[glrickaby]

The headshell connection is the weak point of most 1200 series Duals. It's
also a two wire system split into 2 strands at the Mute switch with really
a hair wire connection. The Headshell plate is removable. Cut all wires but
the ground and put it back. Pull 4 wires through the tone arm threading
from underneath. I used a banjo string to pull the wire through the tone
arm. Solder regular cartridge connectors on the wire end pulled through.
The cartridge carrier becomes a "dummy" so remove or cut its wires off.
Connect the wires directly to the cartridge which is mounted on the
carrier "dummy" in the normal fashion. Bend the wires ala "Rega" as
they will now protrude outside the headshell. Underneath, solder the
wires per the wiring diagram from the service manual to the Mute
switch with Red and White on one side and the grounds on the other.
If you prefer, the Mute Switch can be bypassed and the wires then
connected directly to the RCA post. Balance the tone arm, start it
up and be astounded by the sound improvement which puts this
Dual on a whole other level! I used a 5th ground wire to the pad in
the tone arm and grounded the other end at the muting switch.
It may be necessary to partially disassemble the bottom of the
tonearm if you have problems threading the new wire through.
I used tweezer clamps to the end of the underneath wires to
test everything before solder. The original wire on the 1229 is
pretty anemic and really needs replacing. Soldering skill is needed
and if you take your time, the end result will be a Rega type
tonearm head where you simply mount a new cartridge in the
dummy carrier (like before) but hook the new wires directly to
the headshell. Only change in external appearance is the sticking
out wire loop from the headshell which obviously needs to be
bent sideways for clearance so there is room for the cartridge
to ride the record without interference. Any 1200 Series with
a detachable headshell carrier should work the same. I used a
cartridge harness bought on Ebay but if you want to use Cardas
wire, the results should be similar. Skin the wire by using heat
from your soldering iron pressed against the wire laying (in my
case) on a piece of ceramic used to put underneath glasses
or cups.

[neobop]

Hi GL,
Very cool.

Do you play the banjo?

neo

[orthobiz]

Can you post pics?

Paul

[glrickaby]

Neobop- Neo, I don't play the Banjo but can loan you a string if you need to
rewire a tonearm. These are very ancient B.Strings so I would need it back
and would caution you not to bend the string!

Orthobiz- Don't know how to post pictures....Only appearance change is
some wires are now looped out of the headshell like on a Rega etc.,or
any fixed shell tonearm with wires sticking out the side.

[neobop]

I'm not 100% decided yet, but I think on my next rewire, I'm going external. This on on a Sonus Formula IV. The reason is to fill up the arm tube with expanding foam. It seems too flimsy, although I had great results in the past with some high compliance carts. I already rewired the arm but the ground came loose and now it hums. The main complication is that the lifter platform broke and now I've lost the damn thing. I guess that's why I've been putting it off. Tedious work, but great potential.

I'm not sure what the space is like on your Dual, but Cardas might not be the best choice. It's stiffer than some others and could put resistance on horizontal movement. It might be better for heavier arms and ones where it's not forced around tight corners. I found some stuff from Parts Connection that's nice - 5 strands of 34ga, sold by the meter. It's good sounding LC copper and the shield turns into flux when you solder so you don't have to strip it.
http://www.partsconnexion.com/accessories_1877.html

I'll have to get some more. 1.5m should be enough to go from cart to pre without interruption. There is a type of Cardas though, that has all the wires bundled inside a shielded jacket. This is nice if you want your single run to preamp, shielded outside of the arm.
neo

[glrickaby]

A.J.Van den Hul's web site has 21 pages for "Frequently asked questions
about Phono cartridges" or "Everything you always wanted to know about
phono replay but were afraid to ask".. its at: http://www.vandenhull.com/
artpap/phono_faq.htm
One section of this encyclopedia like tome deals with rewiring a tonearm by
wrapping the cable in spirals around the tube and simply coming off the back
directly to the preamp. He sees no sense in threading wires through the arm.
He also advocates considerable height adjustment on the arm pivit like in the
6 mm range. I find his ideas quite interesting and detailed and suggest any
audiophile can benefit from this 21 page article. One problem of course, in
wiring around the outside of the tonearm in a spiral loop is it looks like H..!