Fairchild 280 Series Tone Arm Page
280 tone arm (Internet photo).
281A tone arm.
The Fairchild 280 and 281 tone arms arrived in 1954, along with the 215 series and 216-A cartridges. They had nothing in common with the earlier 202 three-cartridge "turret head" arm. The 280's gracefully curved design bore the dashing styling imprint of Raymond Loewy, a premier US industrial designer of the 1950's. The 280 was for records up to 12 inches in diameter and the 281 for up to 16 inches in diameter. "A" versions appeared in 1956. The only difference known to the author is their color scheme, as seen above. The 282 stereo arm appeared in 1959, sporting a snappy black-and-white color scheme. It was available only in the smaller, 12-inch-record version. Two other, entirely different Fairchild stereo arms also appeared: the SA-12 (1959) and the 500 (1960). (All appearance dates above from Nic Kertesz, Belgium. The author does not know when production of any of the models ceased.)
282 stereo tone arm.
282 with SM1 and attitude (Nic Kertesz photo).
The 280 and 281's were for the 200-series mono moving-coil cartridges, but would accommodate the later SM1 and SM2 stereo moving-magnet cartridges. The 282 was for the SM1 and SM2 but could also accommodate the 200 series. See details below.
The front end of the 280 and 281 arms incorporated a clever cartridge-mounting scheme to facilitate easy cartridge interchange. At the left are shown the two "C clip" spring contacts that engage the cartridge output terminals. Note that with no cartridge inserted the contact springs contact each other, shorting the preamp input for minimum noise when changing cartridges.
Unlike the earlier 202 arm, which permanently housed up to three cartridges, the 280 series held one cartridge at a time. Cartridges were mounted on a cartridge slide for easy changing. The popular General Electric (GE) variable-reluctance cartridges with the rotating "baton" dual-tip stylus assemblies were accommodated by the capped hole above the cartridge-mounting area of the arm, through which the provided extension of the baton's vertical shaft projected. In the left photo a 225-A on an 830A slide is making its way into the front of the arm. The right view shows full engagement.
One channel of an SM1 or SM2 stereo cartridge could be engaged by the spring contacts of the 280 and 281 mono arms.
The 830 cartridge slide was supplied with the arm when new. It is often missing from used Fairchild arms. The 830 slide was silver in color; the 830A was gold. I believe the 830A was supplied with "A" arms and the 830 with the earlier versions. Both are listed as accessories in an original Fairchild 280A/281A sales sheet. My 280 Series Installation and Operation Instructions notes that different lengths of posts were provided for mounting cartridges of different thicknesses. Also supplied were (1) one pair of cartridge-mounting screws, (2) one weight for mounting a 78-rpm cartridge, (3) two rubber shims of different thicknesses for use with the weight and (4) one post-extension shaft for GE turnaround cartridges. Try finding all of these parts at an estate sale! Photos by Ichiro Aoki, Japan.
Site ©2003 by Jim Long. Created May 23, 2003. All photos except as noted taken by Don Sellers, USA.