Nagaoka MP-30 retip success!

[Multiplex]

It's been a while since I've attempted a homebrew retip. It is time. Muahahaha!

So, I've had this MP-30 for a while. Three years maybe? When I first got it, the suspension was shot. It sounded horrible, sagged and and dragged it's belly after about 30 seconds in the groove. I WD-40'd it, and it was better, but the tip was shot as well. Sounded about like tuning in FM radio while driving through a canyon when in the inner grooves. So it got tossed in the box and forgotten about.

Flash forward to last night...

I dug out the Nag, wondering if the WD-40 was still working it's magic. Indeed it was. I was feeling destructive, so I pried the old stylus off the boron rod cantilever. The nude square shank diamond held on by a glob of epoxy, gave way and went zinging across the room never to be seen again. I wanted to try to retip rather than just do a cantilever transplant. That tiny boron cantilever is what made this cartridge great. So, I found a .3x.7 elliptical donor stylus, in a brand new generic Swiss Shure N91E that wouldn't track worth crap. The bonded diamond actually looked decent on it. Light passed through it easily, and the cut looked alright, though slightly asymmetrical. Good enough!

I dabbed a tiny dot of glue on the flat bias-cut end of the cantilever, pried out the donor diamond and plopped it down in the glue. Did I get it right the first time? Of course not. I had to remove it, clean the surface and try again. Nope? Guess the third time was a charm. I finally got it rotated into place and dialed in the SRA and Azimuth as best I could by positioning it with the tip of a razor blade with some tacky glue on the blade edge. I got it to set, then added several thin layers of glue around the base and left it to dry overnight.

This morning I came back and added one more layer of glue, then after a bit, proceeded to mount the cartridge in a headshell.

First impression: Wow, that's nice. No distortion, actually really good tracking, and clean inner grooves. A success! It's smooth, warm, and detailed. Almost a little too subdued, but it has dynamics when necessary. Almost reminds me of a Micro Acoustics MA 2002e. Very nice!

Flash forward to now...

I'm rounding the bend on hour four... I've done some setup work and added a thicker platter mat. This thing has really opened up and livened up nicely. Separation is great and tonal balance is even. Detail is present without being harsh or too bright. Inner groove performance is spectacular. I'm thrilled! Hope this lasts a while! Assuming it does, it's not leaving my main system any time soon.



No one is going to accuse me of a beautiful glue job. Probably went overboard, but better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather have a little extra tip mass than a missing tip.



I don't care if it looks ugly, as long as it doesn't sound ugly. It most certainly does not!

 

[MCM_Fan]

You sir, are my hero! Awesome work. Way to resurrect that wonderful, classic cartridge!

 

[Multiplex]

Thanks for the kudos, guys. The sound was very subdued initially, but after some setup refinements and possibly some break in after it’s long period of non-use, it seems to have woken up a bit. It’s still laid back, so nothing like an AT or the such. It has just opened up some and became more punchy in the bottom end than it was at first. It sounds like it was very first-class for it’s time.

This is perfect, because I was wanting a new toy of some kind. I want a newest gen 8MZ, but they are not out yet. I’ve been toying with the notion of getting a VM95ML as well. This is cheaper and more fun!

 

[lokerola]

Most impressive!

 

[DavidTT]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing. What sort of equipment do you use to see, position, grasp, such tiny things?

 

[Multiplex]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing. What sort of equipment do you use to see, position, grasp, such tiny things?

My favorite tool is this old Spencer stereo microscope:



Not a lot of magnification, but being able to see a 3D image helps A LOT when trying to maneuver microscopic things around. Too much magnification is harder because of super shallow depth of field and how quickly things move out of your field of view. I use a more powerful loupe to view the finished product and check for wear. I use a bright LED flashlight to light my work area. It's easier to move around and change angle than a lamp.

I mostly use an assortment of tweezers that I got from Amazon. They are the ones that have the machined edge, not molded ones. The ones I used for this project were fairly inexpensive, by Tweezer Guru. That, and an Exacto knife and a small razor blade outside of a handle.

 

[catBot]

Hello!

What type of glue was that?

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Nice job on that re-tip. Also, the new MP series styli do interchange with the older model body you have. The MP-300 is the current equivalent. Nice to see this MP-30 with a nice new tip, and back to making music again.