Is this a Shibata stylus?

[racfan9]

Was wondering if someone could verify if this is a Shibata stylus, It is mounted to a AT-12S cartridge.

Thanks,
racfan9

 

[wualta]

Looks like a genuine Shibata-equipped ATS12S stylus to me. What we don't know yet is whether the Shibata is worn out or not.

 

[racfan9]

This was on a Phillips 406 turntable I purchased. Gentleman said it was new, but we know how that goes.

 

[MannyE]

Get a lupe and take a pic with the cell phone... easy peasy.

 

[racfan9]

Get a lupe and take a pic with the cell phone... easy peasy.

Here's a couple more pics. By the way, what is a lupe?

 

[cratz2]

This is a loupe:

Some folks use these modern mini-microscopes:

(I'm in no way recommending either of these products, just showing samples.)

 

[MannyE]

There are several cheap (under $20) macro lenses/loupes/microscopes etc on amazon that can help you take ridiculously clear pictures of your stylus. Then someone that knows what the heck they are doing can tell you if it's indeed new, or just "craigslist new" which in human terms is "one shave away from the grave".

 

[wualta]

It's not possible to ascertain wear on the diamond with these tools, but we can get important and useful clues and hints to the care (or lack of) the stylus received over the last 40 years. For example, playing dirty records eventually creates spatterings of tiny dirt particles around the metal and plastic parts of the stylus, which a loupe or "pocket microscope" will reveal. You can also see if there's crud on the tip of the diamond.

To check for wear, however, simply playing a record with female vocals containing a lot of S sounds will tell the tale. If the S sounds turn into SH sounds (or, worse, SXX sounds), and you're tracking this stylus up around 1.75g, chances are it's worn. Fingers crossed that it sounds good, because it's really an excellent stylus, considering that it was Audio-Technica's poor man's Shibata of the time.