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Great tip from another forum

I just wanted to share a tip on cartridge alignment that was suggested on another forum.

If the cartridge has sides that run parallel to the cantilever (as many do) then hold a straight piece of wire, or long sewing needle along the cartridge body to make it much easier to check alignment with the grid on your protractor.

I used blu-tak to hold the needle along the edge of my cartridge and was able to confirm that the tracking angle was slightly off. Since I corrected it inner groove distortion has disappeared (this on a Goldring 1042 with a line contact stylus).
seandtaylor99

Showing 2 responses by seandtaylor99

seandtaylor99 OP
1,262 posts
 
Overhang is set separately, and is set before aligning the cartridge. Once the overhang is set correctly (so that the stylus will track the curve on the protractor) then you set the alignment. Overhang is also much easier to set. It's always been alignment that I've struggled with (perhaps I should buy a cartridge with a conical stylus :-)

I was expecting someone to mention that the cantilever is not always parallel to the cartridge body. This is absolutely true, and correct alignment really requires sighting down the cantilever from the front of the cartridge. However I'll admit I find this extremely difficult to do, so the trick of using a sewing needle to align the cartridge body is probably as good an alignment as I'll ever achieve.
seandtaylor99 OP
1,262 posts
 
4yanx ... sorry I wasn't more clear. The explanation of overhang was (obviously) not intended for you or Nrchy.

It sounds like you take cartridge alignment to a higher level than me, but since I'm playing in Rega planar 3, Goldring 1042 territory I'm quite happy with where I'm at right now. The 1042 has a removable, replaceable stylus, so if I remove it and look at it from below it gives me a pretty good idea that my cantilever is parallel to the cartridge body.
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