The obsession with retips is curious because there are other
more difficult repairs important. The coils are the most difficult
to repair even assuming that someone is willing to mess with
coils. Then damping is anyway more difficult to do then retip
of the whole cantilever/stylus combo or stylus only retip.
That is because the retipper can't get original by manufacturer
used damper but depends from his proveder. Ortofon , for example,
has its own laboratory for dampers research and production.
EMT has notorious problem with dampers. This problem is known
for years but never solved. By changing damper one need to first
losen the tension wire and remove ''movings parts'' ( joint pipe
on which coils , tension wire and cantiler/stylus are fastened).
We have never heard anyone complaining about tension wire.
But those need to be centered and tension adjusted after any
damper change. The damper is behind the coils fastened on the
generator. So seen in this context the cantilever/stylus retip
is the most easy to do.