static Issues...anybody know why?

Possibly the two phono cartridges differ in the degree to which the body and/or the cantilever of the cartridge is grounded, thereby making one of them more likely to dissipate static charge vs the other.  I agree with Geoff that the rubbing of the stylus against the vinyl has been shown NOT to be a major cause of static electricity build-up, but charge can be removed by devices that are in a way similar to a cartridge.  

It would be prudent to check the platter ground to verify that the grounding at the spindle is intact. Don’t expect a zero ohm reading though. 

Wow guys, anybody here know how a Van de Graaff generator works?
What do you do when you want to shock your little sister....hows about rub your feet on the carpet. I'll leave it to you science nerds to look up why FRICTION causes static. Now I wonder where the friction is in a record playing system.
A grounded platter will work only if the mat is conductive. Most are not. All metal platters that I know of are grounded but there are an awful lot of plastic ones out there. Just having a grounded spindle will not work.
Anyway, I must be a miracle worker as not a single one of my records has any noticeable static charge on it. Maybe it is just magic.

mijostyn
Wow, guys, anybody here know how a Van de Graaff generator works?
What do you do when you want to shock your little sister....hows about rub your feet on the carpet. I’ll leave it to you science nerds to look up why FRICTION causes static. Now I wonder where the friction is in a record playing system.

>>>>>Oh, you mean like the platter belt friction? Or maybe you mean the friction between the air molecules and the vinyl? I hope you don’t mean the stylus friction which is very low as long as geometry is correct.

I’m no expert in these matters, but from my day to day experience static build up has nothing to do with the cartridge or even the plateau material or grounding. It all depends on the record itself.

I use three different turntables with copper, rubber, leather and/or cork mats and over 20 different cartridges and it’s ALWAYS the same discs that are static. I really have no idea why, but my guess is it has something to do with either the vinyl compound or the manufacturing process. The most annoying static occurs with those thin 70’s and 80’s pressings (Philips and DGG seem to be the worst offenders) and modern reissues. Pressings from the 50’s and 60’s are rarely a problem. One more reason why I prefer these pressings.

BTW all my records go through the same cleaning procedure and are all stored in the same Nagaoka anti-static inner sleeves.