Technics SL-1950 Tonearm pulling to the right

[shoegazer2600]

Hello everyone. Let me preface this by saying that I am a total noob to vinyl & turntables so if I say anything goofy, please guide me in the correct direction.

So I recently picked up a Techncs SL-1950 from a thrift store that looked to be in pretty good condition. The only problem that I could see was that it was missing the cartridge assembly. No big deal, I picked up a new one at a local record store. Well, here's where the problem comes in... I can get the tonearm to float, and the antiskate is set to 0, but it always wants to slowly pull to the right.

I've seen similar posts on the internet, but I have yet to find a single positive ID on the problem (what ever happens to these people anyway, have they seen too much?). So I took some initiative, did some research and decided to disassemble the turntable and see what's going on in there. Everything came apart with no problem - to the best of my knowledge - and I have removed the tonearm assembly from the turntable.

I'm looking at it from the bottom and I can see the antiskate spring looks is not stretched at all and so I would assume it is applying zero lateral force... good deal. I can also see the tiny lead wires feeding out from the bottom of tonearm and there is a healthy amount of slack so I don't think they are pulling on the arm. Even so, the tonearm still wants to pull towards the little armrest.

Can anyone help me ID the source of this problem? This seems to be a good unit, so I would hope that it's just a simple fix...

[Alec124c41]

A slight amount of drift is not unusual, nor a serious problem. Rega tonearms are known for it.
Check that your turntable is level, and listen to some music. You can set the anti-skate a bit lower than the tracking force.

Cheers,
Alec

[saket]

Double check if your tt is sitting properly levelled. In case if it still pulls to the right, you may just put a small and thin thermocol under the right feet of the TT to raise it just a bit. Else do what Alec said, set antiskate a bit less than your tracking weight. Also again check if the antiskate spring is pulling your tonearm in anyway even when set at zero.

Regards,
Saket

[shoegazer2600]

Hey guys, thanks for your responses. I suppose I could live with a slight amount of pull, but the thing is that the pull is making it so that I can't listen to any records. If I set the needle down, it would slowly drag across the surface of the record. Perhaps my arm is too "floaty" and not enough weight is being applied?

When I set up the arm, I floated it, then dialed into 0 on my counter weight and added 1.5... Is this correct? Or maybe the fact that I'm using and after market cartridge means that I need to change my settings.

I would be willing to try making the table sit higher on the right in order to compensate for the pull I just want to be sure that it's not a problem that could otherwise be fixed.

Thanks.

[Alec124c41]

When you balance the arm, set the dial to 0, do you add the 1.5 by turning the dial, or the entire counterweight? The latter is correct.

Cheers,
Alec

[shoegazer2600]

Thanks Alec, I didn't think to turn the entire counterweight instead of just the dial! I told you I'm new to this haha. Unfortunately this didn't solve my problem, it only lessened it. Even with 2 or up to 3 grams of tracking weight the needle doesn't really advance along the grooves, it just kind of stays in place sort of skipping on the track. Even if I sit the table higher on the right side the arm still wants to move back to the arm rest.

I guess I'm back to where I started. I'll have to take it apart again and take a look at the tonearm assembly. The antiskate spring looks completely slack at '0' so I don't think that's the issue. I will go back and double check on the tonearm wiring because that my only other lead at this point. Is there anything else that could be causing my problems? Do I need to check the bearings in my tonearm or something? Anything?

Thanks again!