VTF gauge

The Shure SFG was for decades all we had available. In that regard, surely it is an audio classic. You may want to put it in some sort of Hall of Fame. That would be OK with me. However, now we have inexpensive digital stylus force gauges that are miles ahead in every conceivable way. The Riverstone is even cheaper than the Shure, so the Shure loses its one remaining virtue-low cost. Besides the Riverstone, there are a myriad of other good choices that also place the weigh pan roughly at the level of the surface of a typical LP, which IS important, IMO. Any decent digital scale is going to be more accurate than the Shure and provide much more repeatable results. One other thing to be aware of: some weigh pans on some of these scales are faintly magnetic. This property will not go well with a low output moving coil cartridge that has a very strong magnet structure. In this regard, I don’t know about the Riverstone. I use an Ortofon DS3.

By the way, the Shure SFG is among those scales that are faintly magnetic. I own two of them and both misbehave with LOMC cartridges.

If one isn't concerned about actually getting a correct reading, shure, the Shure is the ticket. At almost $50.00 now, a way out there product.

Thanks guys for letting me know how crappy my Shure gauge is!  And all this time...

millercarbon

The Shure stylus force gauge is a plastic and metal teeter-totter.... that the carefully used is about as accurate as any digital gauge ...

The Shure is accurate as far as it goes, but it's nowhere near as precise as a good digital gauge.

... it costs a lot less and relies on gravity which I'm told is more reliable long term than batteries.

If batteries not sufficiently reliable for you, perhaps you should consider installing a hand crank on your car to help you get it started.