ODYSSEY TONEARMS: Odyssey Gold Signature

The Odyssey Gold Signature was a custom arm made to order. The standard RP1-XG is sometimes advertised as a signature model, or as an RP1 gold, but only the GS was completely gold plated so it is easy to spot. It used the basic concept of the RP1-XG, but the intention was to make a higher mass arm using brass throughout - a gold plated tonearm, with more to it than just plating a standard RP1 arm with gold anodised alloy bits. While some parts from the RP1 were used, the majority were made specifically for the GS and incorporated various changes.

The arm was therefore more rigid, and was plated with 24 carat gold over nickel over copper. The first was made in the mid 1980's. At the time the arm was probably the most expensive arm available, and certainly the only one with the cosmetic option to have gemstones fitted (ironically, the feature most commented upon, given their lack of influence on the sound...)

Depending on the customer's wishes and system, the wiring varied, though was generally van den Hul. There were custom bases, fixed armtubes with straight through wiring options, detachable tubes with stiff solid core silver wire, and short flexible links to a panel on the deck.

Arm tube mass, damping and fixing varied as did cosmetic features, such as fastener finish, fingerlift style, and also the gemstones. The stones were set in pin or screw mounts, which could then be fitted to either the headshell, cueing device lever, or the bias thread holder, or any combination.

Arms were made with topaz, garnets, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, aquamarines, amethysts, and diamonds. The gemstones were mounted in settings by Bill Ward, a jeweller who had a unit next to me at Millbrae in Johnstone. Bill went on to have a shop in the town at 64 High Street.

There were 19 arms made. The original GS was imperial, but the later arms were metric. The Gold Signatures were therefore made pre and post Source-Odyssey, always as custom items. The last one for a UK customer was ordered by Robert Peach in 1997 and took many months to finish...
I made most of the bits at the workshop of a former modelmaking colleague, Brian Gallagher.

The above arm was mounted on a Gold Source as a competition prize. It was the plain version, not fitted with gemstones.

I had a Gold Signature to repair in 2012. Here is a pic (courtesy of Radlett Audio). It is mounted on a mahogany Source turntable.

The arm was number 006, and has a couple of diamonds fitted. It appeared to have had some trouble at some point and has had wiring replaced. The bearings were damaged - perhaps in storage, in transit, who knows. I cleaned it up, replaced the damaged parts, rewired it internally and reinstalled it on the owner's deck.

This is arm, number 008 from late 80s.

It was for sale on eBay. I later heard that it had once been part of hifi dealer Brooks Berdan's collection of tonearms. I had been bought after his death as one of the items in a box of tonearms bits.

While the photo isn't great and so the colour is wrong, it looks like it's had a fair bit of use - or at least is more marked than I'd expect, perhaps from its time in the box of bits, and had been rewired with a MDIN male connector.

Gold Signature number 015 was a 9" arm.