Buying a used cartridge...tell us your tale.

Have bought a few cartridges used, got burnt once as the cartridge was missing its stylus, as in completely gone. Got a small partial refund from the seller as he stated that he knew nothing about cartridges, and the ad stated such. He was selling it from the estate of a friend. Well theres alway's a silver lining, I sent the cartridge to Andy at the Needle Clinic in Seattle,whom put a new stylus on it and low and behold the cartridge sounds absolutely fantastic.

I have sold many cartridges used and always post ads with USB Microscope pictures of the cartridge, stylus etc so that the buyer can see what he is getting, example HERE

Happy new year to all

Peter

Thanks for sharing that, Peter. I do have a question...looking at your microscope photo of the diamond tip of your Koetsu, I cannot tell anything more than the fact that the diamond is attached to the cantilever and appears to be intact ( Plus, the cantilever appears to be straight and more or less in line with the cartridge body). What am I looking for as far as the wear patterns in your photo?
What are the wear patterns that dictate that the stylus is no longer acceptable? Anyone...
Thanks.

Wow, Peter. Ignorance is no excuse for a ripoff -- shame on that seller!

I've bought and sold used a number of times now -- some pretty high-price
cartridges, too (e.g. Koetsu). All transactions thus far have been flawless. The
used cartridges I've received have been free of any meaningful defect, sound
great, and seem to have lots of life left as advertised. Though to be fair, I think
I'm nearing an end of my cartridge gambling days.

Here's an article on the subject of stylus wear.

Analog Planet

Good listening and Happy New Year

Peter

Thanks, Peter. That is an interesting article from MF. I am curious as to when the actual onset of wear will occur on the record in relation to the wear pattern on the diamond. The conventional thinking is that the wear will be severe on the LP when the wear on the diamond is as shown in the examples by amhifi and Kharma. OTOH, I would suspect that the shape of the stylus has something to do with the shape that is seen under the microscope...in relation to the supposed wear pattern. The idea of listening for wear that MF brings up, makes a lot of sense to me. The 'crackling' that he was talking about would be a definite red flag. I wonder what other red flags there are?? Only problem is that by the time you hear the red flag...I suspect it's too late!!