grado cartrige question


Two days ago, without really knowing what it was worth, I bought a Thorens td126 mkIII electronic from a local thrift store for 6 bucks, it was in excellent almost perfect condition, with tone arm and cartridge all in similar shape.

Suddenly I can see why vinyl is all the rage, my intro-level system is singing on the few select albums I have.

In my research of my new bargain I haven't been able to determine what kind of cartridge I have, It is a Grado, it has gold sides and a brown front (not wood) I was hoping someone could help me figure out what I have, and how best to care for it. Also, any info on how to service, care for my table and tone arm (I think its stock) would be appreciated; I downloaded the manual from analogdepot, but could use other advice.

Thanks in advance
John L
windzilla
Thank you, for all responses present and future, the community at Audiogon, and the wealth of information contained in these forums, has been invaluable.
Congratulations on your Thorens! You've got a keeper. You beat my garage sale bargain of a TD160 for $10.00. You might want to check out: http://www.theanalogdept.com/thorens_dept_.htm
for ways to tweak your 'new' table. I followed many of the tweak suggestions and the result is that I am selling my Music Hall MMF5 because the Thorens is so much better. Incidently, I added a Grado Reference Platinum cartridge to it and I believe I would have to spend $1500.+ to best it.
It's hard to know exactly which Grado cartridge you have, since the exterior appearances changed over time. But since the cartridge body is not wood, it is safe to say that you have one of the models that make up the entry-level group that Grado currently calls the "Prestige Series". The Thorens TD-126 Mk III was an excellent turntable (I owned one for about 5 years before buying my VPI), but if the cartridge and the TT are from the same production era, the cartridge is probably an older model also that is no longer made.

You might try looking at the Grado web site for more info: http://www.gradolabs.com/frameset_main.htm