Fidelity Research FR-7 Repair

letch, you can use your FR-7 as model for all other headshell/carts
combintaitons. But you need an PLASTIC caliper for this purpose.
You measure the stylus distance in your FR-7 (integratded) headshell
and use this distance by other combos (aka adjusting the effective
length). Reg. your Orsonic. I hope you own the AV-101 ; the other
are mediocre because the lack of rigidity (AV-1 and AV-11). 

If you decided to pass on Dr.Feickert protractor you can at least buy Technics Overhang Gauge to make a mark on the side and use it as a template for stylus position. But you have to make sure the length of the cantilever from SS is the same as the original.

You can also buy yourself a Hi-Fi News TEST LP and you will find protractor inside.

"The protractor'', ''an protractor'''or ''whatever protractor''?
The tonearms lengths are 9'', 10'' and 12''. They ''assume''
different effective length. Aka the stylus distance to the pivot.
Letch owns 10'' tonearm (FR-64) while eff. length is 245 mm
for Stevenson and 246 mm for Bearwald. If his FR-7 got the
cantilever with the same length as the original this length can
be used for whatever other carts and headshells. Assuming the
headshell has slots allowing movement of stylus in both
directions. My guess for the cost of an plastic caliper is $10.

@nandric technics overhang gauge cost $7 , look here
Alternative mark for the stylus position (overhang) on the side and you’re done with that. At lest this gauge hold the headshell like a tonearm, look here. I tried it with y FR-7fz and it's fine, the stylus is a few mm behind the mark on the gauge. 

Sorry chak, I see an rubber ring behind the headshell connector
while the higth of this ,uh, cheap instrument, does not allow
lowering of the stylus to the marked position. One need to guess
where the stylus point should be. Together they make at least
2 mm error. So there is then no sense to speak about different
geometries.  But if one use (plastic) caliper with one ''leg'' after
the connector (without rubber ring) and the other on the stylus
point one will get exact effective lenght  and use the obtained
lenght for all other  cart/headshell combos. I adjusted this way
20 of my MC carts in their (separate) headshells . Checking with
my Mint tractor made for my SP10 /FR-64 S (Bearwald) confirmed
the results. Changing carts can then be done in 5 minutes time.

I don't use any rubber rings and the pictures provided above are from the internet to display a $7 the plastic overhang gauge to the OP.  

So dear chakster, You can sell your Feickert  and buy one plastic
caliper which you can use for all your carts/headshell combinaions.
The only thing you need to separte are your tonearms and headshlls
which you use with them. 

I'm not getting the Feickert because my buddy has a protractor. I'll never use another cartridge again. I don't never know where the Orsonic is at this point. My plan is to install the FR-7 and hope it lasts forever. Well, maybe next year I'll buy an FR-7fz. That way I'll have two FR cartridges in the house. Just in case. 

I'll have to check but I think I have an overhang tool around here. Thanks! I'll look at calipers.

Dear lech, your ''info'' is confusing: ''all the carts which I used with
Orsonic'' clearly suggest more than one cart. Well you  don't
need the  caliper for only one cart (FR-7). Caliper is for ''copy'' of
one good adjusted cart. The eff. lenght (distance pivot -stylus tip)
 can be repeated by other carts. 

I own other cartridges. I will never use these cartridges. They were a stopgap because my Fidelity Research was damaged. They were failures in comparison. It’s like I bought a Yugo to get me to work after I crashed my Bentley. Now that the Bentley is fixed, I will no longer drive the Yugo. So, the Orsonic becomes a relic as well. If I find it, I’ll likely sell it along with the other cartridge. Which will remain nameless. I've never setup my own cartridge before so this will be an interesting learning experience.

So dear chakster, You can sell your Feickert and buy one plastic
caliper which you can use for all your carts/headshell combinaions.
The only thing you need to separte are your tonearms and headshlls
which you use with them.

Bad idea. I have about 10 different tonearms and about 20+ different cartridges. Feickert NG is precise tool for every turntable, cartridge and tonearm. I prefer to use universal devices and actually i paid fair price for my Dr. Feickert (well worth the investment). As i said earlier i use all geometries/alignments according to tonearm manufacturers specs (Baerwald for many tonearms and Stevenson for some of them). 

I have no idea what is "plastic caliper" ?

I have Technics overhang gauges (about 10 of them at least) as a cartridge/headshell holders (here is my cartridge with it), but for my technics turntables and technics tonearms this gauge is fine for quick adjustment. The reason is that technics tonearm on SL1210mkII (and modern SL1200G series) is not exactly Stevenson (and for this reason i use manufacturer's device, that plastic overhang gauge), but i can re-aligh with Feickert to Stevenson, Baerwald, Lofgren. 

  

 I'm not getting the Feickert because my buddy has a protractor. My plan is to install the FR-7 and hope it lasts forever.

Then all you need is correct Pivot to Spindle distance according to the FR template. 

Try google for ''plastic caliper''. Those are even cheaper than
I thougth. 

Oh, i see 

Dear chakster, the sense of caliper is to use it as ''marked
distance'' of the stylus in its headschell . This assumes many
cartridges and headshells so by changing carts and headshells
one need not to use his tractor but the caliper instead. Much
faster and much less boring then aiming the stylus on the tractor
lines or points. You can then keep pre-adjusted headshells for
respective tonearms ''ready to use''. I have 20 pre-adjsusted
headshells for my FR-64 S. So I can change those carts in 5
 minutes time

So my cartridge is back. But I'm packing up to leave town for two weeks. Guess it will have to wait. By the way, have you guys seen this protractor:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fidelity-Research-FR-64-FR-64S-FR-64FX-Tonearm-Cartridge-Alignment-Protractor/112951972531?hash=item1a4c7652b3:g:JlIAAOSwO8pb~XTF