VPI JMW 9" and Rega P6 Tonearm Mounting Holes

@pinwa 

My approach when I modify turntables is to router out an opening for a removable tonearm board if the plinth is amendable to this.  You use a template and bearing follower. Then depending on the room available you can mount a variety of arms. I make the tonearm boards out of solid surface material (Corian) which is very heavy, stiff and well dampened. I will be mounting a Schroder CB on an older Basis Debut shortly. This kind of work can be done by any competent woodworker. 

As you know Rega uses the 222 mm standard. Many companies use this standard including Origin Live and Frank Schroder. I doubt VPI does. With a removable tonearm board you can do just about anything you have room for. 

@mijostyn Why do you doubt VPI uses the 222 mm standard?  My old VPI Aries Scout measures at 222mm pivot to spindle using a Feickert protractor.  I would have assumed they would have kept it the same for the newer Scoutmaster.  And it is really the spacing of the screw holes around the hole that is bored through the plinth that I am curious about and whether they are the same as the Rega standard.

@pinwa 

That is the spindle to pivot distance. VPI arms have a VTA tower which mounts to the plinth in a different location and the wire exits the arm above the plinth. A Rega arm uses a bearing spindle which mounts through the plinth the wires exiting below the plinth. I am certainly no expert on VPI arms as I severely do not like UNI pivot designs. The question is, once you remove the arm, what is left on the plinth and where is it in relation to the spindle. If you have any arm that mounts through the plinth at 222 mm they are interchangeable although the hole size might be a little different. But, as soon as you change the spindle to pivot distance you have to drill a new hole in a different location which is why having an interchangeable tonearm board is so nice. If you are looking for a 222 mm arm I highly recommend the Schroder CB.  

@mijostyn The Schroder looks like a very nice arm but I have already bought the Blackbird.

@pinwa 

The Blackbird is a brilliant arm, ugly but brilliant. I might get one myself. My table has removable tonearm boards so I can swap tonearms in a heartbeat.