Help Repairing Goldbug Medussa Cartridge

[gto127]

My Goldbug Medusa Cartridge needle is loose and around it is missing whatever support material was there. It was still working and I just now noticed missing material. The needle has a hole around it. I'm tempted to use glue but don't want to risk permanently damaging it if that is not the way to do it. I have a great microscope to rework it if anyone could instruct me how. I did google search & only got ads for retip services -no instructions for DIY.

 

[nadelkiller]

nothing to glue. looks that the tension-wire is broken. you have to remove the generator from the body to see whats happen! but i guess you have no chance to solve that problem.

 

[lcsaszar]

The tiny diamond needle is fixed in the cantilever tube by a process that you are unlikely able to do at home. Or perhaps the cantilever is loose? It is held in place by a pice of steel wire, and the coil assembly is supported by a piece of (usually round) rubber at its rear side. It is normal that the cantilever changes its angle vs the cartridge body when it is lifted down.

 

[gto127]

Thanks for replys. Sounds like I'm out of luck far as DIY unless someone puts up a thorough DIY film on You tube or something. What's the most economical retip service that is competent? My goal here is to sell the cart and player but don't want to overspend on the repair.

 

[kevinkr]

Sell the player sans cartridge, any repair if possible is going to be quite costly.

 

[AVWERK]

If the coil wires haven,t been broken
This would be tricky to do without breaking them in the process
There should be a set screw near the middle of the body that forms the combined piano wire/coils , needle and shaft that is pulled back against the missing silicone donut.
How you would insert the donut is the problem without desoldering the microscopic wires is another issue.
I guess you could slice the donut and slide it in. The compliance is set by how tightly you pull the whole assembly back against the donut and tighten the set screw.
The type of silicone to use would be another issue.
A lot of factors to consider, but what do you have to loose at this point?
I remember this cartridge got great reviews in its day.
Considering the price of MC,s at this level, this alone should motivate you to attempt it yourself..

Regards
David

 

[gto127]

David,
Where would I get the Doughnut to put in there? I don't think the wires are broke since it was working soundwise before I noticed it.

 

[lcsaszar]

Are you sure the rubber damping (marked d on the picture in the link) is missing indeed? It is very unlikely that it can fall out... I can only imagine it has disintegrated by using some chemical.
PHONO Cartridge Compliance, Tonearm Mass, System Resonance, Loading of MC and MM Capacitance, RIAA Characteristic

 

[gto127]

Yes it's missing. I did use electronic cleaner on the very tip a few times. I guess it could have run down tip & done the damage.

 

[lcsaszar]

I would give it to a professional service, in order to avoid further damage. Once I filled up my cartridge with silicone grease with the intent to increase damping (really to see how its sound changes)

 

[gto127]

Here's pic of what I'm referring to (hole around needle).

 

[kevinkr]

I'm not sure I see any problem here, there probably shouldn't be anything between the cantilever and the cartridge body.

The generator assembly supports the cantilever, and that's recessed inside the housing where you can't see it.

 

[gto127]

I asumed there was a problem because needle had moved slightly to the side & doesnt feel tight like the other needles I've seen. Is there supposed to be a gap around the needle inside the hole as opposed to something like silicone?

 

[kevinkr]

I'm a little disturbed by your comments, you should not be touching nor deliberately deflecting the cantilever. The minimum forces you apply are well outside of the design limits of the suspension I suspect.

 

[gto127]

To Kevinkr:Well I'm relatively new into phono equipment which is why I'm inquiring from more knowlegable persons like yourself. I'd much rather be working on a CD player.

 

[kevinkr]

No question CD players are less fiddly.. Good though to ask questions..

If the Goldbug sounds good and tracks a disk side without problems I would say you have no issues.

 

[gto127]

Just put it back together. Works & sounds good-but still bent slightly to side. Mabye it will keep working. Thanks

 

[audiof001]

Send it to Peter at Soundsmith. He've been very good to me and my Glider.

 

[AVWERK]

Make sure you look up tonearm/cartridge alignment procedures to get the most from what you have. They have alignment jigs available or you can make one on a piece of paper also.
When you do, you will be aligning the diamond / cantilever at the 2 null points. Use plenty of light or wear high power reading glasses to make it easier.
You mention it's slightly off center and this is quite common on many expensive MC,s as well.
The body is not important as far as alignment, only the moving cantilever since that's the business end
Your new and that's ok, since all of us had to start at one time as well
Regards
David