The reason we stay away from the suspension models is that it is very difficult to do anything about the arm. The platter/motor setup is great on all the machines, but IMO the arms always leave a bit to be desired (although the later arms were a lot better).
The big problem on the 498 arm is usually the cartridge clip, which is fragile and rare. If you have that, a cartridge of moderate compliance should work OK. I have seen cases where some people got Jelco arms to work in the machine; the problem is that you are locked into the geometry of the original arm with the suspended models (498 and later).
Now if you decide to stick with the 498 arm, a nice tweak is to get a machinist to make a new counter balance weight- one that puts most of its mass below the arm tube. This improves the bass and traceability of the arm.
The big problem on the 498 arm is usually the cartridge clip, which is fragile and rare. If you have that, a cartridge of moderate compliance should work OK. I have seen cases where some people got Jelco arms to work in the machine; the problem is that you are locked into the geometry of the original arm with the suspended models (498 and later).
Now if you decide to stick with the 498 arm, a nice tweak is to get a machinist to make a new counter balance weight- one that puts most of its mass below the arm tube. This improves the bass and traceability of the arm.