Thanks, Whitespider. I want to be sure I'm understanding you correctly. When you say "the attachment points of the thread to the paddle," do you mean the screws that the threads are attached to or the small hole through which the thread passes before going up to the antiskate bars and the azimuth knob?
Right now, with the stylus in the lead-in groove, looking down from above (standing behind the turntable), the threads themselves (and the large holes in the paddle) are parallel with the antiskate bars and the gantry arms, and the screws the threads are attached to are at 1:00 and 7:00.
When I let the tonearm fall, it drifts toward the spindle, both when there is minimum antiskating and when a moderate amount of antiskate is applied. It sounds like I might have to get messy and twist the paddle, yes?