Flag Doohickey to Indicate Status of Tonearm Lever


Last night, I forgot to turn the tonearm lever in the up position after a record finished playing.  This caused a problem when I went to play another record and the tonearm clumsily landed on the record.  Luckily, it didn't land too hard, but I can foresee issues as all it takes is that one time. Besides the obvious of making sure the lever is down each time, what do you guys and gals do to ensure that the lever is down at all times?  I was thinking of a visible flag indicator doohickey of some sort to let me know if the lever is in the up or down position, but no luck in a web search. I also thought about leaving the lever in the down position all the time and just manually lowering on the record each time - kinda defeats the purpose of having an arm lift but might be a potential solution.

Let me know if you guys and gals do.

Thanks in advance.

 

128x128rdk777

@yeti42 , if you send me your plates I can install finger lifts for you. If you check out my system page you will see a Schroder CB that has a finger lift. I made that one.

Also, it is not a good idea to leave the finger lift lever up. That leaves the internal spring in the stretched position and it might weaken over time.

I hardly ever use the finger lift. I cue the record by hand and have an auto lifer at the end. I would think that the lever position should be an adequate "flag." You can always paint it international orange:)

Put a small piece of red tape on the end of the cue lever. This will help you notice whether it’s up or down. After 20 or so years, you won’t need the red flag.

@mijostyn , thank you but my current cartridge, SPU Royal N, sounds best when the screw securing the plate to the wand is just tight enough to hold it’s position!, less than 2Ncm if I can believe my torque driver, which I don’t at that level. The counterweight grub screw is also easy to over tighten, I spent a long time optimising both. I don’t need to add leverage to my brass plate. 

The reference arm is a pain in the arse to set up and worth every bit of it.

@yeti42 , I'm not sure what that has to do with a finger lift but you certainly do not want to over tighten anything on that arm. Just snug is enough. Never us more than your thumb and index finger on the screwdriver. 

Peter Ledermann is another Frank Schroder fan. He has at least 4 Schroder Reference arms in his studio (and one CB).