Music fans who long for “the way it used to sound” are in for a treat – the Chippenham auction house that is home to BBC Antiques Road Trip star Izzie Balmer is to sell an old collection of Wiltshire’s world-beating record-players.
And if the starting bids are anything to go by, they could be going for a song.
Wessex Auction Rooms at Draycot Cerne, near Chippenham, is staging an online-only timed auction of the much sought-after vintage turntables were made in Wiltshire at the legendary Garrard factory at Swindon.
The precision engineering manufacturer was world-famous for its top of the range record players. But although music industry experts were full of praise for the products made by the highly skilled workforce, the assembly line shut down in 1982.
READ MORE Nostalgia: It's 40 years since Garrard factory in Swindon shut down
However, now music lovers can bid for a bit of nostalgia. Of the 47 lots in the auction, 42 come from a Wiltshire collection and the bulk of them were made by Garrard.
“There’s already loads of local interest in this sale,” said auctioneer Martin Hughes.
He added: “The collection has come from a lady in Swindon whose son collected them over many years. He filled up her garage with them and then decided he was done with collecting and left them for her to dispose of however she saw fit.
“Sometimes it’s not just about being ‘high end’ or high value, it’s about collectability – and this collection ticks all the boxes for us. Garrard is an iconic brand, still highly collectable.
“Some people won’t know that there was a time when Garrard was the absolute benchmark for quality anywhere in the world. If you loved records, you wanted to be listening to them on a Garrard deck. What a great piece of history for Swindon and Wiltshire”.
Bids for the auction can be registered now – and the starting price for many of the lots is just £10. The bidding will close at 9pm on March 20.
“Some of the items have very little value, but there was no way that I was going to allow them to end up in landfill. In many cases, the components are very hard to source and I would expect many collectors to be interested for spares and repairs,” said Martin.
You can see the full auction here.
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