"Phil Allison" wrote in message
...

"Arfa Daily"
Anyone come across a tonearm with a single pivot point rather than the
normal four pivot gimbal ? I have a Thorens TD160 Mk II on the bench
that has come in to have the owner's 'soldered with a hot poker'
cartridge connections corrected. It appears not to be the original
tonearm that's fitted, which was a standard fully mounted type according
to the user and service manuals. This arm is a slim black skeleton, and
it just seems to rest on a single spike sticking up from the mounting
plate. If it wasn't for the wires, you'd be able to lift it right off the
deck. There is a fishing line-hung LBC weight on the left, and the
tracking counterbalance weight, as well as being adjustable fore and aft
to set the tracking force, is also mounted eccentrically, so that it can
be rotated to negate any off-axis force, such as from the LBC weight,
which would try to rotate the arm about its long axis.

I have never seen a single bearing arm like this before, and it doesn't
have any name on it at all. Anyone know what it is ?


** You have described a black version of one of these - a " Formula 4"

http://soundup.ru/images/stories/arc...-tonearm-2.jpg

http://soundup.ru/index.php?option=c...s&directory=15

Sold under various brands names in the 1970s.

The pivot is oil damped and they are fiddly to set up and use - but the
performance was second to none, particularly with a Shure V15 mk3 or mk4
up front.

Not all examples had the sliding weight in the middle.


... Phil


Not exact, but fairly similar. There appears to be no facility for any oil
damping anywhere. The arm appears to sit very simply on a spike sticking up
from the mount. A bit like the kid's playground 'witch's hat' type
roundabout. The one in those pictures looks rather more 'robust' than this
thing. With it set up to be as level as you can see, it seems to work well.
It is indeed fitted with a Sure cartridge.

Arfa