Keeping track
Posted by: Jim Ashton on 29 July 2002
The biggest pain in the ass, IMHO, about the whole analogue/vinyl business is the fact that your stylus gradually gets worn (also the cartridge itself, of course, eventually). Not only that but there seems to be no solid consensus about how many LP sides you can play before the wear gets serious (I've heard some people quote 1500, others 3000), plus there is no ready way of checking how bad it actually is without extracting the player from your system and carting it off down to the dealer. Finally of course, there comes the point where you're just forced to go for a re-tip or even a brand-new cartridge, which in a high end context means throwing big bucks at the thing just to keep it on the road. As I said, truly a royal PITA.
I've often wondered (a) whether/how other people attempt to keep track of stylus mileage since new and (b) why record players don't come equipped with some sort of counter (make it as sophisticated or otherwise as you like) to facilitate the keeping of at least a rough estimate of LP sides played.
When I got my last cartridge (Sumiko Blue Point Special which proved a total SOB to get into my Ekos headshell, hence I don't want to remove it until I bloody well have to) I decided the time had come to act. I tried to get hold of one of those 'click counters' which you see officials at public events using to count folk entering the venue - but failed miserably.
So in the end I've resorted to a pencil & paper method whereby a mark equals an LP side and the fifth is a stroke through the other four. I'm not religious about it, you understand, after all it's just an estimate that's required, so odd tracks are ignored etc. and sometimes at the end of an evening's listening I'll just approximate how many sides I think I've played.
Is this bordering on the obsessive? What do all yous other dudes do?
Jim
I've often wondered (a) whether/how other people attempt to keep track of stylus mileage since new and (b) why record players don't come equipped with some sort of counter (make it as sophisticated or otherwise as you like) to facilitate the keeping of at least a rough estimate of LP sides played.
When I got my last cartridge (Sumiko Blue Point Special which proved a total SOB to get into my Ekos headshell, hence I don't want to remove it until I bloody well have to) I decided the time had come to act. I tried to get hold of one of those 'click counters' which you see officials at public events using to count folk entering the venue - but failed miserably.
So in the end I've resorted to a pencil & paper method whereby a mark equals an LP side and the fifth is a stroke through the other four. I'm not religious about it, you understand, after all it's just an estimate that's required, so odd tracks are ignored etc. and sometimes at the end of an evening's listening I'll just approximate how many sides I think I've played.
Is this bordering on the obsessive? What do all yous other dudes do?
Jim