Trouble setting up Grado wood body cartridge

Another thing I thought of:

You said the new cart is wider/longer. If its also shorter then the resulting extra downward angle is only making it harder. Eyeball VTA so the cartridge is sitting level when viewed from the side. VTA always needs to be fine-tuned later anyway.

Yeah, that ones maybe even as good as using a rubber band as a third hand to hold the cartridge to the head shell while you thread it up. Mikey eat your heart out. I amaze even myself sometimes.

Well first off you want to be doing all this out on the kitchen table or other big flat well-lit table with a chair you can sit on. Then you tape the platter so its not moving around making everything harder.

Next what I like to do is lay a Q-tip crosswise and towards the rear of the cartridge. Tweak the Q-tip with bending or trimming some cotton from the ends until you get it to where it supports the cartridge with the stylus just a little above the record. Or protractor. Whatever. (And this would be the point to mention how much easier this all becomes with the MoFi disc. But you dance with the one who brung ya.)

Doing it this way, with a good seat and light and taking care to get the Q-tip level just right, you should be able to see the stylus float just barely above the marks. Do it just right and the cartridge body will be only about 1mm or 2mm higher than when its resting in the record groove, but that should be all you need to get the job done.