Do I need an overhang gauge, in addition to a protractor to position cartridge correctly?

Some of you guys I think love word games even more than audio. One of the main things that makes turntables mysterious and difficult is all these silly little debates that it seems the world revolves around to you, but to any normal guy its nothing. Overhang is just like that. Technically yeah your spindle ref is more correct. To the average guy setting up a turntable it sure looks to him like he's adjusting the distance the stylus is from the tone arm pivot. Which he is. Exactly.

Same thing with the cantilever/body thing. Yeah I know, look at the cantilever not the body. Even Peter Ledermann says so, and who am I to argue? He's right. Of course. Just one question: who's ever had a cartridge so whack this mattered? 

Actually I lied. Another question. If you set the cartridge down and the cantilever is cock-eyed, how can you be sure its the cantilever and not tone arm stiction causing that? Which if you care to look, golly, the same Peter Ledermann says to watch out for this.
https://sound-smith.com/faq/how-do-i-set-my-cartridges-overhang-adjustment
Stiction. See? 

I could go on and on with these all day. But that's your guys job. Mine is to help guys get set up and enjoying music. Not navel gazing and worrying and spending more on mounting the cartridge than on the cartridge itself. 

Records are by far the best gateway drug into the world of high end audio. More and more people are turning to records because they hear the difference. Even more would if they weren't so held back by it seeming so darn hard to understand.

Why not, instead of making it harder and harder, just give em a hand?

Overhang is the distance from the tip of the stylus to the vertical axis the tone arm pivots on. 

Yamaha manual is saying when pointed straight at the spindle the stylus should be 16mm. So that's your overhang gauge right there.

Overhang is only part of alignment. Usually what people call a protractor is just a template with grid lines that fits over the spindle and lays on the platter. There's free ones you can download and print and use ordinary paper. They work fine. You just make sure to use the right one. To do that measure from the spindle to the same arm pivot point. 

The MoFi GeoDisk is a fancy version of the same thing. This is what I use, because it works great and makes it super easy. Step by step instructions are written right on it. The steps are the same regardless of what cartridge/arm/table or protractor you buy. So take a minute to read them, save yourself some money. https://www.turntablelab.com/products/mobile-fidelity-geo-disc-phono-cartridge-alignment-tool

I have a tip that will save you some stress and make this even easier. Lay a Q-tip crosswise under the cartridge. This can save your cartridge from a fumble.