Can I mod my Technics 1200?

Zaikes... THANK YOU. i got my cartridge on properly, using the jig, and was able to balance my arm, as well as look up and set the arm height according to the user's manual. i did all of this without using a leveling bubble. i know, i'll need to rebalance the arm all over again, but i just really wanted to listen to some records, just to see! considering my cartridge probably sucks, as well as my numark mixer used as a phono stage, the music was actually good! i could hear that with more work on setup, as well as an eventual upgrade in phono stage, records are going to kick. there was a different quality to what i heard... innately deep i thought.

anyway, totally enjoyed the talk, and i really appreciate you taking all that time to go through the setup. i'll let you know more as after i get my TT leveled out.

Glad I was able to be of some assistance DTM, and enjoyed our conversation. Were you able to find out anything more specific about the recommended tracking force range for your cart? (For those reading along, I counseled a default setting of about 1g for this Shure M44G cart, with a visual double-check of the cantilever deflection and body ride height above the record surface to adjust further, but that's just a guess on my part for the time being.)

yeh, they have a great website. Tracking force for M44G is 1.5g, antiskate also 1.5.

Good. Tracking too lightly is actually worse for your records than tracking a little on the heavier side, so if a range is given, don't automatically assume that it's better to set VTF at the low end. You can also fine-tune these settings by ear with practice (and a revealing system), within the recommended range. If you have a 'naked' or body-less cart like my own Glider, you can actually visually observe what settings best center the coil former in the gap during play.