HI All,
I noticed that my old Stylus Microscope thread has been resurrected from 2006. You should read it. It's a good one.
I decided to tell my Stylus Microscope story that inspired both that thread and the sticky, "Sparkys Fabulous DIY Stylus MIcroscope" several years later (2009).
I have a story to tell about my history with one particular Shure SEK-2 stylus microscope. I hope you find it amusing - and touching. Hang in there. It's going to be a bit long.
The year was 1975, when I ran my first Hi Fi repair shop. I was associated with Santa Fe's best hi fi shop, The Candyman. I talked the owner into buying a Shure SEK-2 stylus microscope so he could directly show his customers stylus wear and, thus, sell more replacement styli. It was a marketing gimmick. The strategy worked. He payed for the expensive microscope many times over. Of course, I had free use of it and that's when I began to understand the tremendous power such an instrument had. I left The Candyman Hi Fi Repair Shop in 1979 to work at a nuclear lab.
In 1996 I retired from the Lab and started my second repair shop in Santa Fe. This time I was not associated with The Candyman but I had maintained a close relationship with the owner functioning as an audio consultant. By this time CD's had taken over and the stylus microscope had been relegated to a junk box in the back room. It had been taken apart and did not work. I talked the owner into a long tern loan of the microscope. He would not sell it to me. So, I took the scope, fixed it and used it in my shop. It was arranged that if I closed the repair shop I would return the microscope to The Candyman. Ownership of the microscope never transferred.
So, for the next 10 years I used the scope a lot. Every stylus that came into the shop was inspected under the scope-thousands of them. I learned a lot about stylus wear. Of course, I used it on my own styli on a regular basis.
In 2005 I un-retired and returned to the Lab. I returned the scope to The Candyman as we had agreed. The owner still would not sell it to me. He had an emotional attachment to it. He did agree that when he retired and sold The Candyman he would give the scope to me. We shook hands and left it that way.
Two years ago the owner died, still running The Candyman. When I heard the news I knew the the shop would be liquidated and I wanted to claim the scope. The last time I saw it, the scope was sitting on a special shelf in the owners office displayed kind of like a trophy.
I talked to the person in charge of the liquidation, a former Candyman employee. He would not give me the microscope. We had an argument and I left. It was an ugly scene. As far as I was concerned the scope was lost. The former employee reopened The Candyman as a musical instrument shop. He had put together a beautiful shop still under the same name. Understand, The Candyman was an iconic name in Santa Fe.
So, one day I wandered in looking for a couple of microphones. I looked up the former employee, now the owner, not knowing what to expect given the way we had parted the last time. He was very cordial and we spent a half an hour reminiscing about the good old days. It was an enjoyable and touching experience. We both had a long history with The Candyman. The subject of the microscope was never mentioned.
As I was about to leave, he touched me on the shoulder and asked me to wait. He disappeared for couple of minutes and returned with the microscope in his hand and handed it to me. I looked at him with a puzzled expression. He said "Take it. It's yours!". He explained that could not give it to me before because he had no authority to do it. He was right.
I walked out of The Candyman in a kind of a daze with the scope in hand, with a tear in my eye.
You see, I too was emotionally attached to that stupid scope. It symbolically represented some of the best years of my life as well as the original owner of The Candyman who was one of the most influential men in my life. Mathew Schwartzman was a great man. Difficult but great.
I'll end this story with a bit of irony.
After I knew I would never get the Shure SEK-2, after the argument, I decided to design my own scope. The result of this was the microscope shown in my sticky "Sparkys Fabulous DIY Stylus Microscope". Now I had TWO great microscopes.
The original SEK-2 scope is now my trophy. Will I use it? Well yes but I must say that I like my design better. But the SEK-2 is a little easier to use. Both get the job done very well.
I hope you have enjoyed this story. I had to tell it to someone.
Sparky
I noticed that my old Stylus Microscope thread has been resurrected from 2006. You should read it. It's a good one.
I decided to tell my Stylus Microscope story that inspired both that thread and the sticky, "Sparkys Fabulous DIY Stylus MIcroscope" several years later (2009).
I have a story to tell about my history with one particular Shure SEK-2 stylus microscope. I hope you find it amusing - and touching. Hang in there. It's going to be a bit long.
The year was 1975, when I ran my first Hi Fi repair shop. I was associated with Santa Fe's best hi fi shop, The Candyman. I talked the owner into buying a Shure SEK-2 stylus microscope so he could directly show his customers stylus wear and, thus, sell more replacement styli. It was a marketing gimmick. The strategy worked. He payed for the expensive microscope many times over. Of course, I had free use of it and that's when I began to understand the tremendous power such an instrument had. I left The Candyman Hi Fi Repair Shop in 1979 to work at a nuclear lab.
In 1996 I retired from the Lab and started my second repair shop in Santa Fe. This time I was not associated with The Candyman but I had maintained a close relationship with the owner functioning as an audio consultant. By this time CD's had taken over and the stylus microscope had been relegated to a junk box in the back room. It had been taken apart and did not work. I talked the owner into a long tern loan of the microscope. He would not sell it to me. So, I took the scope, fixed it and used it in my shop. It was arranged that if I closed the repair shop I would return the microscope to The Candyman. Ownership of the microscope never transferred.
So, for the next 10 years I used the scope a lot. Every stylus that came into the shop was inspected under the scope-thousands of them. I learned a lot about stylus wear. Of course, I used it on my own styli on a regular basis.
In 2005 I un-retired and returned to the Lab. I returned the scope to The Candyman as we had agreed. The owner still would not sell it to me. He had an emotional attachment to it. He did agree that when he retired and sold The Candyman he would give the scope to me. We shook hands and left it that way.
Two years ago the owner died, still running The Candyman. When I heard the news I knew the the shop would be liquidated and I wanted to claim the scope. The last time I saw it, the scope was sitting on a special shelf in the owners office displayed kind of like a trophy.
I talked to the person in charge of the liquidation, a former Candyman employee. He would not give me the microscope. We had an argument and I left. It was an ugly scene. As far as I was concerned the scope was lost. The former employee reopened The Candyman as a musical instrument shop. He had put together a beautiful shop still under the same name. Understand, The Candyman was an iconic name in Santa Fe.
So, one day I wandered in looking for a couple of microphones. I looked up the former employee, now the owner, not knowing what to expect given the way we had parted the last time. He was very cordial and we spent a half an hour reminiscing about the good old days. It was an enjoyable and touching experience. We both had a long history with The Candyman. The subject of the microscope was never mentioned.
As I was about to leave, he touched me on the shoulder and asked me to wait. He disappeared for couple of minutes and returned with the microscope in his hand and handed it to me. I looked at him with a puzzled expression. He said "Take it. It's yours!". He explained that could not give it to me before because he had no authority to do it. He was right.
I walked out of The Candyman in a kind of a daze with the scope in hand, with a tear in my eye.
You see, I too was emotionally attached to that stupid scope. It symbolically represented some of the best years of my life as well as the original owner of The Candyman who was one of the most influential men in my life. Mathew Schwartzman was a great man. Difficult but great.
I'll end this story with a bit of irony.
After I knew I would never get the Shure SEK-2, after the argument, I decided to design my own scope. The result of this was the microscope shown in my sticky "Sparkys Fabulous DIY Stylus Microscope". Now I had TWO great microscopes.
The original SEK-2 scope is now my trophy. Will I use it? Well yes but I must say that I like my design better. But the SEK-2 is a little easier to use. Both get the job done very well.
I hope you have enjoyed this story. I had to tell it to someone.
Sparky
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