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Best protractor for aligning to cantilever

I am trying to find a protractor that makes it easy to align the cantilever rather than the body to a grid. I have a cartridge where the cantilever is not perfectly parallel with the body. It's a Grado and the plastic on the front of the body is not seated correctly or something. The cantilever is parallel to the back, but the front being out of alignment makes it hard to align to the body. It is merely a cosmetic issue so I would like to keep the cartridge.
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dmgrant1
55 posts
 
Hello, you can get a custom protractor made for your particular arm for $90.00 from mintlp.com in Hong Kong. Good customer service. Just give him the specs for your tonearm.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Dmgrant1- You are the man!!! or woman!!! or person!!! I have some of their LP fluid, but did not know that they did protractors.
riffer
362 posts
 
Dmgrant1 - thanks for the info.
stltrains
845 posts
 
Dmgrant1 i also want to give you a big thank you. What a drag dealing with you know who.
nrenter's avatar
nrenter
766 posts
 
If you're trying to sight down the centerline of an alignment grid, having two images makes it possible to get precisely lined up. The printed line and its reflection are either directly on top of each other or they're not. This degree of precision is impossible without dual images.

I spent some time with my TTB protractor today and I see what you mean. If the lines were thinner and they got rid of those concentric squares, I think it would be a better tool, though.

If using a universal protractor, absolute precision in pivot-to-spindle distance is unnecessary. That's the whole point of an aimable protractor and headshells with slots. Pivot-to-spindle is a hair off? No problem. The protractor will automatically produce a pivot-to-stylus dimension to compensate. If the stylus is square at both null points your triangle is correct, by definition.

ok...I get it. Finally. It only takes 6 or so times to sink in.

BTW, if you're using a Baerwald protractor with an OL arm, you may have better luck mounting the arm at ~220mm than the stock distance of 222.76. Regas weren't designed for Baerwald and some cartridges aren't long enough to reach the Baerwald null points with the arm mounted at the stock distance.

I know we've discussed this before, but I've never experienced this as an issue (Shelter 501 mk 11 and a Denon 103R).
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