How to properly set up Sure 44-7 needles

[djdiggla]

http://www.gigacrate.com/Articles/?p=264

 

How to setup Shure M447 cartridges so they don’t skip

By nicknack

April 28, 2008 at 12:10 am Tips

Needle

 

I have been a huge fan of Shure’s M447 needle ever since Qbert got Shure to re-release them over 10 years ago. I dig em because they don’t cause cue burn and the needles themselves last a LONG ass time.

 

However, over the years, I have noticed that a lot of DJs don’t know how to set them up properly. They do take a little bit of initial tweaking, but it’s real simple. Here’s how to setup Shure M447 cartridges so they don’t skip:

 

1) I recommend mounting the cartridge on an official Technics headshell:

 

2) Don’t tighten the screws just yet, but get them close to tight.

 

3) *IMPORTANT* You need that white plastic tool that comes with all Technics..

CartridgeTool

 

Put the headshell with 447 into that tool. Turn the tool upside down so you are looking directly at the needle from the bottom. Align the middle of the needle to the “V” groove in that tool. This ensures that your needle will track properly from left to right and front to back.

 

4) Mount the headshell with 447 onto the Technics tonearm.

 

5) On a Technics you will want to set the height to 3.5 on the tonearm.

 

6) The anti-skate settings doesn’t really do much, so it doesn’t quite matter where you set that.

 

7) Make sure the weight on the tonearm has the numbers facing the headshell (the proper way to set it).

HeightAdjustment

 

8) Zero out the tone arm weight, by screwing the weight back until the headshell and the weight are perfectly balanced. Screw the number dial on the weight (ONLY THE FRONT PART) to 0.

 

9) Now apply the appropriate tracking force, by screwing the entire weight to between 3 - 3.5 on the dial.

 

Now you have setup Shure M447s perfectly for a Technics 1200 turntable! After using these needles for nearly 10 years and following the rules listed above, I have experiences very few setups where my needles skipped.

 

However, it is important to keep in mind that it’s not ONLY the cartridge/needle that can cause record skipping. There are a few other potential culprits…

 

A) Loose record hole

PussyHole

 

The hole in the record (”pussy hole” as some call it) needs to have a firm grip on the post from the turntable’s platter. If it doesn’t then the record can move all around and easily cause your record to skip.

 

All you have to do is put a few pieces of small paper in there and tape them down. Don’t make it too tight though!

 

B) Slipmat

Believe it or not, your slipmat can cause your record to skip. If your slipmat has a small hole, then it may rise up the post on the turntable’s platter causing your record to not sit flush on the platter. It will cause it to dome

 

C) Warped record

Obviously if your record is warped in any way, you are fucked. You can try to fix this by putting your record between 2 pieces of glass and putting it in the oven at like 200 degrees for a short period of time. Do this at your own risk tho.

 

D) Bent tonearm

Tonearms are fragile and sometimes get bent if handled improperly. If the turntable you are on has a bent tonearm, then you are pretty well screwed. Not much you can do here to remedy the situation, except to try to prevent it. Always transport your turntables in cases. I also advise you keep your dust covers on your turntables when they are not in use. All it takes is a little mishap to completely fuck your tone arm up.

 

Hopefully this helps you out. Happy scratching.

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Comments: (2)

Comment

 

1.

nicknack

April 28, 2008 at 1:40 pm

 

Another tip just brought to my attention (courtesy of Saultee): if your 447s are new, break them in by letting them play on a lock groove record overnight.

 

I did this with all mine…well more like 3-4 hours vs 8 hours of breaking in. Either way, they do need a tad bit of initial usage before they hit their sweet spot.

2.

nicknack

April 29, 2008 at 9:29 am

 

Here’s some further info on anti-skating I found on the interwebz:

 

Set the anti-skate dial to coincide with the tracking force… in other words, if the tracking force is 2 grams, set the anti-skate dial to “2″. The exception is for DJ’s who scratch and back-cue. Your anti-skate must be left on “0″.

[johnny 1 move]

I'm making myself look quite geeky for only my second day on this forum but anyway....

 

The point about antiskate is a little innacurate.. It should definately be on 0 and I can prove it

 

The friction of the record on the needle causes the needle to pull inward when the record is playing forwards. this is because the angle the record is dragging does not point through the pivot of the tonearm (on straight tonearms it does so none of this post applies - but then straight tonearm decks probably don't have antiskate anyway)

 

An non-tehcnical way to understand why: If you tie a bit of string to the headshell and pull in the direction of the groove at the point the needle touches it will swing inwards and it will be obvious why (you'll probably kill your needle to!).

 

If you've got a record that's not pressed on one side you can see this too. Set antiskate to 0, put the needle on the record, push the record forwards and the needle swings inwards. Pull the record backwards and the needle swings outwards.

 

Antiskate was developed to stop this inwards motion when playing a record. It works by applying a constant force pulling the needle away from the centre (it's a little spring). When playing forward this is fine as the inwards frictional force and the outwards antiskate force balance.

 

When you pull the record backwards the frictional force is pulling outward and the antiskate is pulling outwards too, so you get a big outwards force and more skipping when back-cueing.

 

With S tonearms the best bet is to leave antiskate at 0. You have some risk of skipping when moving forwards and some backwards (as opposed to no risk forwards and big risk backwards).

 

Again if you've got a one sided record you can see this by scratching on the unpressed side. With antiskate on 0 the needle waves backwards and forwards but stays in the same rough spot. If you turn antiskate up you will see that as you scratch backwards and forwards that the needle gradually wanders to the start of the records and falls off.

 

If you don't have a one sided record can can put your stylus cover on (or flip it down) but use a rubbish record so you don't ruin it!

[djdiggla]

^^I had heard a dumbed down version of that.. I also heard putting anti-skate can result in scratching you records if the needle does skip

[Wax On]

why would anyone in their right mind want to move a record backwards? let alone move it backwards AND forwards at different speeds to manipulate the sound!!!

[Jon]

i've always had my tone arm height at 2.5 rather than 3.5. is the above description designed to reduce record wear as well as reduce skipping?

[rygon]

why would anyone in their right mind want to move a record backwards? let alone move it backwards AND forwards at different speeds to manipulate the sound!!!

 

if you can call it sound...its all just noise to me...whatever happened to proper music

[johnny 1 move]

^^I had heard a dumbed down version of that.. I also heard putting anti-skate can result in scratching you records if the needle does skip

 

That was the dumbed down version

[djdiggla]

U saying I'm dumb?

 

[x2k]

I have my tone arm hight set at 0 and here is the reason why...I use butter rugs and they are less that 1 mm thick, where as I'm sure the hight adjust setting for the turntable rate for the Technics rubber mat which is about 5mm thick. Basically as I understand it the hight adjust should be set so the tone arm is level when the needle is on the record.

 

Works for me anyway

[djdiggla]

I do my weights backwards... don't use the numbers at all... no problem here. One of my buds was all anal about balancing and setting up his tone arms... I just found the backwards way worked and was easy to set up in a club/battle...

 

I also noticed that Rapid Ric had the +4(?) gram extra screw-in weight on his needles... never skipped. seemed like a lot of weight IMO.

[Jon]

I do my weights backwards... don't use the numbers at all... no problem here. One of my buds was all anal about balancing and setting up his tone arms... I just found the backwards way worked and was easy to set up in a club/battle...

 

i tried this for a day on my technics and although it reduced skipping it completely burned my records...

[Steve]

U saying I'm dumb?

 

http://blogs.chron.com/blog9/ogre03.jpg

lol.

 

I'm only using 2 grammes of weight on my M44-7s at the moment. Turning the weight round and pushing it all the way in adds too much weight IMO, and as Jon said, you'll wear your records out much quicker.

 

Welcome to the board Johnny.

[johnny 1 move]

Welcome to the board Johnny.

 

Cheers Steve!

 

Basically as I understand it the hight adjust should be set so the tone arm is level when the needle is on the record.

 

Usually that's right. You have to check the instruction for the needle but most of them have a flat area on the underside around the needle which should be parallel to the vinyl. That's tha logical way to design the cart so that when the needle is the right angle in the groove the body of the cart has least chance of fouling the vinyl cos it's parallel. For most carts this is also corresponds to the tonearm being parallel.

 

I'm not sure but I think not having this set right could increase skipping if the needle is digging in to the groove more and causing more friction...

 

The other thing that might be worth doing is adding the headshell weight but re-balancing the tonearm and still only having around 3grams of downforce. I've never really tried it but because of conservation of angular momentum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_momentum#Conservation_of_angular_momentum) it should make the tonearm resist any side to side movement a lttle more. I've surpassed my own level of geekyness there haven't I?

 

Gkut does this but he's got a simpler reason..... "it skips less"

[x2k]

Usually that's right. You have to check the instruction for the needle but most of them have a flat area on the underside around the needle which should be parallel to the vinyl. That's tha logical way to design the cart so that when the needle is the right angle in the groove the body of the cart has least chance of fouling the vinyl cos it's parallel. For most carts this is also corresponds to the tonearm being parallel.

 

Ahh yes, now I remember it being the bottom of the cart parrallel to the record but if I remember correctly that amounts to tonearm being level or nearly level...either way I've tried a lot of different setups and that what works for me...I use 2-3g weight.

 

The other thing that might be worth doing is adding the headshell weight but re-balancing the tonearm and still only having around 3grams of downforce. I've never really tried it but because of conservation of angular momentum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_momentum#Conservation_of_angular_momentum) it should make the tonearm resist any side to side movement a lttle more. I've surpassed my own level of geekyness there haven't I?

 

Gkut does this but he's got a simpler reason..... "it skips less"

 

That is interesting, I think I've actually tried this before but didn't like it. The reason being you have to bring the counter weight back quite a way (and even add that extra screw in counter weight you get with technics...for me all this extra weight sticking out that back of the tone arm further away from the fulcrum seemed like it would create more of a see-sawing effect.

 

Of course this is all completely unfounded and just how my head automatically analysed the situation without actually thinking about it; what I thought would happen was that there is more weight at each end meaning it would potenially be more stable but it upset the consequences would be more drastic as there is more weight being thrown around.

 

Please correct me if I'm talking bollocks, that's just how it appeared to me.

 

Ps you'll over geek this board while Liam is a member!

[johnny 1 move]

That is interesting, I think I've actually tried this before but didn't like it. The reason being you have to bring the counter weight back quite a way (and even add that extra screw in counter weight you get with technics...for me all this extra weight sticking out that back of the tone arm further away from the fulcrum seemed like it would create more of a see-sawing effect.

 

Of course this is all completely unfounded and just how my head automatically analysed the situation without actually thinking about it; what I thought would happen was that there is more weight at each end meaning it would potenially be more stable but it upset the consequences would be more drastic as there is more weight being thrown around.

 

Please correct me if I'm talking bollocks, that's just how it appeared to me.

 

Ps you'll over geek this board while Liam is a member!

 

It depends which way you look at it. Cons. of ang. momentum means that still things want to stay still and turning things want to keep turning.

 

If your tonarms is still then more weight further away from the pivot will make it want to stay still more.

 

If it's already moving then more weight further away from the pivot will make it want to keep moving more.

 

So I guess that means it would be harder to make it skip but when it did it would likely be a bigger skip.

 

The trick to it all is the fact that the tonarm is heavy compared to the needle, and the suspension of the needle allows it move sufficiently freely without transmitting the viibration to the tonearm.

 

I think this is why Shures are so good for scratching, the suspension is really loose so the needle moves more independantly from the tonearm. This would also explain the ridiculously loud output.

 

One of my Physics lecturers was well into his music so he did a 6 lecture course on Audio Physics coverything everything from instruments to CD players and, rather usefully, turntables. I like the fact that my degree has been bugger all use in the real world except for teaching me how my equipment works

[Wax On]

where's Liam gone anyway?

 

i miss his science, and my futile attempts to understand the majority of it.

[djdiggla]

Turning the weight round and pushing it all the way in adds too much weight IMO,

 

I have it all the way back, so least weight possible with it reversed.

 

 

a ghost told me to do it that way.... serious.