The Generic Stylus brand styli

[62vauxhall]

This is only a question from idle curiosity.

Years ago and I'm guessing more than twenty-five, I somehow acquired a Shure M95ED with a broken cantilever.

I have a feeling it's been in my possession from before the cartridge and don't know where I got it either either, but I have a brand new generic stylus for an M95ED. As a matter of fact, the box is embossed with the brand name "The Generic Stylus" and the price tag of $36.95 is still on the back. Also on the back, the script says "A product of Japan Manufactured for Pfansteihl, Waukegan, Illinois".

My idle question is does anyone know what Japanese manufacturer would have made styli for Phansteihl in say the late 1970's or early 1980's?

I'm about to mount this cartridge today and seeing again it prompted me to make this post.

The cantilever is nice and thin so to me it seems there is some evidence of quality about it.

 

[johnjhazel]

JICO probably manufactured it.

 

[62vauxhall]

That's what I thought at first as there aren't too many candidates, at least I didn't think so. But if the age is give or take 35 years, I thought Pfanstiehl got theirs from Switzerland back then and Jico had yet to enter stylus game.

 

[johnjhazel]

Pfanstiehl currently gets all their mag styli from the Swiss manufacturer. Some Pfanstiehl models came from JICO in the past. JICO no longer sells to EVG or Pfanstiehl. The Swiss manufacturer is adding models to fill the gap in Pfanstiehl and EVG model selection caused by JICO no longer supplying those two companies/brands.JICO has been around since about 1965.

 

[Stanton681EEES]

Could also be Nagaoka. I know they made styluses as well.

 

[johnjhazel]

I will ask my contact at Pfanstiehl who made it.

 

[johnjhazel]

Not sure if Pfanstiehl would even know after 25 years, but “The Generic Stylus” used to be their budget label—so an genuine Pfanstiehl of the time would have supposedly been of higher quality and then Pfanstiehl also packaged original manufacturer styli in Pfanstiehl packages as well, so there was sort of a marketing tier system. Pfanstiehl had a couple of other levels too that I’ve encountered from time to time and also dealer packaging. They were a big operation back in the day.

Suppliers changed constantly, though, and according to some sources in the 1990s maybe even up to the 2000s Jico supplied most of their stuff regardless of the “Switzerland” labeling. I have a few examples of Pfanstiehl styli in “Switzerland” packaging that have all the physical earmarks and operational artifacts of Japanese styli.

Some stuff that Pfanstiehl sells today is also clearly produced by Normarh in Colombia, but the packaging still says “Switzerland.”

Which models are Normarh ? Some models labeled 'Switzerland' are Swiss except the grips came from JICO. But, anything is possible. The magnetic styli business is pretty much all just repackaging these days. I will have to find out which models are Normarh because I don't want to sell them. I have enough trouble trying to give away SWISS EVG's.

 

[beat_truck]

I must be one of the few people out there that has had good luck with Pfan/Swiss styli, and have no problem buying them. So far, all of the ones that I've bought have sounded fairly good to great and tracked properly at their recommended TF. Although, I usually bought EVG/Jico as my first choice unless I had a good reason not to, such as somebody here recommending a specific Pfan. Ones such as the 822-DEE (Stanton 681) and 629-DE (AT11E) stand out as being pretty damned good for the money.

 

[johnjhazel]

I must be one of the few people out there that has had good luck with Pfan/Swiss styli, and have no problem buying them. So far, all of the ones that I've bought have sounded fairly good to great and tracked properly at their recommended TF. Although, I usually bought EVG/Jico as my first choice unless I had a good reason not to, such as somebody here recommending a specific Pfan. Ones such as the 822-DEE (Stanton 681) and 629-DE (AT11E) stand out as being pretty damned good for the money.

Its good to hear a positive comment about Swiss styli. I did email THE guy at Pfanstiehl concerning styli NOT made in Switzerland. Pfanstiehl sells many styli to non-audiophiles. Pfanstiehl has dealers here in the States. The closest one to me is Stinkweeds on Camelback.

 

[beat_truck]

Its good to hear a positive comment about Swiss styli. I did email THE guy at Pfanstiehl concerning styli NOT made in Switzerland. Pfanstiehl sells many styli to non-audiophiles. Pfanstiehl has dealers here in the States. The closest one to me is Stinkweeds on Camelback.

I suppose I could be considered an audiophile just because I like good sound, but I don't have uber expensive equipment. Maybe on a system like that the Pfans wouldn't satisfy, but on my humble equipment, they compare very decently to more expensive OE styli.

 

[johnjhazel]

I don't have any really expensive equipment either. Pfanstiehl has been around for 90 years. They are not going anywhere. Most of their customers have probably never even heard of JICO.

 

[johnjhazel]

No reason to avoid Normarh that I can see. They make good stuff and one of the most exact copies of the tough to copy Stanton 680 styli. The performance is fantastic and I wouldn’t hesitate to retip them with complex tips. The 4822-D7C for example is one that I have watched contain Jico, then the Swiss manufacturer and for now, Normarh.

The Pfanstiehl 4822-D7C is from South America now ?

 

[johnjhazel]

Got an email this morning from my guy at Pfanstiehl. They do not source from South America.

 

[twiiii]

Back in the 70's companies like Shure and AT had so many quality control issues, we had to drop the lines for a while. Signet, an upsacle from AT were very consistent as were B&O, Stanton, most Pickering, and most but not all Ortofon. Generic styli were just horrible. We invested in a Wild Stereo microscope, test records and Stereo Technology test equipment to weed out the the unacceptable. I retired 14 years ago and though I still talk to friends in the business my feeling about the consistency of Stereo pick- ups and generic replacements has not improved. I would have kept my V- 15 V MR and Stanton 981's if the generics were worth while, but the ones I tried were horrible. So I stopped wasting money. A friend sent me a Dynavector as a gift and I have really started to enjoy great LP's again. spending close to $1000 bucks on a cartridge up grade a year later isn't a causal expense, but I have been very happy for the last 10 years . Its about time to buy a replacement, though my current model tracks 90 band on my Ortofon test record like new and the sound is still great. So until I start to get that nagging feeling I'll continue to save for that future replacement. What cartridges would I consider. Koetsu , Lyra and Ortofon, with Clear Audio and Dynavector on my Short List. Wouldn't it be great to buy a 981 HZL or a V-15 for under $150.00. But those days are gone. I was noticing the other day prowling around in my favorite record store that new LP prices are approaching the levels we paid for laser discs way back when. I guess CD's are going to be collectables soon, too. They have had a great run of over 30 years. There are so many Digital formats today, its just not the same. Where everyone got on the same band wagon and competition kept the price down. Of course todayif can accept compromised digital sound you can get a lot of music for free. But then you get what you pay for. You pay nothing, you get nothing.

 

[johnjhazel]

Sure they don't. But maybe they buy directly them from the North American distributor. There are all kinds of avenues, but I know a Normarh when I see it at least regarding the Stanton/Pickeing series. No one at any level these days except for the highest level of Jico Shibata makes a complete copy of the original Stanton or Pickering suspension except for Normarh. Jico does it at the elliptical level, but it looks different. The South American Normarh is an exact copy even including the dull matte metal finish on the insert tube. It's quite impressive, actually, especially for the pittance they charge for them. Japanese and Swiss tubes are shiny straight tubes in most cases, with no tie wire or suspension dimples. Higher model Japanese have tie wires and the highest models have dimples, but they are like the Walco indents of the1970s--same function but different shape and articulation. The Normarhs are exact copies.

The only sad thing is that Normarh only put conicals on these styli. I would love to be able to get into contact with them to see if they would/could put ellipticals or hyperellipticals or better on these even as a special order, but so far I've had no luck even getting an email response. It would probably help a lot if I could actually speak Spanish.

I don't know what to say. I certainly don't want to argue about it. I know that you know styli. And Scott explicitly said the Pfanstiehl's for Stanton are Swiss. And the post that started this thread.....I was wrong. Pfanstiehl does not source from JICO but from another Japanese supplier for certain models.

 

[johnjhazel]

Could also be Nagaoka. I know they made styluses as well.

They still do. But trying to find out just what they make is difficult. I have emailed them a few times and it was pretty much useless.

 

[johnjhazel]

Well, it certainly wouldn't be the first time that signposts lead in all different directions. It would be nice to know which Japanese supplier Pfanstiehl deals with or even if it's a current Japanese supplier. I know in the past that Pfanstiehl dealt with Japanese Empire. Also, Jico has become recently increasingly protective of the use of the "JICO" name. So, for example, LPGear when asked about the source of it's Japanese styli said the same thing: "Not JICO." But once LPGear became the North American distributor for JICO when EVG lost its contract, there was information given on the LPGear website that LPGear had had a long standing well-established relationship with JICO. So, it could be that the supply contract for items that are not packaged as "Genuine JICO" are not allowed to be called "JICO" or even sourced from "JICO," since JICO now means "Marked as JICO," so that JICO doesn't compete with itself. Also, JICO wants "JICO" to mean a certain level of quality, not the corner cut products it often makes for aftermarket brands like Pfanstiehl, formerly EVG, Tonar, etc.

There are at least two other Japanese suppliers that I can think of, but no one seems to include that additional information. They just say "Not JICO." They don't say "Nagaoka," or "Ogura." Sometimes, packaging will suggest a source of styli, too. I've seen aftermarket Japanese styli sold in the same kind of box that Nagaoka original styli typically come in.

Great info ! Does Japanese Empire still exist ?

 

[beat_truck]

Well, it certainly wouldn't be the first time that signposts lead in all different directions. It would be nice to know which Japanese supplier Pfanstiehl deals with or even if it's a current Japanese supplier. I know in the past that Pfanstiehl dealt with Japanese Empire. Also, Jico has become recently increasingly protective of the use of the "JICO" name. So, for example, LPGear when asked about the source of it's Japanese styli said the same thing: "Not JICO." But once LPGear became the North American distributor for JICO when EVG lost its contract, there was information given on the LPGear website that LPGear had had a long standing well-established relationship with JICO. So, it could be that the supply contract for items that are not packaged as "Genuine JICO" are not allowed to be called "JICO" or even sourced from "JICO," since JICO now means "Marked as JICO," so that JICO doesn't compete with itself. Also, JICO wants "JICO" to mean a certain level of quality, not the corner cut products it often makes for aftermarket brands like Pfanstiehl, formerly EVG, Tonar, etc.

There are at least two other Japanese suppliers that I can think of, but no one seems to include that additional information. Both Pfanstiehl and LPGear just say "Not JICO." They don't say "Nagaoka," or "Ogura" or something else. Sometimes, packaging will suggest a source of styli, too. I've seen aftermarket Japanese styli sold in the same kind of box that Nagaoka original styli typically come in.

I'm actually glad that Jico is locking their name down. It will save people from getting screwed like I did.

I bought a "Jico" from turntableneedles.com. It came in a box stamped Jico, but I later came to find out that it had no tie wire. So, I basically bought a repackaged EVG for 3x what I could have bought an EVG for.

 

[johnjhazel]

I'm actually glad that Jico is locking their name down. It will save people from getting screwed like I did.

I bought a "Jico" from turntableneedles.com. It came in a box stamped Jico, but I later came to find out that it had no tie wire. So, I basically bought a repackaged EVG for 3x what I could have bought an EVG for.

I bought two styli for the GE VR 1000 from them. Both rusty pieces of junk. I am done with them forever.

 

[vwestlife]

Pfanstiehl has some current styli marked as "Manufactured in USA". Can this actually be true? If so, who is making styli in the USA?