When I worked at a Linn dealer, Ivor Tiefenbrun himself was visiting our store, and used a match striker to clean the stylus. When we questioned him about it, he said it was the best way to clean a stylus, as long as you knew it was a well made one, and you know since it was a Linn cartridge, he knew it was a well made one. I used a match striker to clean my Linn Karma stylus for years thereafter, and found great results with no damage, even though the thought of it is a little frightening. If you use a paper matchbook striker, remove the staple first, because the staple can hook the stylus and rip it off or bend the cantilever. Just lightly stroke the stylus forward once or twice on each side on 45 degree angles to remove residue from the contact areas. That's it.
