How Easy is it to Damage a Needle?

[burninghotcheese]

Hey everyone, 

 

Newbie here. Just got my first "real" turntable the other day (Music Hall 2.2). When I was setting it up, I accidentally dropped the cartridge onto the body of the turntable. From what I've read, turntables are apparently super delicate, and it's got me all paranoid that I may have damaged the needle. I've also read that a damaged stylus is the worst thing you can inflict on your records. I can't hear any audible damage when playing my records, but I want to make sure I'm not inadvertently damaging them. Should I be worried, or is the needle more durable than I think? 

 

Thanks! 

[Requiescat]

You should have a strong magnifying glass as a part of your turntable accessories in order to examine the stylus for a few reasons including inspecting potential damage and also to tell if it's wearing out and things of that nature. I would examine it carefully with one and if it looks ok then you should be fine. Kind of hard to say if you damaged it without seeing it and really inspecting it. I'd be more worried about having damaged or tweaked the cantilever (what the needle is mounted to). That could screw up your azimuth and tracking and definitely degrade your playback sound quality at best and actually physically damage your records at worst.

 

Here are a few links for reference:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225960

http://www.vinylengine.com/examining-your-stylus.shtml

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/stylus-wear-it-happens.12422/

 

Good luck and just remember to always be careful! Take your time when playing records and handling your equipment since a lot of it can be sensitive and damage easily! Patience costs you nothing out of pocket except your time and is a lot more cost effective than the latter options of replacing or reparing your equipment or records because you damaged them unnecessarily!

 

Definitely don't recommend screwing with stuff when you're drunk either. I've dropped and fucked up at least one hard to replace record because I was an idiot. Oops 

[Princess Logan]

You should have a strong magnifying glass as a part of your turntable accessories in order to examine the stylus for a few reasons including inspecting potential damage and also to tell if it's wearing out and things of that nature.

 

This is something I never thought of. You just gave me a reason to justify buying the skeleton magnifying glass I found the other day. Thank you.