[Ablist One]

Ever wonder what the little numbers mean on the spinny black thing on the shiny silver thing on the tonearm of your turntable? You would be surprised how many people don't know what you are actually supposed to do with it. That's what today's lesson is about.

The Tonearm:



directly above this sentence is the headshell. if you follow to the other end of the picture, at the very top, you will see a silver cylinder called a "counterweight". there are two main ways to use this: one for scratching, one for all other mixing.
..............................


MIXING
(for this part, your counterweight should be turned so the black dial is facing the needle, with the flat end on the edge of the arm, as in the picture)

Turn/unscrew the counterweight (the whole silver cylinder, not just the black dial) until it is close to the end of the tonearm. if you let go, you will notice the needle points heavily up in the air. hold the needle's handle and SLOWLY screw the weight back towards the needle. every so often, let the needle go and see whether it dips down or points up. go back and forth until you reach a middle point. now here's the cool part: when you find the center point, the needle will float midair without falling or rising.

The needle is now at Zero Gravity. WITHOUT turning the counterweight (the silver cylinder), turn JUST the black dial at the front of the weight until zero (...0...) is at the very top. you now have an exact measurement for the gravity of your needle. now turn the entire counterweight towards the needle and watch the black dial; when you reach somewhere between 3 and 3.5, you now have the correct pressure that should be on your needle. doing this every so often will make your needles and records last longer and have less wear & tear while still having enough weight not to skip around while mixing.

Most dj's know that 3 is heavier than 2, but unless you "zero out" your needle first, you don't really know how much weight is put on the needle and your records. you may have it set on 2 but if the tonearm has not been zeroed out yet, you may just be turning it from 6 down to 5 and not know it.


SCRATCHING
you should only use this setup when scratching; when mixing normally, you should change the setting to mixing (described above).

Unscrew the counterweight until it comes off in your hand. turn it around backwards and screw it back on so the black dial is facing outwards, and the flat end of the cylinder faces in towards the needle. put a crappy test record on that you dont mind damaging. give the record a strong scratch, about the most strength you think you would put into it while scratching. if the needle jumps, add more weight (screw the cylinder in towards the needle more). some dj's screw the cylinder all the way in to prevent the needle skipping during a performance, but this wears heavily on both vinyl and needle. its harder to skip the record but you will have to replace your favorite records and your needles several times. practicing scratching with a lighter touch on the record will reduce the need for weight, and save you money and equipment in the long run.







(sorry no video, but i wanted to throw a tutorial up there).

[whenyournex2me]

you should also emphasize that different style headshells, cartriges and stylus's do require different setups, and weights for optimun use. also, a good tip, when playing out, use the most weight on the neddles as possible.... and use a different set of stylus's for practice. this will prevent you needle jumping out of hte groove when the presuure is on....from being in a club or at an event.

imo aslo, the heigth is very important is ratio to the weight, so is hte anti skating... but im sure ablist will psot that up soo too....

[Ablist One]

Originally Posted by whenyournex2me

you should also emphasize that different style headshells, cartriges and stylus's do require different setups, and weights for optimun use.

not really. no matter what cartridge you use, the arm needs to be zeroed out so you have a true reading of the weight. i just made this tutorial so people would know how to use the counterweight the right way.

weight is not really subjective to the needle used. sure different needles are built for scratching or mixing, but if you are using scratch needles, you just use the scratch setup, and so on. eventually you will figure out your own way of setting the weights based on how you spin but the differences are small.

also, you should NOT change the weight based on if you are playing at a club or at home. if you practice for weeks on a certain setup, and then play out suddenly using a different setup, you are throwing your practice out the window. if the needle jumps more when you play out its because your nervous, not an equipment issue. where you play should have no bearing on how you spin technically.

[whenyournex2me]

Originally Posted by Ablist One

not really. no matter what cartridge you use, the arm needs to be zeroed out so you have a true reading of the weight. i just made this tutorial so people would know how to use the counterweight the right way.

hmmm most deffinitly true, i wasnt meaning dont bother balancing the tonearm.

Originally Posted by Ablist One

weight is not really subjective to the needle used. sure different needles are built for scratching or mixing, but if you are using scratch needles, you just use the scratch setup, and so on. eventually you will figure out your own way of setting the weights based on how you spin but the differences are small.

from what ive read/heard/sceen, the height, weight, and anti skate are all adjsuted differently from different mixing styles. mostly from jsut scratching to mixing.

Originally Posted by Ablist One

also, you should NOT change the weight based on if you are playing at a club or at home. if you practice for weeks on a certain setup, and then play out suddenly using a different setup, you are throwing your practice out the window. if the needle jumps more when you play out its because your nervous, not an equipment issue. where you play should have no bearing on how you spin technically.

hmm never thought of this one. i jsut have the weight set at 4 grams, and i never change it. i never however turn the weight backwards,,, when scratching. i never have a prob with 4 grams weight, and 4 mm height. now this is casue i dont use different stylus's. i have the 500, 505, and shure's but they i have better sound and feel from the ortophones... the way i mix.

this is a good point, ablist. i think if you did change the weight,,, it would cause soem serious issues. i am wrong, and didnt take into consideration of my own setup, rather was thinking of what someone said in a vid tutorial i watched when i first started to learn. !!!!!! <respect>

[Ablist One]

the thing about the height adjust is that having it higher will help with scratching, but it makes the needle bite down into the record rather than travel smoothly over the surface. what i usually do is just get down eye-level with the turntable platter and turn the height adjust until the tonearm is parallel even with the top of the platter. that way i know the tonearm is going straight across, and since the needle is already angled in most cases, there's no unneeded wear n tear on your vinyl.

vinyl wear may seem a small thing because over time it takes a while, but i've got records that are really rare, and sound like shit, because i played them so much with the needle riding heavy as hell. now i dont dare play them, which is a shame. i used to not ever think about that but when you have a record that has traveled with you 10 years and you can't find another copy, suddenly its an issue.