Brand New Vinyl Static and Pops

I have never seen a cartridge that came with a written spec for anti-skate. And I doubt AS has anything to do with the JJ problem of ticks and pops. Of course if he’s applying way too much AS, that’s a problem per se.

Zerostat is not a record cleaner. The trick is to clean an LP before play without charging it up or to disperse the charge after cleaning.Zerostat helps in the latter case.

The question was not whether the stylus was intact but whether the body of the cartridge is contacting the surface of the LP. If you can see debris on the tip of the stylus (probably shouldn't call it a needle), then your LP is grossly dirty OR you've got a very dusty environment maybe augmented by static charge. But first, does the body of the cartridge contact the LP at any time in the course of play?

Is the cartridge body touching the LP when you hear "flubbing"?  Which is what I asked earlier. If yes, then yes there may be a problem with your new blue stylus. Its suspension may have collapsed.  This could be because it was defective from new or because you have set VTF much too high or even because of a big error in setting VTA.  But the first thing is to observe whether the cartridge body is intermittently touching the LP surface.

"Flubbing" does sound like something other than static electricity problem. Look very carefully for things that may be touching each other that normally should not be touching.  Best to get a knowledgeable friend to visit your home and take a look. These sorts of oddball problems are sometimes impossible to solve from afar. Is the cartridge bottoming out against the surface of the LP?  In that case, yes, you need either a new cartridge or a new stylus assembly if your cartridge has replaceable stylus.  But check your VTF else you will ruin even a new cartridge or stylus assembly, if VTF is too high.

JJ, Are you saying that you have other older LPs that play perfectly routinely without ticks and pops?  Because your problem seems typical for static electricity in your environment.  What steps do you take to reduce static electric charge on your LPs just before playing?

What about you, Abner?

Start with static electricity in your environment.

What are the odds? Either all your new LPs are flawed or you have a local problem with your system.  I'd go with the latter. Figure it out.