Once in awhile, a unique situation arises and a guy just has to go the extra mile to get things right. I think that is an Audio by Van Alstine trait, that has made this company very successful after 40+ years.
A special customer came to my house to have a Grado Gold1 Longhorn installed and aligned on his very spendy Basis 1200? turntable. This is the first time I had worked on a unipivot too, so it was interesting doing the alignment, until I got used to the tonearm behavior.
Anyway, he liked to use a record weight/clamp and with the Longhorn, there was a problem. I'm sure it would not cause any damage, but the Longhorn did touch the weight in the clean-out groove. Well, I didn't know he used a weight, so when it came out, to listen to the install, I went....oops.
He really wanted a weight, so I called a friend of mine and we made him one.
I simply made a paper template to find the radius I needed for clearance, and that determined the diameter, then I wanted it under a pound, so that created the height. A little relief for a circular handle and some knurling finished off the aluminum weight.
Fun making stuff once in awhile.
Wayner
