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Stylus just falls off?

A couple of years ago, I had a Van den Hul Grasshopper serviced and upgraded at the factory. A few days ago, I had it mounted by a well-respected local tech. I went to his shop today and listened to the cartridge. Then we disassembled the turntable for transport back to my home.

After the tonearm was removed from the turntable and placed on a shelf, I noticed that the stylus was missing from the cartridge. It is clear that no one and nothing touched the cartridge as it was moved. It seems that the stylus just fell out.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? (My understanding is that the stylus on these cartridges is easily removed and replaced, so perhaps it was not properly affixed to the cantilever.)
jimjoyce25
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
Yes, I have heard of this happening and I think it happened to a cartridge of mine long age, it might have been a friends cartridge. It is not easy to get the correct amount of adhesive on the cantilever to hold the stylus.
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rauliruegas
13,103 posts
 
Dear Jimjoyce25: I experienced that kind of " event " only onece in an Ortofon MC cartridge but never in any of my Van den Hul cartridges.

I read and " heard " that some other people already had similar experiences but it is not often.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
tobes's avatar
tobes
436 posts
 
Just to be clear - has the stylus fallen off the cantilever, or has the cantilever broken off the cartridge?

The stylus is usually attached with adhesive to the cantilever, so it's possible the adhesive has failed....but in over 30 years of vinyl listening I've never had this happen to me (though I've heard of it happening). I have however broken a few cantilevers through carelessness/lack of attention.

If the cantilever is totally undamaged, and assuming you haven't been using any dodgy solvents to clean the stylus, then I'd say you have grounds for a warranty repair by VdH. No idea what VdH's policy would be on this.
jimjoyce25 OP
215 posts
 
Thanks everyone. The cartridge had never been used until mounted a few days ago, and had been played for some number of hours by the tech to determine the best set-up. He is exceptionally careful, and I watched him move the tonearm, and there was no contact with the cartridge whatsoever. Assuming it is just the stylus, hopefully VdH will just repair it under warranty, but in any event it should be an inexpensive fix at worst.
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