Tracking Weight gauge , This is what you should buy

[brian2957]

bloody ebay,that one didn't come up in my search,cheers though brian as i cancelled and bought that one now,bloody cheaper too!

Hah! ' Bloody Ebay ' indeed Jamie

[Gazjam]

Had this one back in the day...


If I ever went down this Rabbit hole I'd go for the Ortofon DS-3, the plate you sit the stylus on is the thickness of a 180gm record, which probably gets around any VTA variances with the chinese cheap jobbies (of which I own one)
Not cheap at around a Ton though.

Maybe cheaper to get your dealer to set it.

[Ammonite Audio]

If I ever went down this Rabbit hole I'd go for the Ortofon DS-3, the plate you sit the stylus on is the thickness of a 180gm record, which probably gets around any VTA variances with the chinese cheap jobbies (of which I own one)
Not cheap at around a Ton though.

Maybe cheaper to get your dealer to set it.

The Jelco SG-1 was identical to the Ortofon DS-3, but somewhat cheaper. Presumably the SG-1 has disappeared into the sunset along with the rest of Jelco.

Regarding the cheap Chinese jobbies and apparently more expensive branded equivalents, there are many seemingly identical electronic gauges available on eBay etc, but the Chinese makers are notorious for copying and cloning products. These things do look the same, but they are not; and having bought a few, they are patently not all good, and that's probably why a Roksan or Project branded gauge is so much more money - they simply have to throw away most of what they buy because of poor quality/accuracy.

Oh, and Adam's right - that old Garrard mechanical gauge is the one to go for, but try finding one!

[WullieD20]

Oh, and Adam's right - that old Garrard mechanical gauge is the one to go for, but try finding one!

Ha ha..... they must have increased in price. . . from 17/9 to 19/6 (seventeen and ninepence to nineteen shillings and sixpence). That equates today to an increase from 88.75p to 97.5p!
And capable of measuring up to 12 gms..!!!!

Garrard Stylus Gauge.3.jpgGarrard Stylus Gauge.2.jpgGarrard Stylus Gauge.1.jpg

[Ammonite Audio]

Well, having looked on eBay I see there are loads of Garrard SPG3 gauges available, for rather less than I thought, so I've bought one. Should be great for 4g tracking SPUs which go beyond the range of my Rega Atlas.

[Clive197]

You can always try to get one of these, a Jelco SH-1 stylus gauge, while they are still available. I’ve had mine for about 18 months and find it more dependable than the cheap ones I’ve had previously.8FB3C337-E280-4BED-A927-5F4A7A4E9C7C.jpg

[Ammonite Audio]

I used to stock the Jelco SG-1 - a great little thing with a measurement platform that really is at the correct height, but alas with Jelco closing down I can't get the SG-1 any more.

[Barry]

I have a couple of the digital scales mentioned. Being a strain gauge device their ultimate accuracy is questionable, but then setting a VTF to anything much finer than 0.1g is largely pointless.

For ultimate accuracy the best scales are simple mechanical balance designs, such as the Shure, the cheapie Ortofon give away, and the original Transcriptors.

The latter is calibrated with separate reference weights. Mine were turn can be checked using a chemical balance whose own weights were checked by the National Physical Laboratory.

[Fmarco64]

Well, having looked on eBay I see there are loads of Garrard SPG3 gauges available, for rather less than I thought, so I've bought one. Should be great for 4g tracking SPUs which go beyond the range of my Rega Atlas.

I did buy one myself too... it's also a nice piece of vintage equipment. The Jelco is also out on auction but it's far more expensive.

I do have the Shure as well, left in a drawer in favor of a cheap digital - but this thread makes me think I want to compare the two things together...

Question for the experts - is the height from record placement level so important? I understand that ideally the arm should be at the "play" position with no angle, but what's the real effect on the vertical force measurement?
My digital scale pressure point is never at the same level of the record, it's always higher than that.
thanks

[chiz]

is the height from record placement level so important? I understand that ideally the arm should be at the "play" position with no angle, but what's the real effect on the vertical force measurement?
My digital scale pressure point is never at the same level of the record, it's always higher than that.

This depends very much on the design of the tonearm.
Have a look at this article for a detailed examination of this subject:

https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/in_balance_e.html