Mr Pig
05-02-2011, 20:18
Barry asked me how to do this so I thought I'd post it up in case anyone else wanted to know. Having done two now I’m satisfied that the resulting arm is comfortably better than my Linn Ittok even without any other modification. Removing the paint opens out what is an already good but slightly bland arm and adds sparkle to the lovely tonality inherent in the Regas. Considering that these arms are plentiful and cheap it’s a good way to get a cracking arm.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=438
Please remember though that messing with something like a tonearm involves the risk that you might knacker it, if you’re not prepared to accept this risk then don’t do it.
There are two ways you can go, you can take the arm to bits or strip it as it is. Having tried both I’d recommend the latter. More care is required but I feel the risks involved in dismantling the arm are greater and it takes a lot longer that way. The down side is that it’s not possible to remove the paint from every part of the arm when it’s in one piece but that’s no big deal really as you can’t see these areas in use anyway. The arm looks nicer if you strip the yoke too though and you can only manage that if you take the tube off.
The paint stripper you want is called Home Strip, you can get it in B&Q. This is a water based, odourless gunk that is nice to use and does a great job on the soft Rega paint. It doesn’t burn your fingers or the plastic parts of the arm, but treat it with care anyway. It will take the paint off the tracking force dial for instance.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=439
Not much preparation is necessary, tape over the cartridge leads to keep them gunk free and a few elastic bands between the rear stub and armrest to hold the tube still whilst away from the rest. With a small paint brush dob the Home Strip thickly over the armtube. Don’t try to do the whole thing in one go as you need to leave bits to hold on to! Take your time, do it in sections. Also take great care around the bearings and don’t try to go right up to the edges of the bearing housing, you can always pick little bits of paint off later but get gunk in the bearings and Mr Arm says a big hello to Mr Wheelie Bin.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=440
After about forty minutes the gunk will have totally demoralised the paint and you can start to rub it off. The alloy is quite soft so don’t use anything hard or sharp, bits of soft wood are ideal and you can rub it with kitchen roll and your fingers too. Sand paper or scouring pads will scratch the surface too so don’t use them. DO NOT rub too hard or you ‘will’ mark the arm and risk damaging something, the headshell finger lift can snap off quite easily. If a patch of paint doesn’t just fall off leave it and get it with more gunk later.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=443
Once you’ve removed all of the paint that’s going to come off in the first round the arm will still look quite grubby. Coat the arm in gunk again and this will remove almost everything else leaving the arm tube very clean indeed. Pick at finicky areas like the headshell and bearing boss with shards of wood etc, something sharp enough to pick out the paint but not scratch the arm, until they are paint free too.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=441
It’s quite easy to polish up the armtube to a reasonable finish but the casting quality and difficulty polishing the tricky bits means that you’re not going to end up with a classy looking arm. That black paint may hide a multitude of flaws, that’s why Rega put in on, although later arms seem to be better cast than early ones. The alloy does seem to dull over time though even if you get it sparkling so, as I say, this is not really a cosmetic exercise.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=442
The difference the paint removal makes is apparent even before you listen to it. If you flick your newly stripped arm with a fingernail it’ll give a metallic ‘ting’, by comparison a painted one sounds much duller.
The sonic result is an arm with more air and life about it and I can’t detect any down side at all. Keep me posted if any of you try this out :0)
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=438
Please remember though that messing with something like a tonearm involves the risk that you might knacker it, if you’re not prepared to accept this risk then don’t do it.
There are two ways you can go, you can take the arm to bits or strip it as it is. Having tried both I’d recommend the latter. More care is required but I feel the risks involved in dismantling the arm are greater and it takes a lot longer that way. The down side is that it’s not possible to remove the paint from every part of the arm when it’s in one piece but that’s no big deal really as you can’t see these areas in use anyway. The arm looks nicer if you strip the yoke too though and you can only manage that if you take the tube off.
The paint stripper you want is called Home Strip, you can get it in B&Q. This is a water based, odourless gunk that is nice to use and does a great job on the soft Rega paint. It doesn’t burn your fingers or the plastic parts of the arm, but treat it with care anyway. It will take the paint off the tracking force dial for instance.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=439
Not much preparation is necessary, tape over the cartridge leads to keep them gunk free and a few elastic bands between the rear stub and armrest to hold the tube still whilst away from the rest. With a small paint brush dob the Home Strip thickly over the armtube. Don’t try to do the whole thing in one go as you need to leave bits to hold on to! Take your time, do it in sections. Also take great care around the bearings and don’t try to go right up to the edges of the bearing housing, you can always pick little bits of paint off later but get gunk in the bearings and Mr Arm says a big hello to Mr Wheelie Bin.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=440
After about forty minutes the gunk will have totally demoralised the paint and you can start to rub it off. The alloy is quite soft so don’t use anything hard or sharp, bits of soft wood are ideal and you can rub it with kitchen roll and your fingers too. Sand paper or scouring pads will scratch the surface too so don’t use them. DO NOT rub too hard or you ‘will’ mark the arm and risk damaging something, the headshell finger lift can snap off quite easily. If a patch of paint doesn’t just fall off leave it and get it with more gunk later.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=443
Once you’ve removed all of the paint that’s going to come off in the first round the arm will still look quite grubby. Coat the arm in gunk again and this will remove almost everything else leaving the arm tube very clean indeed. Pick at finicky areas like the headshell and bearing boss with shards of wood etc, something sharp enough to pick out the paint but not scratch the arm, until they are paint free too.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=441
It’s quite easy to polish up the armtube to a reasonable finish but the casting quality and difficulty polishing the tricky bits means that you’re not going to end up with a classy looking arm. That black paint may hide a multitude of flaws, that’s why Rega put in on, although later arms seem to be better cast than early ones. The alloy does seem to dull over time though even if you get it sparkling so, as I say, this is not really a cosmetic exercise.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/picture.php?albumid=74&pictureid=442
The difference the paint removal makes is apparent even before you listen to it. If you flick your newly stripped arm with a fingernail it’ll give a metallic ‘ting’, by comparison a painted one sounds much duller.
The sonic result is an arm with more air and life about it and I can’t detect any down side at all. Keep me posted if any of you try this out :0)