Miyajima (and other) Cartridge Installation Question

dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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Do people normally attach the cartridge to the head shell with the nuts up or down? I find with the Miyajima bodies that it is difficult to tighten the screws if the nuts are down since they are hard to hold.

Just wondering what others do.
 

squasher

Well-Known Member
Apr 7, 2016
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I have the nuts mounted on the underside of my Miyajima Madake so that I can tighten the screws from the top.

The nuts that I used were initially on the large size but I modified them (on a grinder) so that they were small enough to fit in the bored out area under the cartridge but large enough that they were held in place as the screws were tightened.
 
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dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
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I have the nuts mounted on the underside of my Miyajima Madake so that I can tighten the screws from the top.

The nuts that I used were initially on the large size but I modified them (on a grinder) so that they were small enough to fit in the bored out area under the cartridge but large enough that they were held in place as the screws were tightened.

How do you keep the nuts from spinning when you tighten the screws? That’s the part that I find difficult.
 

squasher

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Apr 7, 2016
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How do you keep the nuts from spinning when you tighten the screws? That’s the part that I find difficult.

The answer lies in the way that I modified the nuts on the grinder. I’ll post pictures later today when I can...
 

squasher

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Apr 7, 2016
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Hopefully, the attached pictures are good enough to show that the nuts on the right were slightly modified (on a grinder) to fit in the bored holes of the cartridge but were large enough that they don’t spin when they are engaged with the screws.

The screws on the left were the originals that came with my Madake. Note how they are smaller than the ones I modified.
 

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dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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Thanks for posting the pics. I am not able to do what you have done but I get the concept.
 

squasher

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Apr 7, 2016
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I am not able to do what you have done but I get the concept.

I assume you are saying this because you don't have a grinder.

You could easily accomplish the modification to the nuts with some sandpaper and vice grips (or pliers). It would probably work better than a grinder since you'll have finer control over the amount of material removed from the nuts.
 

dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
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I assume you are saying this because you don't have a grinder.

You could easily accomplish the modification to the nuts with some sandpaper and vice grips (or pliers). It would probably work better than a grinder since you'll have finer control over the amount of material removed from the nuts.

That's correct, I don't have a grinder. I do have sandpaper and some files. Let me look into this. Certainly what you did is a perfect solution.
 

astrotoy

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May 24, 2010
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I just checked my Zero and it looks like the screws go directly into the body. My set up guy did the mounting and alligning, so I don't exactly know what or how he did it.

Larry
 

jjaudio

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2017
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Bay Area,CA
www.jjaudiosolutions.com
Do people normally attach the cartridge to the head shell with the nuts up or down? I find with the Miyajima bodies that it is difficult to tighten the screws if the nuts are down since they are hard to hold.

Just wondering what others do.
Hope you have found the solution. Innovative way suggested by Squasher. I have mounted mine with nuts on bottom also. However I think my nuts were smaller so I did not have to grind them.

Mathew
 

dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
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Hope you have found the solution. Innovative way suggested by Squasher. I have mounted mine with nuts on bottom also. However I think my nuts were smaller so I did not have to grind them.

Mathew

Thanks for the response. I think it is set pretty well on my arm now. In a couple weeks I will check the setup again and make sure they are 100% secure.
 

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