Just got my Scoutmaster, need setup suggestions...

I have a Superscoutmaster with a VPI arm which is very close to what you have. I know the reviewers have said how easy this turntable is to set up, but mine took weeks to get it perfect. You are looking for perfection. Don't give up, there is great sound hidden in your records, and with careful setup, you will be plaesed. This non-centering issue probably comes from the fact that your tonearm is not square to the record. Put a record on the table. Take a straw or coffee stirrer (VPI gave me a long aluminum rod that is embedded in a piece of cardboard - I don't know if you just didn't see it and tossed the cardboard with the rod). Anyway - lay the coffee stirrer, rod, or straw, on the tonearm headshell right in back of the screw slots. Let the tonearm down on to the record. Looking from the front, eyeball if you can, or (what I did), measure the distance between tha ends of the rod, coffee stirrer, etc, to the record. Take your time and be careful. Make sure the rod is in that groove in the headshell's top, and measure very close to the rod on both sides. Check again that the rod hasn't moved and twisted out of that groove in the headshell. Measure very close to the rod to avoid parrelax errors being careful not to touch the coffee stirrer. I'll bet one side is higher than the other. The object here is making the 2 measurements from the coffee stirrer to the record, absolutely equal. The adjustment for this is the weight in the back. The weight hangs down from the arm tube itself. If you loosten the allen screw rotate the weight, and firm up the set screw, gravity will force the weight down which will equalize the distance bewteen the ends of the coffee stirrer, etc. at the headshell. Yes, I know, that will ruin the careful vertical tracking force adjustment. You will have to break out the Sure guage, and reset the tracking force. Yup, the coffe stirrer ends are not equal to the record again. BE PATIENT. You will go back and forth a number of times, but eventually, you will find that exact adjustment. When you get tired, go get a cup of coffee, and come back later. There's no hurry. It takes lots of time.

Azimuth is the fancy term for how the arm sits on the record, looking at it from the very front - in the face of the cartridge. It should be absolutely horizontal to the record. Its exactly what I suggested to you above.

Tail down pertains to vertical tracking angle..that is, looking from the side of the cartridge while its on the record, between true horizon and the angle of the cartridge - presuming the stylus was put on correctly by the cartridge maker. Verical tracking angle or VTA will change with the VTF (verical tracking force, or downward weight of the cartridge) and/or by raising or lowering the height of the arm. Tail low means the arm is to be adjusted a little lower in the back so that the cartridge rides tail low. The quesion hera is how much, and you adjust that by ear. I, first adjust the downward force of the cartridge to a little bit heavier than the center range suggested by the manufacturer. Your VPI has the capability of adjusting the height of the arm while the record is being played if done carefully. I would start with the arm being perfectly horizontal. I do that by taking a lined index card and folding it in half so that the lines on the card are horizontal. Carefully match the edges of the card, so that the lines are indeed perfectly horizontal. Put the index card between the arm which is on the record, and the spindle - very close to each other. The platter should not be spinning. Get down and eyeball the line on the index card that corresponds to the horizontal line of the tonearm. If the tonearm is not exacly horizontal, use the very front to the arm to decide which line on the card lines up with it. Mark that line in pencil. If you notice, there is a notched thumb wheel around the pillar of the tonearm. Turn that notched wheel so that it is firm against the bottom of the turntable. There are 2 allen screws at the base of the arm..one on the right side, and one in the rear. When these allen screws are released, the arm will be resting against that thumb screw. By turning the thumbscrew, you will be raising or lowering the tonearm. After turning the screw a couple of times, use that index card to see your progress..if the back of the arm is going up or down. Continue to adjust the arm until the arm is perfectly horizon and parallel to the marked line on the index card. Look and align with your head at the same plane as the arm/line on the index card to eliminate parralax errors. Once the arm is horizontal, remove the index card, turn on the turntable and play the record. By turning that thumb wheel, you can lower or raise the rear of the arm/cartridge which adjusts the VTA. Some, listen for the quality of bass. I adjust for maximum air and depth. I had to play with this adjustment many times, over many days to hear any change at all. When you learn what to listen for, you can adjust that VTA until the sounds kind of snap into focus. When you are satisfied, tighten the two allen screws at the base of the arm, and you will hear a big improvement again. That index card will enable you to repeat your setting, because if you really are after perfection, 200 gram records need a different VTA than the 180 gram records, etc.