16" transcription tone arms

[TotalSonic]

So - I need to source a tonearm compatible with a 16" platter for the Fairchild lathe I just bought - but the older SME and Ortofon tone arms that typically are found with lathes are either unobtanium or out of my budget.

The one relatively affordable options I found are these new Rek-O-Kut ones I found for under $700 at:
http://www.esotericsound.com/ArmsAndHeadshells.htm
(scroll down to info on the "Transcribe" and the S-260 MK II)

and also KAB sells a transcription turntable for less than $600 - so figure they might be able to sell the tonearm alone even cheaper:
http://www.kabusa.com/kabtrs2.htm

Does anyone have any experience with these? Any other ideas in regards to finding a relatively inexpensive solution for this?

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[mossboss]

Steve
This is the lowest cost solution man
Get yourself any tone arm that has a screw type counterweight on it as well as a good double gymbal ballancing arrangement
Remove the tube from the arm after removing the headshell as well as the plastic bit with the four contacts on it
Remove the screw at the other end holding the tube on to the gymbal mechanism by removing the screws holding it together
The fittings are screwed on to the tube the wires are fed through the tube
The tube is only push fit in there
May be 1 or 2 screws holding it in place
Obtain a new tube from any tube seller in your vicinity or through a merchant bend a new arm for it
You can do that quite easily, if you where to fill the straight tube with very fine sand and plug both ends with cork or couple of the right size wooden dowels obtainable from any hardware store used in furniture making making it solid in a way this helps to bend it to shape without kinks
The sand will stop the tube collapsing or getting kinks on it while is getting bend
If you want to do it the way the factory does it they fill it up with molten lead let it cool down than bend it to the desired shape
Once they got the right shape they than reheat the tube and melt the lead out of it
Drill a couple of holes on the right spot and reassemble the fittings on the new tube you may have to extend the wires not a hard task
You than have a 16" arm for about $10 extra than the cost of a decent standard arm
If the counter balance is not heavy enough to take out the weight of the new tube which would be surprising add a bit of lead on the front of it just melt a few fishing sinkers in a mould made out of a bit of wet sand or the same diameter as the counter balance or get a few metal washers glued together with a bit of epoxy
The sme standard arm that come in two versions 12" and 16" is exactly the same apart from a longer tube but they are getting expensive now anyway so any decent standard arm with a tube should be able to be modified as above
Easily done and inexpensive nothing magic about it That is all the manufaturers do any way but due to scarcity of sales they want an arm and a leg for them
If the task is beyond you I am sure that any decent machine shop will be able to handle the job for you It should not take any more than a few hours if all the bits are there and that is only the tube which can be chromed steel or stainless steel the second being preferable
Cheers

[piaptk]

I've got some 16" tonearms from Presto 6ns that I don't use. I've got two audax arms and another one, that might be a GE or something... not sure. Send me a PM with your email and I'll send youi some pics.