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How and when to check stylus condition.

Looking for a litte practical advise about checking the condition of my stylus. My cartridge is a Sound Smith VPI Zephyr. The TT is a VPI classic w/ Classic 3 wand. I'm pretty sure I have well over a thousand hours on the stylus, maybe close to 2000 hours. My analogue section sounds great, but I wonder if the stylus is worn. As an aside, it was a bitch to set the carty up on my Classic, but once tuned in, it sings. Anyway can check the sylus without having to take everything apart? Who can check it and how is it done?
bifwynne
glenfihi
525 posts
 
Rodman, what a cool device. Always one for the if it ain't broke don't fix it camp, but this is cheap insurance against heading off damage to records.
bifwynne OP
2,206 posts
 
Sent the carty back to Sound Smith. Spoke to Peter Ledermann. He cautioned that it is likely the carty may need a "re-tread" with that many hours. As mentioned above, playing the carty with a worn out stylus can damage my LPs. Will report back on what Peter finds.
rodman99999
6,170 posts
 
Hello Glen- An OCD analog buff can even journal the wear on his stylus, by saving pics of it to a computer file. It's also nice to know if the stylus is properly aligned on the cantilever of a new cart. How about visually observing the stylus, in the groove of a record(SRA & azimuth, for yucks). Nifty gizmo! BTW- It's on sale, right now, for $45.00.
oilmanmojo
472 posts
 
if you know anyone with a microscope, you can easily check the stylus. I recently checked mine after i saw this article and found that my stylus was ok, but had some strands of what appeared to be fiber. I used the magic erasure and carefully cleaned. No observed wear on the three cartridges i checked.
bifwynne OP
2,206 posts
 
Peter Ledermann just finished the retip of my Zephyr cartridge. He said the stylus was approximately 80% worn, but for some reason that I do not understand, not in such a way that it damaged my vinyl. In any case, I should get my cartridge back in a few days. I'll report back on performance later.
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