They laughed until the DIY retips started to play

[Paladin]

The MA was the easiest as no cactus-thorn transplant was necessary. A new cantilever slipped over the thin MA tip, the stump, and then glue. I just randomly picked a tip that I felt would do the job. They will all make sound. I use what I have around.

[rito25]

I tried and fail horribly.
First my hand slipped breaking off the cantilever at the base on the MA 2002e.
Then I squeeze my broken AT120E/T stylus too hard and the hole was too small to fit over.
I believe I am getting 2 PE M91 stylii in the mail, do you think those will work?
Lets hope my digitrac 200ne comes soon so I can play LP again.

[1200y3]

I repaired a line contact tip by using super glue to fix the tip (almost ONLY the tip) to a generic stylus bar (cantilever) I used the thinnest cactus thorn and glued the thorn to the outside of the generic cantilever and stylus tip. It worked, but I do consider myself lucky, and hope I don't have to be that precice again, but hey, the broken stylus sat for 15 years and I did not expect to get it repaired. It cost $80 in 1986 for the cartridge and it is a nude square shank VDH!

No matter how many times a failed, as long as I did not lose the tip on the floor, I was able to succeed. Precision is not as important as a good compliance. Most of the rebuilds I do are with generics, so they are quite bulky and easy to work with. But once the last 1/3 of the tip is coupled to the stylus bar with a thorn, the decoupling of mass through the thorn reduces the stylus tip mass to that of only the tip. It reduces all other commercial designs to only a compromised product.

Because of the ability to do a DIY stylus, I never am without a stylus.

I have over 50 DIY styli, and I only did it because it was the only way to keep my V15s alive, and to come close to the original sound of it. It only costs $5 to make a stylus! (And from a line of broadcasters, producers, studio owners, amplifier engineers, owners-my ears don't care for too much off the shelf technology.)

[Blue Angel]

I may have found the origin of Sumo II. There were few cartridge makers back then and probably fewer in Japan so I had to scour through little information in their country. Both it and the Goldbug Medusa cartridges share a unique bottom shape. Medusa points to references of them being sold as the short-lived McIntosh MC 1000 & MC 800 cartridges. $1000 back then would be $2,100US today.

With the wood case the Medusa is known as the Goldbug Brier.


From audiotools.com:
Mark Corp.
Mid to high end MC carts made in Japan in the 70's and 80's, the models were Brier, so named because it was fitted into a hand made brier wood enclosure (actually carved by the wife of the company's president), and the Goldbug, Medusa and Clement. All of these had the same coil arrangement but different housing and styli. The Brier was something of a legend and became the inspiration for later Koetsu and Grado models. The company also made the McIntosh cartridges that were available between 80's, those models were broadly similar to the Brier but had plastic housings.
http://audiotools.com/oldcart_l.html

From roger-russel.com:
I became involved with evaluating these cartridges at McIntosh, and even making recommendations for a few changes. In 1984 the Mark Corporation produced two cartridges for McIntosh, the MCC800 and the MCC1000. Unlike many moving coil cartridges, these did not have a peak in the response at the high end that normally emphasized intermodulation products. The brier housing was not used for the McIntosh cartridges in order to reduce mass. The coils were wound directly on the stylus cantilever. Consequently, the styli were not user-replaceable. The cartridge had to be returned to the factory for replacement and correct alignment. At this time CD's were gaining more in sales. The cartridges were available for only a short time and very few were sold. The company, Mark Corporation, has since gone out of business.
http://www.roger-russell.com/phono.htm

I have often read references to the effect that 'coils were wound directly onto the cantilever'.

How is this possible as the coils have to cross?

Obviously, I'm not quoting Paladin. I'm quoting Paladin quoting Roger Russell, quoting someone else. I personally have never seen such an arrangement 'in the flesh' so to speak.

blue angel

[fscl]

OK, I want in, just didn't have any candidates until now:

http://www.vinylengine.com/phpBB2/album ... r_id=14996

It's a Technics EPC-310MC with broken boron tube cantilever. She should be OK channel-wise according to the VOM.

The cantilever diameter is very small and a cactus thorn would not seem to fit in the hole. So I am thinking that I could slip a larger diameter cantilever over the stub, carpenter glue and floor finish?

I'm thinking a nice diamond right off the bat like one off of the Digitrac 200ne as this cartridge is a high performer......

As it is off of a Technics linear, I'm going to have to do some calculations to make sure it conforms to P-mount specs (ie cantilever length matching).

Have any suggestions, practice tips, words of encouragment....

Fred and

[IZHAKKATZ]

Hey all,

I have a new Denon DL103 cartridge that’s missing the smaller cantilever tube that holds the diamond tip. The larger diameter cantilever is intact.

Does anyone knows of an after market cantilever that can fit inside the 103's larger cantilever tube? and if not, what after mrket cantilever may work well with this cartridge?


Thanks
IK

[Paladin]

It was easy to fit the Audio Technica tip in the Sumo II which looks much like the Denon. BTW, Sumo is still running strong. A far nicer choice then original would be a $20 nude square-shank tipped Digitrac.

[1200y3]

I have used a cactus thorn (as thin as a thread) on the OUTSIDE of the cantilever to a stylus tip of a square shank line contact A/T. It was only a shot in the dark but it worked. I only kept the tip to admire under a microscope, and hope that I never need to be that delicate again. I actually used a Phanstheil cantilver and super glue. I could not use the original A/T tapered cantilever because it was flattenned at the tip.

Anything is possible as long as you don't lose the pieces (this one was as small as possible) and it was eventually worth it. I kept the tip stuck to a piece of masking tape to keep from losing it.

As much as I like DIY styli building, I stick mostly to generics with excellent results. Even splicing a generic tip to a generic cantilever with a thorn improves the stock generic.

[rito25]

I was finally able to retip my MA 2002e my self. How do I find the right tracking force?

[Paladin]

Congratulations Rito! The MA cartridges always did run on the light side. Start with 1.0g, try about 10 records, then see which way to go.

[bakelite2]

I am hoping to re-tip my Excel/Goldring ES-5H moving coil cartridge but I am having all sorts of trouble finding a cantilever large enough to slide over the remnants of the original cantilever that is still attached to the stub. Any ideas as to what I should be looking for to try.

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[rito25]

Thanks, 1 gram seems to work. I used the PE m93 needles for the retip. They track at 2 grams. I had problem with the cantilevers I cut collapsing, I just glued that cantilever crushed and all right to the stub of the old one.

[1200y3]

Bakelite: Are you able to fit a thorn onto the outside the leftover piece? (If you can't go in.) A thin thorn will glue to the outside of the cantilever and works well. Unnderstanding that the original cantilevers are very tiny, you have to do it in such a way that it doesn't make it unusable. Crazy Glue is one of those types of glue that can be used many different ways, but techniques have to be practiced and experienced. Some glue dries to fast, and slow glue requires a holding jig.

I am actually using Crazy Glue to make makeshift belts whole I wait to make an order. Polyurethane is rock stable, but has certain break in times and service life. With a rubber belt I just have to dab one edge and mate the two edges (practice with old belts). I have connected an A/T fine line (and a seriously small stylus) to a generic replacement stylus cantilever (nice thing about Shures) by dabbing a thorn with CA glue, then touching it to the tip. With about an 1/8 inch thorn length I fit it into the cantilever of a Shure. So in other words to save myself some anguish I connected the extremely fine stylus to a Shure. If you wanted to keep your Goldring alive, I wouldn't hesitate to put the tip of a generic replacement stylus on it. Believe it or not, stylus tips are not that different from each other (they still have the differences in "tight HF detail"), but cantilevers, compliances, coils, etc are. I find that even cutting the tip of a generic replacement stylus about 1/3 from the tip, then connecting it with a thin thorn, it will sound quite good. It just needs that "relief" from the shaft holding it. The the cantilever is still part of the pickup, and it will pickup what the independent stylus tip is sending it.

A fine line's lack of hazziness can be enjoyed with a spherical with this "decoupled" cantilever, you just won't get the highest frequency detail. With a well built spherical, the highest frequencies wil not be physically touched. A fine line WILL be physically touching every HF modulation, hence the reason the manufacturer can't get away with poor cantilevers on a FL.

Glues used for "testing" (such as removeable white glue) that won't damage the cartridge have been discussed earlier, thankfully.

I would suggest practicing the DIY stylus craft with Shures and A/T's that can be found at 2nd hand stores, and generic replacement styli, before risking an expensive MC. The reason is that you will learn about the end result sounds, such as cantilever types and tip sizes, and why different tip sizes were invented, and how to select a different tip size. Each stylus size has its own purpose, from record wear playback, home playback to playback in public arenas. And you'll know the stylus shape and size just by hearing it. When there is no cantilever colorations, the image shape is proportional to the stylus profile. (Sperical vs line?)

DO NOT GET SUPER GLUE ON THE COMPLIANCE. Contact cement is a bit nore forgiving as well and it gets tight, but don't get it on the compliance either.

[bakelite2]

If I go that route of gluing a thorn to the outside of the cantilever can it be reversed if I then decide to send it to someone like Soundsmith for a new cantilever and stylus.