Hey Randy, I don't know if any of these questions were already answered, but if not, here's my take on things.
Gruv Glide is crap. Don't use it. It leaves residue. Residue is bad. Residue causes "a fair amount of gunk build up" on your cartridge. Residue INCREASES friction. The best way of reducing friction is a meticulous record cleaning regimen. If you can't afford a record cleaning machine, at least have a carbon fiber brush around. They'll get the big nasty stuff off the record. "The Disk Doctor" has a very effective cleaning system that you can use without a record cleaning machine. I'm spoiled with my VPI 16.5. It's so easy to use. I'd advise you against using "home brew" solutions with tap water and dish washing liquid. Both the tap water and the dish washing soap will leave residue on the vinyl and may make the problem worse. Matter of fact, some of the residue left by tap water and dish detergent is more difficult to get off the record than the goo you're trying to eradicate. I hate to admit it, but I use pure anhydrous isopropynol to clean LPs (which will destroy 78s by the way). It leaves virtually zero residue, dries quickly, and it doesn't seem to hurt my VPI record cleaner. There are residues from the record manufacturing process that cannot be removed by soap and water. In chemistry, you learn of different kinds of bonds: ionic, anionic, etc... You need a cleaning solution that has some kind of solvent (alcohol, or Vertrel or???) to get the really tough stuff off. Actually read this site: http://discdoc.com/ I know that Duane Goldman is on this list and he knows much more about this stuff than I do. He also will disagree with my use of anhydrous isopropynol, but I like it and it's convenient for me.
To clean your cartridge tip of general dust/debris, try using an artist's paint brush (as opposed to the kind for painting walls). They're gentle and get the job done. You'll have to cut it down to size (or at least I have to) so it's easy to get under the cartridge. I don't like the idea of using any kind of fabric. Suppose you get the stylus snagged in the fabric and you pull the cantilever too hard? Not good. The toothbrush bristles is a better idea. I used to use denatured alcohol to clean the stylus, BUT, alcohol attacks the rubber in the suspension of the cartridge. There is, or at least I'm told there is, a special alcohol that can clean the stylus tip without damaging the rubber. Audio Technica, supposedly, uses it in their cleaning formula. Is there a chemist here that knows what I'm talking about? Never make swirling/circle or poking motions with your cleaning apparatus! If you want to poke, get a stick and look for a dog to aggravate. Only pull from the back of the cartridge forward, just like it tracks a record. If you push from the front of the cartridge to the back, you are putting stresses on the cantilever and suspension that the cartridge wasn't designed to take. Now days, I just brush it off. I never clean it with any liquid that might "wick" up into the suspension. There are (for the OCD audiophile types) ultrasonic cleaners. I've never tried one. The thing to remember is that the stylus is pretty tough since it's made of diamond. The thing to watch out for is bending the cantilever or knocking the suspension out of whack.
The headshell issue: go to MCM electronics online and search for their generic headshell. They're well made and cheap. It's a skeletal (low mass) design. By the way, if you don't have a cartridge balance, like the low cost Shure, you need to get one (from The Disk Doctor). Adjusting the VTF without one is kind of risky. You might set the tracking way to high, which might sound okay, but eventually the cartridge will fail. I do tweak the tracking force by ear, but only after starting off at the factory recommended setting with my cartridge balance (always on the high side of the recommendation sounds best to me). What you do by adding a heavier counterweight is change the resonance frequency of the arm/cartridge combination. When you add a heavier counterweight, you increase the total mass, lowering the resonance frequency of the arm and cartridge combination. That's not necessarily a good OR bad thing. It's just something to know. If you are using a lowish compliance "DJ" stylus, the extra weight will fix a common problem with DJ cartridges: mid bass bloat (a resonance that occurs in the range of the music, causing the bass to be bloated and thick). Very high compliance cartridges like the Shure V15 might have problems with the extra mass added with the heavier counterweight. It might cause "woofer pumping" where the suspension of the cartridge cannot control the motion of the arm effectively (think of it as putting economy car shock absorbers on a 18 wheeler--the truck is too heavy for the shocks to be able to control the motion of the truck and the truck flies all over the road). With very low compliance cartridges (almost always a moving coil), the extra mass is needed to get the cartridge to function properly. I've heard very good moving coil cartridges sound bright and harsh because they were mounted on a low mass tonearm.
Hope this helps a little. Phillip
Do you have a
RL C PayPal` wrote:
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