Stylus/Cartridge advice please

[agardiner]

Hi all,

I have recently restored a radiogram. The record player did not have any markings on it, hopefully someone will recognise from the photos, but was in very good condition. I cleaned and lubricated everything and cleaned the idler with specialist rubber cleaner.

It it fitted with a 'VK051' cartridge, and I purchased 2 new stylus's from here: https://www.dacapoaudio.com/3461-Sup...051-styli.html

The advice I need is that on 33 and 45 rpm records, it does play but skips every few seconds. I had assumed that this was because I only have a stereo record to test, and that it is a mono stylus, but the supplier assures me that the 27-DS stylus is suitable for stereo records and that the tracking force must be too low. I haven't tested the 78rpm stylus as I don't have a suitable record.

I don't see any way of adjusting the tracking force. Advice please?

Thanks and regards,

Adrian.

[wd40addict]

Most likely the rubber in the cartridge suspension has gone hard. I have a Ronnette that sounds great, but unfortunately does this.

As the arm appears to have no adjustments I would expect the tracking to already be reassuringly heavy, have you measured it?

[Edward Huggins]

The stylus assembly on this is one that is the same as the BSR TC8 series, some U.S VARCO variants and almost identical to the Collaro "Studio" types. Whilst the tip may be Stereo at 0.007 (e.g. the same as a BSR TC8S type) that metal shank will intrinsically have a poor vertical compliance and may well cause mistracking, especially if the tone arm is too light.

[Jan Zodiac]

Hello Adrian,

I also don't see any adjustments for tracking force on your tonearm. You could glue a coin or similar inside the tonearm, somewhere near the cartridge, BUT, that excessive extra weight, will definetely cause excessive record wear.

I think the reason why the cartridge skips could either be the bearing at the rear of the arm being stuck, or partly stuck. It can both be the bearing for horizontal movement, as well as the, bearing for vertical movement (which is probably just a small pin at the rear of the arm).

Another more probable cause lies in the cartridge itself, especially when the turntable is placed right over the radio, getting all the heat from it.
The rubber suspension or "block" as I have shown in the first picture with a red circle ( this is where the needle is resting on), might very well have hardened over the years. This greatly affects the movement of the needle and can easily cause it to skip. That is not easily fixed, since the cartridge then needs to be taken apart, and finding anything suitable to replace the hardened rubber could also be a challenge.

One more thing. In general the cartridges using these kinds of needles does from new have a pretty hard suspension (low compliance), which again makes them require quite some amount of tracking force.
When I fix a new needle, I always grind the exact part of the needle "arm", where the small file points in the second picture. I don't grind it to the point where it almost falls apart, but just until a noticable easier horizontal movement of the needle tip.
It does take some practice, and I would recommend trying on old worn out needles first.
If the rubber has hardened as mentioned above, it has no effect to grind the needle arm though. It is just to help increase the compliance a bit on these already pretty "stiff" cartridges.

Regards,

Jan

[ben]

I would simply replace that cartridge with a stereo ceramic, if the amp has enough gain. That should cure all the jumping problems. As has been said, those old carts were never very compliant to start with and will not be kind any any record, let alone stereo ones. Plus there's the age now involved.

You might be able to put in a BSR SC12 or a Banpa clone but will likely need to be a bit creative in mounting it.

[agardiner]

Many thanks all for your replies. The rubber rest in the cartridge has indeed become hard. I am going to try increasing the tracking weight slightly first, and if not will opt for a new cartridge.

Thanks again
Adrian.

[John10b]

I have attached data from Supraphone Deck,which I serviced several years ago, might be of some interest to you.
John