stevoz Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 (edited) Anyone out there have a Grace cart that needs retipping? Well, there's all the usual places.....Garrotts, Soundsmith (who also supply replacement styli for grace F9's), Expert, etc and also Delta667 in Russia. These people will do a fine job but they are quite expensive. This fact may not be a hindrance to some but for those like me who can't afford 'top dollar' jobs, there is this guy in the US. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Grace-Cartridge-Stylus-Retipping-Nude-3-x-7-Elliptical-F9E-F8-F-9/183448505218 His Ebay name is 'cartridge_retipping-5' but he is also known as needlestein (real name Joseph). He repaired my Level II BR/MR and it now sings! The two photo's in his ad of the cart with the orange stylus body are actually pic's of my BR/MR after repair. Cost me $US109 incl. postage.....bargain! He is offering to rebuild F9, F8 and I assume Level II styli with new tapered aluminium cantilever and a quality highly polished nude elliptical diamond for $US125 + $US14.25 postage to Oz (approx. $Au176.95 + $Au20.18 atm). Under $Au200.....pretty damn good. He also offers Namiki MicroLine on a boron cantilever, and Nude Shibata, Nude Line Contact, and other types such as Fritz Gyger II on an aluminum cantilever at additional cost......subject to availability. I am not affiliated in any way but would certainly like to see him get more business....we all want to see quality retippers live on, right? He does a fine job for a reasonable price and is certainly worthy of consideration for your Grace retipping needs. Long live Grace!! Edited October 9, 2018 by stevoz 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyW Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 Haha, I've a modded Jico NeoSAS on my Pickering XLZ4500S from Joseph. He also fixed the bent cantilever on a Fidelity Research MC201 that had been modified by the original Garrott Bros, with a nude stereohedron. Apparently the diamond is mint. Cantilever bent right back. He's kind of the resident expert over on Audiokarma. Lovely guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted October 10, 2018 Author Share Posted October 10, 2018 4 minutes ago, MattyW said: Haha, I've a modded Jico NeoSAS on my Pickering XLZ4500S from Joseph. He also fixed the bent cantilever on a Fidelity Research MC201 that had been modified by the original Garrott Bros, with a nude stereohedron. Apparently the diamond is mint. Cantilever bent right back. He's kind of the resident expert over on Audiokarma. Lovely guy. Hi Matt. Yeah, AK is where I first came across 'needlestein'/Joseph (also on VE). He certainly seems to know his stuff and yes, a lovely guy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 And I sold my Grace F8F cart, with no cantilever in the stylus, a couple of weeks ago.... doh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyW Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 I might have a few spare, or not. Not sure what I have hidden away any more. Really enjoying listening to some LP's just now after receiving some custom Aurealis R3i Silver Litz tonearm cable. This is the best I've heard from my system. A very very transparent cable. Not at all bright as I generally expect from silver cables. Just very transparent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gnnett Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Hi Steve Do you need to send him the whole cartridge, or just the stylus/cantilever assembly? Cheers Gn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 @gnnett If it's an F9, just send the stylus assembly as I know he has a an F9 cart to test styli on. In the case of my Level II, I had to send the whole cart, as he hasn't a Level II body to test on. As the Level II body is the same as the F8 body, I assume the same applies for F8's but he will let you know if you were to contact him re: your rebuild request. He's great to deal with! His email address is: Cartridge_Retipping@outlook.com and his full name is Joseph Long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogie44 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Almost on-topic, wot about my ageing Clearaudio Maestro Wood cartridge? It needs refurbishing/re-tipping but it seems that by the time you do that (in the US) you might as well have bought the updated version, as it's only slightly cheaper. I am no cartridge maven and have no expertise in setting up turntables and such. It's running on my Clearaudio Performance T/T through my Leben preamplifier and has been almost set and forget for some years. I am not against spending money on updating/upgrading, but the Maestro Wood is all I think I would really need in my well-balanced MM vinyl system. However I am open to suggestions from the brains trust of the SNA Forum Anyone here in Oz that members know of, or anywhere else that's more 'cost-effective'? Or--(gasp) something completely different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 (edited) 25 minutes ago, doogie44 said: Almost on-topic, wot about my ageing Clearaudio Maestro Wood cartridge? It needs refurbishing/re-tipping but it seems that by the time you do that (in the US) you might as well have bought the updated version, as it's only slightly cheaper. Anyone here in Oz that members know of, or anywhere else that's more 'cost-effective'? Or--(gasp) something completely different? Doubtful.....and I believe Joseph is very cost effective. Your Maestro retails for around $US1200. Joseph would retip it for much much less than that. Assuming your boron cantilever is fine, it would just be a retip. He only charges $US15 to post it back and the job itself may be only a few hundred, I would imagine. As I said in my opening post, he repaired the cracked boron cantilever (see pic below) and reset the existing tip on my Level II BR/MR for $US109 incl. return postage. Seriously good value! He took on the job after seeing this pic. Nothing to lose finding out what he thinks......here: Cartridge_Retipping@outlook.com ...... if you desire. Edited October 16, 2018 by stevoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogie44 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Beauty! Thank you 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mloutfie Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Just make sure it's a retip and not a new cantilever. Last time I chat to Joseph he only do new cantilever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 1 hour ago, mloutfie said: Just make sure it's a retip and not a new cantilever. Last time I chat to Joseph he only do new cantilever Dmitry in Vladivostok (Delta667) rewound both channels of my Dynavector 23R's (which was open circuit both sides) and reattached the cantilever to the yolk. He advised me the stylus was only at 20% wear. He also check my other Dynavector 23 and found it had been potted. This had a Boron cantilever. No stylus. He attached an eliptical stylus to it and checked both over a week plus. Happy with his results, he sent back the two cartridges including freight for $320 american. I thought this was good value also and the Ruby is red hot ATM. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 3 hours ago, doogie44 said: Almost on-topic, wot about my ageing Clearaudio Maestro Wood cartridge? It needs refurbishing/re-tipping but it seems that by the time you do that (in the US) you might as well have bought the updated version, as it's only slightly cheaper. I am no cartridge maven and have no expertise in setting up turntables and such. It's running on my Clearaudio Performance T/T through my Leben preamplifier and has been almost set and forget for some years. I am not against spending money on updating/upgrading, but the Maestro Wood is all I think I would really need in my well-balanced MM vinyl system. However I am open to suggestions from the brains trust of the SNA Forum Anyone here in Oz that members know of, or anywhere else that's more 'cost-effective'? Or--(gasp) something completely different? Is this the one that takes the Audio Technica AT95 plug? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 2 hours ago, mloutfie said: Just make sure it's a retip and not a new cantilever. Last time I chat to Joseph he only do new cantilever ......and also only aluminium on demand.....boron and other exotic materials are subject to availability but by the sounds of it, doogie's Maestro just needed a retip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Wimbo said: Dmitry in Vladivostok (Delta667) rewound both channels of my Dynavector 23R's (which was open circuit both sides) and reattached the cantilever to the yolk. He advised me the stylus was only at 20% wear. He also check my other Dynavector 23 and found it had been potted. This had a Boron cantilever. No stylus. He attached an eliptical stylus to it and checked both over a week plus. Happy with his results, he sent back the two cartridges including freight for $320 american. I thought this was good value also and the Ruby is red hot ATM. Wow, that is very reasonable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 (edited) Joseph is now offering 'nude line contact' stylus option (plus aluminium cantilever) for your Grace cart for $US250 + postage of $US14.25, here: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Grace-Cartridge-Stylus-Retipping-Nude-Line-Contact-F9E-F8-F-9/183507235783?hash=item2ab9e233c7:g:m8YAAOSwdMRbu-LX:rk:17:pf:0 Cheers... Edited October 30, 2018 by stevoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 1 hour ago, stevoz said: Joseph is now offering 'nude line contct' stylus option for your Grace cart for $US250 + postage of $US14.25, here: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Grace-Cartridge-Stylus-Retipping-Nude-Line-Contact-F9E-F8-F-9/183507235783?hash=item2ab9e233c7:g:m8YAAOSwdMRbu-LX:rk:17:pf:0 Cheers... So thats close to $400 now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Wimbo said: So thats close to $400 now. Line contact stylus though as opposed to elliptical (under $Au200 incl. postage)..... Edited October 30, 2018 by stevoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 (edited) 11 minutes ago, stevoz said: Line contact stylus though as opposed to elliptical (under $Au200 incl. postage)..... Ahh ok. Eliptical is under $200. Thats good. Specially with the time he takes. Hes pretty quick Great to see these guys getting involved. When are you getting your F9E done Steve? Edited October 30, 2018 by Wimbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevoz Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 52 minutes ago, Wimbo said: Ahh ok. Eliptical is under $200. Thats good. Specially with the time he takes. Hes pretty quick Great to see these guys getting involved. When are you getting your F9E done Steve? Not for awhile I would think, given my current financials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyW Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I'm in the same boat. Need to start selling of all the carts I don't use.... Like my Koetsu Rosewood and Ortofon SPU Classic G Mk2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 14 minutes ago, MattyW said: I'm in the same boat. Need to start selling of all the carts I don't use.... Like my Koetsu Rosewood and Ortofon SPU Classic G Mk2 @stevoz Me too guys. Getting a new preamp soon so have to sell my Grado VPI reference and my AT33SA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyW Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Probably my Supex SD900 Rosewood too.... I imagine a few people will put their hands up for that. A rare and sought after cart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 On 30/10/2018 at 1:30 PM, stevoz said: Line contact stylus though as opposed to elliptical (under $Au200 incl. postage)..... Did you see? Joseph got kicked from AK. A lot of people up in arms over it as all his posts were deleted too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyW Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 What the? How could that possibly happen. He is an absolute gentleman. AK will be a far poorer place for it.... Actually, there's no one over there contributes anything like he does 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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