Our fabulous funky coloured fabric braided flex is used in many ways, not just in lamps and lighting. We have seen it used on telephones for period dramas, in radio restoration and now a turntable!
Lamps and Lights’ customer Kevin Taggerty tells us about his creation …

Garrard_ZERO100_SB

Project: Garrard Zero100 SB turntable

Playing proper ‘albums’ is my preferred way of listening to music, and I have several turntables. The most recent purchase is the oldest, an American built Garrard Zero100 from the seventies which looks gorgeous with its brushed aluminium plinth and chrome details.  I saw it in an electrical exchange shop window and simply had to have it!

Garrard_ZERO100_SB_croppedBecause of it’s age it was not playing well – factory applied oils and grease had thickened or dried up affecting the speed, and on the first long playing it stopped altogether. However, the American motors in these turntables are known to be strong so I guessed it was simply a matter of servicing.  The existing cable was a discoloured and stiffened ubiquitous three core round white (well I assume it used to be white, it was more of a creamy beige in places), so I decided to re-wire it at the same time.
Because the mains power lead is connected directly to the underside of the deck which sits on four springs, I considered that the more flexible the cable was, the less it would affect the turntables ‘suspension’, and a three core cable that could be separated easily into three strands where it enters the base at the back seemed like a good idea to me.  So I looked on the internet for ‘three core cable’ and found Lamps and Lights, and a range of colours to choose from.
Garrard_ZERO100_SB_close-upI decided not to make a feature of the cable (as attractive as it is), and judged from the website photographs that the ‘Grey’ would compliment the brushed aluminium and was delighted with the colour when it arrived.  I found an old-fashioned looking, but modern, shiny hard-black-plastic plug which finished it off nicely and now the turntable looks as good as it sounds.
We thank Kevin, an artist and designer for sending us this lovely article about the design of his fantastic project. You can follow him on Twitter @KevinTaggerty.
We look forward to his next idea…