt) and I still have the original Thorens armboard that was drilled for it, so it will be easy to try it out on the Thorens immediately.
I've wanted to try one of these out for a while, and finding a clean one that has been completely rehabbed/upgraded at a reasonable price was too good to pass up.
It supposedly will be a good match for modern carts, despite its clunky appearance; I believe Kent is using one with a Grado Gold and speaks highly of the combo. My favorite cart is also a Grado, so it will be interesting to try it out.
I'm also very curious to see how it stacks up against the SME 3009 S2 Improved that I currently have on the Thorens. Assuming I like the Grado arm, I can envision one of two scenarios: 1.) I keep the Grado on the TD-124 and sell the SME; or 2.) I keep the SME on the Thorens and mount the Grado on my Rek-O-Kut, as a second arm.
Stay tuned...
My Thorens' eBay listing photo, with the Grado armboard:
Original receipt, indicating a Grado arm was included in the sale:
Last edited:
That's if the Grado doesn't hum on the TD-124.
