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Why won't it stop skipping!??

S

spartus

New Member
I am at my wits end. I recently purchased an old Fisher Studio Standard MT-272 at an estate sale, brought it home and it seemed to work perfectly. Now after I replaced the needle it will not stop skipping!

I put a record on and it picks a spot and plays the same few seconds over and over until I move the needle. I can stop the skipping if I move the arm very very close to the record, but then it starts "dragging" and sounding terrible and warbly.

Before this turntable I had a very old portable record player with nothing to adjust and it would play any record without ever skipping once!

I don't know a lot about turntables. All I want to do is be able to play my records. I've been reading online about adjustments and I've fiddled around with every screw or knob I could find on it and not one of them has stopped the skipping.

Help me before I throw this thing to the curb and go back to using my old portable one. :grumpy:
 
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Did you replace the Stylus (needle) or the entire cartridge?
If it was just the stylus/needle, is it inserted all the way? Is it seated properly?
Do you know how to set the correct tracking force? there are videos on youtube that show how to set the tonearm weight the right way.
Also what cartridge came with the Turntable?

John
 
It's probably the tracking force or anti-skating adjustment. Also, If you replaced the entire cartdridge, you should balance your tonearm.
 
I do not know the features of your turntable, so my remarks are general.

If you replaced the stylus with the exact same stylus, you should not be getting that problem with the same settings you previously used. That said, there are a few things to consider. First adjust the tracking force within the recommended range of the new stylus-preferably toward the high end of the range. Next, set the anti-skating to match the tracking force you are now using. Having it set too high will pull the arm toward the rim of the record and too low will allow it to be pulled toward the center. If you have a setting for both elliptical or conical stylus, use the one to match your stylus type. If there is only one scale, it will be for conical, if you have an elliptical stylus, raise the value by a factor of about 1.5 to set it properly. It sounds like you have a combination of too low tracking force combined with a too high anti-skating force causing it to stay in the same groove.
 
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Oh. my. god. That's like another language to me. Is there some sort of step by step how to for the lst level turntable noob out there??

I replaced the needle, not the entire cartridge. All I see on my turntable is a little lever that moves the arm up and down, two little screws on the cartridge which move the needle back and forth, and an "anti-skate" knob.

See, what I don't understand is how the 40 year old portable I have plays fine with no adjustments and this one you have to have a degree in advanced turntable science to make it work O_O ... can anyone explain that to me?
 
spartus said:
Oh. my. god. That's like another language to me. Is there some sort of step by step how to for the lst level turntable noob out there??

I replaced the needle, not the entire cartridge. All I see on my turntable is a little lever that moves the arm up and down, two little screws on the cartridge which move the needle back and forth, and an "anti-skate" knob.

See, what I don't understand is how the 40 year old portable I have plays fine with no adjustments and this one you have to have a degree in advanced turntable science to make it work O_O ... can anyone explain that to me?
Click to expand...
1. What was the tracking force listed on the package for your new stylus?

2. If you have an adjustable anti-skating knob, you surely have an adjustable tracking force. I will either be a slide on the arm or a dial where the arm mounts. If you just replaced the stylus you should not have to re-balance your arm.

Look for the above items and get back to us. A close up picture of the TT and arm may help us.
 
There is a manual for the MT-275 over at vinylengine.com If yours is similar, that might help you. With that one, you turn the counterweight to adjust tracking force.
 
Okay.

The needle I bought has this on the back of the package.
Tip material: Diamond
Tip radius: .7 Mil
Tracking force: 1 to 3 grams

So is the tracking force the little arm that moves the needle closer and further from the record? In that case, I've messed with that a lot since I added the new needle. As I said above, the only way I could get it to work without skipping was by using that lever to put the needle as close to the record as possible. (but then it starts sounding warbly and weird) :|

I've attached an image as well. (wow, so much dust shows up on the image that you can hardly see in real life! :O!)

Thank again!
 

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Your cart seems misaligned?
2n1et5e.jpg
 
HTHMAN said:
1. What was the tracking force listed on the package for your new stylus?

2. If you have an adjustable anti-skating knob, you surely have an adjustable tracking force. I will either be a slide on the arm or a dial where the arm mounts. If you just replaced the stylus you should not have to re-balance your arm.

Look for the above items and get back to us. A close up picture of the TT and arm may help us.
Click to expand...

I agree with HTHMAN. Pics will help a lot.
 
Cant see the adjustments from that pic. Can you get a closeup of the back of the arm where the counterweight and pivot are? Try from a couple angles.
 
Yup missing counterweight and cartridge is way off put it straight on the headshell, or register at www.vinylengine.com and download one of their protractors.
Counterweights are not easy to come by, you'll have to measure the stub diameter (it looks like it may be an 8 or 9mm stub hard to tell from the pic)and look on evilbay and see if you can find a match, I recently had to make a CW for a recently acquired Yamaha, because i couldn't find a matching CW.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=345684

Good luck.

John
 
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I was away from my computer for 10 minutes after writing but not sending the last post. Looks like you have your answers. The cart is definitely misaligned and it appears the counterweight is missing. The counterweight is used to set your tracking force. It also looks like the dial behind your cueing lever is your anti-skate adjustment. The cueing lever is used to raise or lower the stylus (needle) onto the record.
 
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You will need to square up the cartridge to the headshell and set the overhang to it's proper setting and you will also need to pick up a counterweight that will fit your tt. Search on eBay. Some counterweights from other turntables might fit it as well.

If you can add the counterweight you will then need to balance the arm so that it "floats" level to your platter and then adjust the counterweight to read "0" grams. From their you can dial in the vertical tracking force by turning the entire counterweight to read within the range of your specific cartridge. A stylus gauge comes in handy for better accuracy but following the steps as described should get you pretty close.

If in doubt as to what that specification is for your cartridge set it for 1.75 grams and the anti-skating to match the same as the VTF. Good luck and let us know how it works out.
 
Thanks! So, you think that once I get the counterweight, it will work properly?

Is there anything I can use in place of an actual counterweight?

Here's a few extra pictures just in case. :)

edit: and yeah, I know the cartridge is sideways right now. i kinda gave up on it and just took the pictures as is...
 

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Whoa hold up, the stub is not suppose to come off like that, actually it is not suppose to come off at all.........

Jonh

Edit: put the stub back in place and tighten that screw, so that the stub doesn't come off or wobble .
 
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