Re: [ARSCLIST] Gates transcription turntable

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In fact I wouldn't waste five cents restoring any old transcription turntable,
except as an artifact or if you have the space and a lot of discs you just want
to audition. Modern players such as the Technics SP 15 have far more
flexibility, pitch variation and less rumble and noise.

Ah.....Gates. We had a couple of their cartridge players in one station I worked
at in the 70s. Useless things.

dl

John Ross wrote:

> It's hard to think of a good reason to spend any kind of money
> restoring a Gates turntable. As a category, the performance of those
> old rim-drive transcription turntables was much worse than later
> direct-drive and belt-drive machines, and among the transcription
> tables, the Gates turntables were notorious for rumble problems --
> much worse than comparable turntables from Rek-o-cut, McCurdy, RCA or
> Fairchild . They might have been okay for heavily-processed lo-fi AM
> radio circa 1958, but most FM stations that cared about  sound
> quality got rid of them as soon as a practical alternative became available.
>
> Even if you need a turntable that would play 16-inch transcriptions,
> there are much better alternatives.
>
> A lot of that old technology was indeed wonderful -- RCA ribbon
> microphones, McIntosh tube amplifiers and so forth -- but Gates
> turntables ain't in that category.
>
> Gates Radio made a full line of radio studio equipment, from
> turntables and consoles through to transmitters. It's my impression
> that much of their market share was achieved through creative
> financing of package deals -- buy everything from us and we will give
> you a good price and affordable terms -- but they were never the
> choice when quality was more important than price. Based in Quincy,
> Illinois, they were widely known as "The Quincy Tin Works."
>
> Disclaimer: I'm talking about their reputation in the 1960s and 70s.
> Gates is still in business, but their designs and quality levels are
> almost certainly better than they used to be.
>
> John Ross
>
> At  8/9/2005 02:59 PM, Dr. Cheryl Thurber wrote:
> >I am trying to find information about the Gates
> >transcription turntable. This is a radio station
> >turntable with a large platter. A few years ago when I
> >first got this I did an internet search and then had
> >communicated with someone in I believe NC who restores
> >these, and knew immediately which model I have and
> >information about it, and even had a manual. I was
> >wondering if anyone on this list might know the
> >person, or might know about the turntable. I am
> >probably going to sell this in the near future, since
> >I have not had the time to restore it, and it is very
> >large and heavy (I mounted it in cart so it moves
> >about and there is no pressure on the underside. I
> >live in the Baltimore area in case anyone is
> >interested when I do get around to selling it.) As I
> >looked for information recently I could not find much
> >about it. Gates seems to have been a key person in the
> >development of the transcription turntable. This
> >particular one had been in use in radio stations in
> >the south central PA, the last use was at a gospel
> >station according to the man I got it from.
> >
> >We seem to focus so much lately on current technology
> >that we often forget about the importance of the
> >earlier equipment.
> >Any information would be appreciated.