tonearm issue

Cuing lever lowered and is now for sure out of the way. Table is leveled properly now. Outboard stylus force gage has no brand name on it. Reads close to SME gauge. Set at 2g. No problem in the middle of the record. Only when the stylus first contacts the record for the first song, and only on few records which seem to be in perfect condition. It's not a damaged record skip. The cart just slides in 1/8 to 1/4 inch into the record at first lowering the arm.

@thejeenyus54 I highly recommend you order Riverstone Audio stylus pressure gauge from Amazon to double check the gauge you have.

https://a.co/d/0fih0iao

I had an issue with a stylus gauge where it was off by over a gram and the cartridge was tracking under 1gr instead of 2.2gr. I checked it with 2 other gauges and confirmed it was the culprit. The gauge that was producing an incorrect reading was one similar to this https://a.co/d/0htd9DFI. Despite showing correct calibration it was not showing correct reading with a stylus on the scale. 
 

Another culprit is the lifted “lip” of the record. If you lower your stylus too close to the outer edge of the record it can skip over the lead in grooves. Lower it closer to the track and lower it slower. Hana ML was giving me this problem frequently on several records. It had to be lowered very close to the start of the track. Fixing the stylus pressure and getting the cueing to where it works close to the track did the trick. My Hana Umami Blue is far less sensitive to this issue. 

I have the Riverstone Audio gauge and it is excellent.   So sensitive that it registers if you breath on it.      Definitely worth the money.  

If the stylus/cartridge slides in off the edge of the LP but stops at the beginning of the grooved area, THAT is normal. Most LPs have a raised peripheral "lip" which causes that to happen. I doubt your gauge is very inaccurate, but by all means to check that out for future reference.

I experience a similar issue on a few records; dropping the needle right at the beginning of the track grooves solves the problem every time.

I also use the Riverstone which is excellent, inexpensive and comes with 2 weights for verification of calibration.