''Óriginal parts'', ''identity '' and ''retip'' conundrum

Dear Lew, I assume you mean Bartok piano concerto. 

Alas my post about small numbers is removed by the moderators.

Probable because there no such individuals in USA? 

Speaking about numbers it seems that next to big and small numbers

there are also ''several'' kinds. Considering my ''point'' about

identity those will be difficult to, uh, identify. However the ''whole

point'' about styli is their identity which is assumed to be determined

by manufacturer. But my point is that manufacturer as well retipper

buy those by Namiki or Ogura. I recently retipped one of my carts

by ''Expert Stylus'' but was not able to get boron cantilever. Besides

this info about ''boron shortage'' I got in this forum. Whom can one

trust (grin). 

A few years past I have had a Beryllium Cantilever with an Ogura Vital Diamond attached and fitted to a Cartridge by a well known Rebuild Service in Europe.

Most will claim Beryllium is not a option on offer. 

Cactus Needle will also be an offering from a rebuild service and the source will not be from Namiki or Ogura.

The Structure of a Cactus Needle when seen under a microscope is Scale like and the tests have shown the Cactus Needle is significantly harder than all other organic wood materials, the Cactus Needle has a very stable property and is not changing in differing ambient conditions.

I have not investigated Madake Bamboo as a Cantilever, so can't offer a summary on how it compares to Cactus as a alternative organic material.   

After years of effort I was finally able to make the perfect cantilever. Crossed saguaro cactus with Madake bamboo watered with beryllium fertilizer, powder coated with boron and diamond dust it is tipped with dilithium crystal in a Hattori Hansu samurai profile that slices through records like butter.

Unfortunately it turns out better to slice through the groove, and not the whole record. Back to the drawing board....

For all of the above it highlights that you can’t beat sending the cartridge back to the manufacturer for refurbishment. Note I did not say retip.

I have had my Dynavector Karat Nova rebuilt 3 times - each time it comes back completely rebuilt (including generator) with new test results for each rebuild - output, inter channel separation, optimum tracking weight etc all documented.

If you look at how the original diamond fits into the cantilever, in many cartridges retipping can never achieve the same level of fit - there will always be more glue than in the original. There is an argument for "should you replace the whole cantilever, diamond assembly" in order to maintain integrity. I don’t think retippers have access to precision micro laser cutters that Namiki possess.

On my original Sumiko Talismans with sapphire cantilever/microridge diamond you cannot see the glue at all. Compare that to the famous Garrott retips that I also have there is significantly more glue.