New Maplenoll Ariadne owner needing advice

Oilman :
I spoke to Mr. Thigman who declined for business/cost reasons to participate ;however, he is forwarding some arm wands that may or may not fit w/o modification.

Mr. Thigman did advise that I his knowledge base is confined to his air bearing arm and that dispite claims on the internet , he actually had no personal involvement in the development of the Noll lineup.

please let me know about the wands. I have a couple of graphite tubes that I had made so I would love to compare to his design. Once i get the VTA clamp built, I will send you one to see if you like it. It will be similar to the one used on the walker table that will allow the arm tube to extend past the spindle thus allowing for a ridgid clamp between the armwand and the air bearing spindle. this also eliminates tedious adjustment for overhang on the cartridge. I am still looking at how to design the dampening trough so it does not have to hang over the record. Again will be something similar to the more current type designs.

Oilman: Anything that is forwarded by ET that can be considered an improvement shall be openly shaired.

I have never found the oil trough position to be a problem but I am the opposite of all thumbs. However, Lloyd insists, despite Pierre's and Bob Dilger's insistence to the contrary, that the trough sounds better behind the arm rather than at the cartridge end; thus Lloyd's positioning on his Proscenium.

BTW, super glue is particularly usefull because of it's capillary action insinuating itself into the otherwise inaccessable wee spaces within the arm joints. Strength per se is not the issue. Firming an already strong but possibly resonant joint is.

Dampening the arm is not necessarilly a good idea. Over dampening and killing dynamics and liveliness is a clear and present danger.

Agree with the comment about overdampening. I found that out as I struggled to find the right viscosity oil for the trough. Too low viscosity was like no dampening but when i went to a more viscous oil the highs disappeared. I off set by adding more vta but when I moved, i tried a lighter viscosity and found a good balance. I like the design of the walker for two reasons, I tend to slosh the oil onto the record (specially when I have one too many johnny blues!) and the tapered end along with the adjustable oil level would make fine tuning dampening easier. Not sure of the impact of the end of the arm versus the cartridge end however. So far, I just have a few ideas to try.