Hey...I'm a bit of a lurker, but I haven't been around to keep up on things for a couple weeks, so forgive me if this is already covered. I bought some new needles recently and ran into a couple small problems while I was replacing them and trying to recalibrate things.
While changing the needles for my TT I noticed there was a fair amount of gunk build up and I figured I should probably get one of those stylus cleaning kits. It seems there are a couple decent products, but I'm unsure on which would be more effective. The Discwasher SC2 seems to have a small velvet or felt pad that you gently drag the stylus across the short nap after putting the cleaner on the needle and/or pad. The Stanton SC4 has a longer brush that looks like toothbrush bristles, so I assume you put the cleaner on the stylus and then sweep the brush around the needle or poke at it. Having never used either I can not really judge which would be most effective in cleaning without damaging the stylus and would appreciate any thoughts.
While I'm asking questions, I'm also concerned about the counter weight on my tone arm. I've got one of the Esoteric TT, which seems to be a hot rodded version of the standard Technics/Gemini TT. They sent me a "transcription" head shell with the TT instead of the standard Technics shell that it likely would have come with. The Transcription HS is about 2 grams heavier than the standard HS and I've never been able to get the arm to properly balance out at zero. I rather like the HS and don't wish to have to replace it if I can avoid it. I was looking into whether I can buy a new counter weight so it will have enough heft to balance properly. The counter weight that it comes with is just a tad under 4oz and goes from 0-2.5 in .5 increments (with 0 actually being 3). I found a place that sells the Technics counterweight that goes from 0-3.5. Can I put this heavier counter weight onto the tone arm or is the weight of the counter weight specifically gauged by the weight of that particular tone arm. Getting a new weight seems like the best solution, but on all the various TT cart set up/tweak pages I can find on the net don't seem to have info about this problem.
Finally, does anyone have experience with "Gruv Glide" or other "groove lubricants". You are supposed to rub the Gruv Glide into the groove which will instantly improve sound by reducing friction of stylus in groove and all while not damaging the record. Is this legit or snakeoil. Thanx, it's a real help to listen to what the group has to say about many topics that end up here. Randy