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Stylus adjustment for a noob

rlasker3

rlasker3

New Member
We just recently bought our first vintage turntable (PL-518) and my son while changing a record inadvertently hit the stylus knocking it out of center. I moved it back by sight and while it still plays music it clearly does not sound quite as good. It is especially noticeable between songs.

What do I need to do to properly adjust it? Do I need to replace the whole cartridge? This is very new to me.
 
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The stylus is not adjustable. If it was damaged, well, its damaged now. Depending on the cartridge it may be worth to replace the stylus. Otherwise a new cartridge. We love pictures here so if you can post one of the cartridge and stylus would be helpful. At least give us the cartridge name and model. You'll surely get some help here, you came to the right place
 
thank you for the responses and the welcomes. I am very eager to learn a lot more about my TT so that I can get many years of enjoyment out of it. I feel really bad because my son and I have grown very close sharing music and this TT was a chance for us to really get into vinyl. We've only had the TT for week now so it was very sad that this happened. I don't want him to feel like he ruined it or anything.

The cartridge and stylis don't really have any distinguishing marks except for the headshell indicates Audio Technica. Here are some pictures of it.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8rr5l9zlio06zzc/IMG_3210.jpeg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sm41euhb4ao2qpc/IMG_3211.jpeg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bjdhcrkqfxr9gqv/IMG_3214.jpeg?dl=0
 
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For some reason I can't see the pictures. Grrr.. Dont feel bad. It happens. Part of the learning curve. Believe me, I've done worse. AT stylus' are available. As far as cartridge, Sure is a good choice, AT is a good choice and even Grado.
 
If the needle plays the record and it comes out of the cartridge straight and the cartridge was moved in the headshell, then it is time to grab the owners manual and set the tip of the needle exactly as stated in the manual. Should be one at vinylengine. Sign up and download. Might be one at ak database.

If the aluminum tube is bent and twisted buy a new stylus. To verify the model take the cartridge off the headshell. AT puts the number on top.
 
Blue Shadow said:
If the needle plays the record and it comes out of the cartridge straight and the cartridge was moved in the headshell, then it is time to grab the owners manual and set the tip of the needle exactly as stated in the manual. Should be one at vinylengine. Sign up and download. Might be one at ak database.

If the aluminum tube is bent and twisted buy a new stylus. To verify the model take the cartridge off the headshell. AT puts the number on top.
Click to expand...

So he only grazed the needle. When I looked at it the needle was bent off to the side. I sort of moved it back to the "center" but it is clearly not tracking as precise. The cartridge wasn't moved or anything bent. I'm guessing my only real option is a new stylus. I've never taken a cartridge off, which I assume I'll need to do to replace the stylus.

According to the owner's manual the stylus and the connector section of the headshell needs to be 49 mm apart. Hopefully that is as easy as it sounds. Are there any useful tools such as this "Turntable Phono Cartridge Stylus Alignment Protractor Tool Mirror" ... or are they not so helpful?
 
So good news. After looking around it seemed very simple to pull off the stylus to examine it. Luckily it was as simple as it seemed (sheew) and the stylus didn't seem out of place. So, I decided to play a record that we had just played before the "incident" and it played perfectly. Then I checked the record that didn't play correctly. It turns out it has a lot of static and was covered with lots of dust (even though it is a brand new record). So I think it is very coincidental that the poor sound and tracking was due to dust clinging to a record that we played right afterward.

Lesson learned that I am purchasing an anti-static brush to make sure the record is clean.
 
Clean every record
Wash and dry every really dirty record
Clean the stylus of fur balls every 6 records
Clean cartridge of accumulated dust every 30-40 records

Now the tools

Anti-static brush
Fluid and water or record cleaning machine. I used a soft brush and soapy water at the kitchen sink. But this is just for really dirty records.
A stiff brush moved across the needle Exactly as a record travels under the stylus from back to front. Let the weight of the tracking force push the needle into the stiff brush. The Discwasher SC-2 is one example.
A soft brush, remove the headshell and carefully brush the dust off. This is for the area other than the stylus, but includes the cavity where the aluminum cantilever sticks out of the cartridge.

Let's hope it was just a glob of crud that caused the mis tracking. Don't forget to set the tracking force per the manual, just so you know it is right. VE should have info on your cartridge for this.
 
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Sounds like everything is in proper operation now... however it's a good lesson to learn... without damage. A decent level of attention is always required when playing LP's. Some of these cartridges get really pricey and one false move can cost quite a bit to repair if that's even possible.
 
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