Originally Posted by
Barry
No, it was only the later SME 3000 series arms which had those graduations.
What you have to do is:
(1) Slide the secondary weight to the back of the weigh rod (as shown in your photos)
(2) Disable the bias weight (the very small weight on the nylon cord that passes through the 'fishing rod' on the left of the arm, by unhooking the nylon cord from the graduated rod at the top of the bearing housing).
(3) Counterbalance the cartridge fitted in the headshell, using the main counterbalance weight (the large one that slides on the arm extension behind the bearings), so the arm can 'see saw' when disturbed from the horizontal. Make sure the playing weight arm is horizontal before you lock the main counterweight in place.
(4) Apply the correct, or suggested, playing weight for you cartridge. (Each notch corresponds to 0.25g, though for complete accuracy you should use a set of stylus scales).
(5) Now this is the tricky bit: with the arm loosely retained in the arm rest, place the shaft of a narrow bladed screwdriver, or something similar, underneath the arm just behind the bearings and lift the entire arm off the knife edge bearings.
(6) If the headshell and cartridge 'droops' anti-clockwise as seen from the front, the counterbalance weigh-rod need to be moved out from the main arm. Move it sufficiently far so the headshell doesn't droop at all.
(7) Lock the weigh-rod in place with the vertical Allen screw on the main counterweight.
(8) Now apply the anti-skating or bias weight be re-hooking the nylon weigh over the graduated rod attached to bearing housing. Again each notch corresponds to 0.25g. SME will tell you that the anti-skating force should be equal or similar to the playing weigh. That might have been true in the past for cartridges having a conical stylus, but in my experience the anti-skating force needs only to be one half to two thirds of the playing weight with cartridges hav ing an elliptical stylus or better.
(9) Finally arrange the bias weight 'fishing rod' so that when the stylus is resting in the record groove at the start of the record, the nylon cord is at right angles to the graduated rod when viewed from the top.
The next stage of setting up the arm involves using the alignment protractor I sent you. With the protractor place over the central spigot of the turntable and the stylus placed in the pin hole of the protractor, the sides of the headshell must be exactly parallel to the thick black lines. Move the whole of the arm either forward or back so as to achieve this condition. Lock the arm in place, remembering to ensure that condition (9) above is maintained.
