Transco Lacquers and Styli

[chenry57]

It seems we all have a problem with styli. Maybe the answer is having a more rigorous QC setup, and charging more for them. I'd gladly pay more for styli & have them be good quality. I end up having to buy 2 or 3 before getting a good one anyways.

[Greg Reierson]

I just got three new Transco styli and they are all bad. The one I've been cutting with has a ton of hours on it and I wanted to see if a new one would be any better. Nope. The bottom of the groove is really strange on each of them. Put the old one back in and it still sounds great.

OTOH, all of the Apollo lacquers have been working great.

[opcode66]

Lot numbers?

[Greg Reierson]

I'll post them when I get back to the studio on Monday. Then I'm calling Apollo

And, to be fair, they have always been good about replacing bad product.

[Greg Reierson]

The bad Transco styli are A3543, 44 and 45. Anyone else have styli in that range?

[dietrich10]

Still hit or miss with the 320M styli with the streaks and not 100% quiet.
Luckily I have a stash of lightly used 320s from when I started. I would be so hyper critical in the beginning that I thought I was losing high end on a stylus translation and would stop using even if no real issues. Popped one on just now and its great

[concretecowboy71]

Switched to Adamant last year and just had a run of awful styli. The last one was numbered NS13-18. Complete garbage, no high end, center groove NOT centered. Switched back to Transco 320k. #3607. Best looking cut I have had in a month. Much less streaking.

[chenry57]

I finally decided to pop out my previous transco stylus. It was still cutting fine, but I felt guilty for having it on there so long. After the frustrations of throwing on 3 new horrible styli I just threw the used one back on. So it goes. Hopefully the replacements I get are better.

[concretecowboy71]

Latest Bad Stylius.

Transco A3609. Shank deeply gouged and glue all over shank.

[Greg Reierson]

3607 is good and 3609 is bad? Crap shoot?

There is such a lag time between manufacture, purchase and installation that it's got to be very hard for Apollo to stay ahead of this. I wonder how much QC they actually do.

I found another Trasco from about 6 months ago (no batch number) and it is perfect. Maybe it'll last forever...

[Phinster]

I hear ya! Put an old 320 in with 20 hrs on it, (which still looked ok when I changed it)

Looks better than a new (A 3469) !! You're right, it is a crapshoot. Trouble is I'm running out of used ones!

They ain't cheap either...

[jjgolden]

For the money we pay, they should all be perfect.

[concretecowboy71]

Yes, two serial numbers apart and one was a piece of junk.

Wish I would have saved more from when I got started.

[dietrich10]

I have some used 320s from 70s or 80s here too. maybe i need try em!

[jjgolden]

Dietrich,

You should check em out, there's a good chance you'll be amazed.

[Phinster]

Is everyone here who commented using Apollo's? Any Transco users? Just wondering if Apollo's look any better,since they are slightly softer.

[opcode66]

They dont. I'm about to retun a lot of 5 I purchased. All have issues.

[petermontg]

I recently returned a box of Transco lacquers. All had little dips on lacquer surface.

[dietrich10]

thought my supply of 4 new 320m would be ok.... but none good. digging thru old ones as i await word from apollo.
high and dry!

[jjgolden]

On a happier note,
I've got one now that looks and sounds great at 19.7hrs.
It was rough at first, but cleaned up after around 4hours.
320 - A3366