does a stylus retip makea cartridge as good as new

..not necessarily so.... A retip is only the replacement of the "needle"....often, the suspension needs to be replaced. I believe soundsmith can do suspension repairs, however, they don't use original parts. The stylus may be of different material, and the diamond itself may be a different cut. I believe soundsmith does a fine job, the result will not be same as when it originally built. You might like the original or the soundsmith version, but they will not be the same.

agree with Stringreen....if possible I would use the original manufacturer for all the servicing....the re-tip is just that....new tip.

Unless the cartridge is very valuable, you use it a lot, it is expensive and you are relatively poor, I wouldn't even bother with retipping and rebuilding. And I would certainly insist on original everything because doing otherwise would be a big gamble. But if you buy used for a very good price, like it a lot, well maybe it's worth the risk. As for the longivety, it varies greatly, I understand.

Well 'necessarily so' because the styli wear out and nobody want to ruin his LP's. But it is also necessary to be very careful with the choice of the retip service. According to my information they buy the complete cantilever/stylus combos from their supplier and those are much easier to install than the stylus solo. By aluminum
cantilevers the styli are usualy 'pressure fitted' (see J.Carr ;MM thread 09-14-11) but it is questionable if this can be done by the retip of the stylus solo. In this case
one should probable do better to replace both. Assuming of
course that the new cantilever/stylus are so fitted. Ie this way of fitting is the primary advantage of aluminum. Or so I thought after reading J.Carr's contribution.

Regards,

no, the cantilever is often stressed in the retip and the seating in the cartridge can be damaged by the heating necessary to do the retip. Starting new is the best and most cost effective way. Think about it, Shure used a completely removal cantilever assembly to great advantage.