I am a clutz - can someone advise re cartridge tags

In a frenzy of cable swapping to identify the cause of a ground hum in my system, I stupidly managed to snap off the end of one of my cartridge tags on my tonearm leads.

Having just had the deck serviced and a new cartridge installed, I'm loathe to take the arm off the deck to fix this or to move the deck, and was wondering whether it's possible to solder on new tags with the arm and cart in situ?

Obviously the utmost care would be needed to avoid damage to other bits, so I was wondering if anyone can offer any pointers as to whether this can be done, and, if so, how best to do it?

Cheers...

 

What Tonearm are you using. If it is a Linn item then the wire Cartridge tag ends can be replaced with new items, either from Linn, or there is a guy selling tag ends on e-bay right now. I believe that musonic also sell tag ends made by Nagaoka and they are quite affordable. All of these ones consist of a connector at each end that is usually crimped , along with about 2inches of coloured wire.
If it is the small individual connector/metal bit that you are refering to then i bought some off a guy who advertises in HFW Magazine. He sold two different models each made by Cardas. The set that i bought where about £5 for 4, there is also a fancy model that goes for £45 for 4 !

You could also try to carefully strip the wire off the broken connector a resolder your broken connector back on, quite a easy if you are careful, I have had to do this in the past You will definately need to tin the end of the wire and the connector, all you need to do then is offer the two up together and apply a little heat. I find that the best way to do this type of delicate work is to use a small block of wood to hold the connector ( drill a small 2mm hole to hold the connector), then manipulate the wire so that the end of the wire rests against the connector naturally without having to be held there. when you apply the heat there will be less chance of the joint moving before it's cooled.

 

Thanks for the response, Sid.

The tonearm is a Syrinx PU3 and doesn't have tags in the same style as Linn arms, so no easy swap out unfortunately. I've actually got a new set of tags now ready for soldering - I'll see how I get on with doing just the one I broke and then, depending on the success, will probably take the opportunity to replace them all for consistency. I mentioned to you before about the earthing problem I had, I think, and will try to keep the tags the same to prevent this problem reappearing.

At some point in the future I'm going to send the Syrinx off for an Incognito rewire but, in the meantime, many thanks for the advice re making a wooden jig for soldering purposes - that may well come in handy.

Cheers,

Goomer.