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replacing tonearm question?

Hey,
I have a VPI HW-19 MK4 which I love dearly. My existing Sumiko FT-3 tonearm is 20 years old and on its last legs and I want to replace it with a Jelco 750 or 850. Both arms are 9". Would I have to have a new armboard made and drill new holes? Or could I use the existing armboard and hole and just drill new screws? I know I'd havr to factor in the tonearm radius and all the millimeter differences.

I've never done this before so please excuse my ignorance on this.
128x128simao
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,860 posts
 
@best-groove The Jelco 850 is a different design and is far better than the old Sumiko arm.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,860 posts
 
@simao Are you up and running yet? How goes it?
best-groove's avatar
best-groove
843 posts
 
@noromance

The friction of the bearings, which is very important, in current Jelco has never dropped below 20/25 mg. indeed, to be precise, the tonearm 850 has even worse values than 30mg. (values equal to or similar to bearings from 30/40 years ago) while bearing technology has made great strides.

I think Jelco has lain too far and is resting on the fame it has deservedly built; the manufacturer is lazy and does not want to commit himself to making innovative arms but they always appear the same for many years identical to those built for other brands.
So why is the 850 better than the Sumiko FT3?
simao's avatar
simao OP
1,831 posts
 
@noromance Not yet. It just came in today and I won't have time until this weekend. Will post an update then.
@best-groove: Thanks for the Sumiko tonearm picture - that'll help!
best-groove's avatar
best-groove
843 posts
 
@simao 

the photo is of a standard lifter that I have restored (it is not a Sumiko or Jelco that is exactly the same) but they are practically all the same and simple to disassemble.
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