I've been messing around with my Dual 1218 a fair bit lately. I decided to pick up another cartridge mount, so I could experiment with other cartridges without having to mess with the already-mounted Shure PRO7 it came with. Unfortunately, the 'new' mount seems to be a somewhat different shape than the one the 1218 came with. The old one is much taller at the rear, with a pronounced angle between the front and back. The new one, however, is not nearly as tall at the rear, and therefore fits the original-style Dual overhang gauge differently. Using a Pickering V-15 Phase IV AME which also came with the 1218, I can't seem to install it in a way which I don't end up hearing pronounced 's's (primarily in the right channel) when playing the reissue copy of Television - Marquee Moon I picked up. The copy seems to play correctly on my AR ES-1, as well as with the PRO7 installed. I've tried it with the tracking weight set to both 1.5g and 2.0g, which should be in the cartridge/stylus' range (though info on the V-15 Phase IV AME seems to be few and far between), and results are similar with a D7E stylus installed in place of the IV AME. As best as I can tell, the V-15 is lined up correctly according to the overhang gauge, though the instructions in the manual don't seem to be perfectly clear on exactly how the cantilever is supposed to line up in the notch. I'm hoping I can figure this out before I end up damaging any valuable/irreplaceable LPs... :sigh: Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
-Adam

i have owned a 1229Q and i now own a 1245. i have always lined up the cartridge body by eye to be parallel to the sides of the carrier. then i put the diamond tip at the point of the triangular notch.

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, it looks like the mount for one of the springs that are involved with the height adjustment knob on the side of my extra cartridge carrier has broken off. :tears: I hope that doesn't mean that the holder I just bought is now worthless...
-Adam

People have put such great importance on that gauge, that South Street Service [turntableexperts.com] has been successfully eBaying them for $50 each.
They were always packaged and sold exclusively with the cartridge clip, and for far less than that.
Nothing replaces a good mounting protractor, an ample supply of spacers and screws, and a decent pair of ears.
The cart shell for the 12XX models was redesigned at some point with shallower sides.
Also, the knob on your shell does absolutely nothing to cartridge height. All it does is change the angle of the cantilever, by tilting the back of the cartridge.
Your old plastic jig works just fine on the thinner clip. Simply be certain the top of the jig is pressed firmly against the top on the cart clip.
The only way to salvage the broken clip is to glue the white plate to the black clip in an effort to maintain one desired position, preferably 'single'.

Seth
Forever Analog and Covered In Parrot Poop

Thanks for the response. I've since installed a Shure M97xE in the spare headshell, and with it aligned according to the plastic guide, the distortion definitely seems to be diminished, though there might still be something going on there. I downloaded the free protractor from Enjoy The Music to get a second opinion of sorts, and the alignment of the M97xe (as well as the previously-installed PRO7) seems to be off by a fair amount according to it (my AR ES-1, with it's Linn Basik Plus arm, seems to be dead-on aligned according to it). Which one of these is right? As far as the headshell goes, the other spring is holding, and the adjustment knob seems to be working, so I think I'll just keep it set to 's' until I figure out what I'm going to do about it.
-Adam

When I mount a cartridge to a 1218-type unit, I optimize it to single-play use by using long screws and enough spacers to get the arm nearly parallel to the record.

Do not worry that the Dual jig does not jive with your printed jigs. Dual had it down to a science, and had it right.
Have you checked for arm binding [rare on this model], and have you checked that anti-skate is not waaay off?

Seth
Forever Analog and Covered In Parrot Poop

Again, thanks for the tips. Whoever installed the PRO7 in the original (I think) headshell clip didn't use any spacers at all, resulting in the stylus being a mm or two below the bottom of the overhang gauge when it's installed. I used an extra set of mounting nuts as spacers for the M97xE, resulting in what looks to be perfect height with regards to the original diagram. Most of the records I've played with the M97xE have had relatively normal sounding 's' sounds, though the middle section of Queen's "The Prophet's Song" seems to have something going on (though that could just be my reissue copy of A Night At The Opera).

What would be the best way to diagnose arm binding in the tonearm? I have noticed some oddities with regards to anti-skate, like the tonearm drifting to the right even with the arm floating, and both anti-skate and tracking weight set to 0. Also, I've seen instances of the needle jumping back from the lead-out lockgroove before the mechanism could be tripped to lift the tonearm, though the M97xE seems to be behaving as currently installed. Hopefully, there isn't something majorly wrong with the 1218.
-Adam

Your anti-skate is just fine. As a matter of fact, it is demonstrating that the arm is not binding.
If you are saying that the reject mechanism doesn't react fast enough; the fix is thorough cleaning the trip prawl, and if that fails, bending it. Not recommended!!!

Seth
Forever Analog and Covered In Parrot Poop

set your anti skate to zero and see if that helps. The anti skating is pulling too hard. I remember selling new ones back in college and MANY times set the anti skate to 1/2, with 1 gram tracking force.

Have you checked if the turntable is level?
This may be causing the pull to the right.
Good Luck Michael

Again, thanks for the tips! Setting anti-skate to 0 (or at least below 1; I currently have both tracking weight and anti-skate set to 1.25) does often help with this issue. What's the best way to ensure that the anti-skate is set correctly? My usual method has been to place the tonearm within the 'dead wax' of an LP, and see what it does. At various points in time, with the various cartridges/styli I've tested, it's been off enough to constantly bounce backwards from the trip point, but seems to be behaving itself at the moment. The plinth of the turntable looks to be off-level with regards to the base, but a bubble level placed in the middle of the platter registers as being just about level. Hopefully, I can figure out this mystery...
-Adam