Turnables-- Needle Care and Tone Arm Adjustment
by
DJ Ellis Dee
edited by
Steve Shah
This paper is an excerpt from Steve Shah's alt.music.makers.dj FAQ that he edited.
More info about the FAQ can be
found at the bottom of this paper.
- Mount Needle carefully, plug into mixer and make sure
you attatch the grounding wire to eliminate hum and noise.
- Backoff main tonearm weight all the way to end.
- Move tonearm in position like your gonna put the needle on
the record but It will probly be sticking up cuz the
weight is all the way back.
- Slowly turn the weight until the tonearm balances parallel
with the deck. Make sure its exactly balanced and level.
- Adjust the skating so the tonearm doesn't sway to either
direction but just sits there perfectly still. Usually
set skating to "0".
- Move the black ring on the very front of the main weight
until "0" is at the top. You are now at 0 grams tracking
weight.
- Adjust the height ring of the tonearm assembly to about 3
so "3" matches up with the red line and then lock the assembly
down with the locking lever. You can mess with the height
later when you understand more about DJin.
- It depends on your DJ style and how much you scratch but why
don't you start out with a tracking weight of 3 grams. Move
the main tonearm weight counter clockwise until it reads 3
at the top but make sure to put your finger underneath the
tonearm part so it doesn't hit the platter and damage the
needle. The more weight you track at, the better the needle
stays in the groove but the faster the needle wears down and
it's harder on your records. Everything's a trade off.
- Now your pretty much set and ready to go. You should buy
a bubble level, put it on the platter and adjust the
rubber feet so the bubble level reads exactly level, or
as close as you can get. This helps the needle stay in
the groove better.
Notes:
For the complete and updated version of the FAQ please go to this site:
http://www.djmix.com/mixpoint/ammdj_faq.html
