Other places where to buy lathe parts

[timmy1]

I called westec and when they finally picked up the phone he does not say hello and I say I want to buy a cartridge. I can hear him work in the background and this happens about 4 times very rude so I am looking for a new place to get parts or cartridge rebuilt.

[Jccc]

I feel the same way. I sent him a cutting head a few months ago and he still has not even touched it yet.

Every time i talk to him he gives me the same answer saying " he just finished this rubber job and hes just getting into the cutting heads."

He should have told me that he was backed up before telling me to send it in.

F#&K!

[audadvnc]

I suspect there's more to this story, but still... I wouldn't want that kind of reputation getting around if I were him.

[Jccc]

Never take your cutting heads to Gib over at West tech. I sent him a cutting head 3 months ago and just got it back in pieces saying he could not fix it!

What the hell is his problem! He should at least could have put it back together.

I am never going to him again.

On a side note, is anyone doing cutting head repairs on the west coast? Ive tried to contact len but his email seems to be deactivated.

[Angus McCarthy]

Out of curiosity, what kind of head was it?

[JayDC]

Never take your cutting heads to Gib over at West tech.

I agree..

[Jccc]

Out of curiosity, what kind of head was it?

the head was a fairchild 541a cutting head. I took a look at the coil and just rewound it myself.
I bought 30 gauge wire over at Radioshack and just wired it up with 50 feet of wire. i took my time wrapping the wire around the coil. I then checked the ohms on a multimeter and it reads 6.4

So far it cuts really nice! I just have to boost the highs and turn the bass down a tad bit.

The signal is really well!

[Angus McCarthy]

I'm assuming you'd need to add a 3.5ohm resistor in the circuit to compensate, to protect the amp?

[Jccc]

I did not add a resistor. Do you think i should? I just hooked he head up straight to the amp with a fuse between them to protect the head.

As for the amp i am now using a qsc power amp which has alot of watts to push the head compared to the 5 watt tube amp i was using in the past.

[Angus McCarthy]

If the amp is designed for an 8ohm load, I would consider it.

[Jccc]

Where would i put the resistor? As i am kinda confused.

[Angus McCarthy]

Just wire it in series with the head.

[masterscott1]

I'm assuming you'd need to add a 3.5ohm resistor in the circuit to compensate, to protect the amp?

If it reads 6 something ohms , the ohms it reads on the meter is not the 8 ohms impedance you are looking at , 6 ohms is about right when the system is running the impedance will be about 8 ohms or very close. Its a shame electronics named impedance values and resistor values with ohms , everyone confuses that. You do not need to add any resistance to that load , it would just change voltage to current causing a voltage drop and releasing heat. Your impedance should actually be about perfect right now where you have it . Leave it there is should be fine. Hope this helps you.

[markrob]

I'm assuming you'd need to add a 3.5ohm resistor in the circuit to compensate, to protect the amp?

If it reads 6 something ohms , the ohms it reads on the meter is not the 8 ohms impedance you are looking at , 6 ohms is about right when the system is running the impedance will be about 8 ohms or very close. Its a shame electronics named impedance values and resistor values with ohms , everyone confuses that. You do not need to add any resistance to that load , it would just change voltage to current causing a voltage drop and releasing heat. Your impedance should actually be about perfect right now where you have it . Leave it there is should be fine. Hope this helps you.

Its not a shame that impedance and resistors are both described in ohms. The stated value of a resistor is just its impedance measured at DC (0 hz). That some get confused by this is due to a lack of knowledge. In fact, resistors are not that simple in real life as they do exhibit an impedance curve. For most audio purposes, this is not relevant, buy if you design RF circuits, you do want to take note of the effect.

As far as the series resistor is concerned. The series resistor is not specified for protection. It is used on some heads to adjust the low frequency turnover to match the RIAA curve. The presto 1C and 1D manuals specify this and show curves to indicate the effect of the resistance. Not all heads need this and you could get away without using the Presto heads if you use some external EQ to compensate for the error that leaving it out would introduce. You do throw away some efficiency by adding the resistor, but this is not a big deal.

Mark

[ejemmons]

My dos centavos.... when I was 16, I did the same thing with a 541A, and I recall having hassles with the damping, so perhaps it'd be well to see about replacing the material (rubber?).

Len is very available, and I can personally vouch for the high quality of their work. He really cares. Google "History of Recorded Sound", in Culver City CA. After you have conversation with this Gentleman, you'll be even MORE into whatever flavor of sound recording you prefer, guaranteed!