Jumping on the bandwagon....sorta....SME 3009 R

Tirebiter

Well-Known Member
Jan 10, 2018
117
74
135
Golden CO
I have been keeping my eyes peeled for a SME 3012 R and ran across a 3009 R for all of $200. Yeah, I know, I would much rather have had a 12 but for only 0.2 units, I couldn't pass it up.

Cosmetically a 9/10 and really does not appear to have been used. However, someone had decided to rewire the arm and looks to have pretty well botched the job. It was a full tonearm/phono cable retrofit so the original RCA or DIN plugs had been discarded in favor of a 1.5m phono cable. The female headshell plug on the end of the tonearm was bizarrely amiss; the plastic holder for the contact pins/springs had been pushed back in the aluminum housing about 1/8", far enough that the headshell pins could no longer make contact. Because the headshell was brand new, I suspect someone had attempted to mount a non SME headshell to the arm and cranked down hard enough to push the plastic contact pod rearward. Thus the bargain price.

So after finding the problem, I managed to reseat the plastic contact pod with a judicious use of force that did not require a hammer or duct tape. Mounting the headshell to the plug revealed that proper contact had been restored, though I am a bit leery of the fact that a couple of the sprung contact pins hang up a bit when the headshell is removed (are those puppies made out of gold? They seem to be very soft). With that in mind I did a continuity check on all four wires and three indicated a resistance of about 0.7 ohm and the fourth, 2.2 ohm. Even without the headshell attached the resistance is 2.2 ohm so so the issue is downstream. So it looks to me like I will be completely rewiring the arm. Should I forgo the current tonearm/phono cable setup or go back to a DIN plug?

Other noteworthy items include the knife bearing, the nylon bearing has been replaced with a bronze one...not sure that is a good sign and am on the lookout for a nylon replacement, if they can be had these days. Does anyone know of a reliable source?

Also missing are the bits for the anti-skate mechanism, save the adjustment bar attached to the bearing yoke. I am hoping that this is a non issue and I do not have to chase the parts down. What say ye?

Brock
 

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