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Headshell repaired with glue - Effect on sound quality?

B

bimmerlucas

New Member
I got a Dual 1229 which came with the headshell (not the sled) broken where it meets the tonearm. I was succesfully able to reattach it to the tonearm with super glue, and it seems to have held up. Anyways, I was wondering what effect this has on sound quality, as I never had the chance to hear the table with a 100% original tonearm. Would it be worth sourcing a complete headshell replacement at some point, or is this one of those things where if it works it works.
 
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I have an Elac 50H where the tonearm head broke off at the tonearm tube and was "superglued" back into place. That was ten years ago.
 
The arm tube is grounded through what you have glued. You might just need a new magnesium casting. There are a few that are suitable, including earliest 1219, 701, 1229Q.
The 1249 and 704 and 721 will work, and look kind of cool. The 601 fits, but is all-plastic. Get these though, with wiring. And expect to need a bit of armrest adjusting.
Any of these made for the low-cap wiring will require some kind of grounding just like your broken piece had.
 
NoTransistors said:
The arm tube is grounded through what you have glued. You might just need a new magnesium casting. There are a few that are suitable, including earliest 1219, 701, 1229Q.
The 1249 and 704 and 721 will work, and look kind of cool. The 601 fits, but is all-plastic. Get these though, with wiring. And expect to need a bit of armrest adjusting.
Any of these made for the low-cap wiring will require some kind of grounding just like your broken piece had.
Click to expand...
Im a little bit confused as to what you're saying. So the tonearm tube is grounded to the headshell and not the turntable body itself? And I'm guessing this introduces a humming of some kind due to the poor physical connection between the headshell and tonearm?
 
The arm is absolutely not grounded properly where it is bolted to the chassis.
Ground is through the black arm wire in later units or one cable shield on earlier models.
 
NoTransistors said:
What is there to not get.
The arm cannot be grounded by its balls.
Click to expand...
Well, that's certainly helpful.

You said that the repair caused a grounding issue, because something was applied. But what has been applied is not conductive. So perhaps we don't understand what you mean.
 
I have a 1229 , had a broken original head shell wire.
I replaced the head shell, $25 dollar part on flea bay.
I had to file some plastic off the headshell adapter to make the cartridge fit.
50 year old plastic eventually breaks down.
 
Montycat said:
But if there's no hum it's fine. Just because you used glue doesn't mean you have completely lost the ground. Have you tested it yet?
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Exactly.
bimmerlucas said:
I got a Dual 1229 which came with the headshell (not the sled) broken where it meets the tonearm. I was succesfully able to reattach it to the tonearm with super glue, and it seems to have held up. Anyways, I was wondering what effect this has on sound quality, as I never had the chance to hear the table with a 100% original tonearm. Would it be worth sourcing a complete headshell replacement at some point, or is this one of those things where if it works it works.
Click to expand...
Hum or no hum Lucas? That's the question. :beatnik:
 
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