Big cartridge screws?

Soundsmith's EZ-Mount?

http://www.sound-smith.com/screwset/index.html

Why would you adjust your cartridge screws, by hand or otherwise?

Once overhang and zenith angle are correct, they are snugged down and need not be touched again until you change cartridges.

Great question Doug - unless you are constantly adjusting things like VTF, it is one and done.

Pops
What's VTF got to do with adjusting cartridge screws ?

It really depends on what cartridge your mounting and if your trying to add extra mass with the soundsmith's. I needed a few extra grams to get my resonate freq right so I used their brass screws and they did the trick.

Also since my cartridge also needed a nut on the bottom side, aka they dont screw right into the cart, those screws prevent you from having to have fumble around with a little screw driver while balancing the nut, which is nice.

@sunnyboy, when you increase VTF for example, the stylus may ride lower due to added weight causing the overhang to increase in length requiring a cartridge in the headshell adjustment.

Pops
Absolutely correct, every time you change one parameter it effects everything else. I set VTF after all other adjustments are made ie the cart is aligned with a MintLP. I only adjust the cart screws to get the overhang and align the cantilever with the protractor and then tighten the cart screws and I am done. Last of all set the VTF. If you using shims in the head shell to adjust VTA the cart screws might come into play, OTW, adjusting cart screws has IMO little to do with VTF or even VTA.
YMMV
Cheers

Agree these are useful to add some mass at the headshell.

Once I have a cart properly aligned and dialed in, the range of VTF tweaking it needs (and I tweak VTF almost daily) is not enough to make realignment necessary. My VTF tweaks are rarely more than a few thousandths of a gram.

YMMV, as Sunnyboy said!

thank-you everyone. I guess soundsmith's site just makes it hard to find them. This is what I wanted. It is much easier to hold the cartridge in place and tighten it with my hand than to hold a screwdriver in place and turn.

Needle Doctor sells the Soundsmith EZ-mount for $40.

Caution....many cartridges have tapped connections which require you to use their supplied screws....otherwise you"re screwed

Maybe I got a bad batch but I bought a set of those Soundsmith EZ mounts from a retailer and only one set of the four weighed what the specs said they should weigh. The others were all higher than the stated weight and two of those sets were nearly identical.