Do Tonearms need servicing

If you're not buying junk then you don't need service at all. 

All the best Japanese high-end tonearm from the 70's/80's are just fine without any service, but you must buy a perfect sample from an audiophiles, not a hardly used broken or damaged items. 

It's better to buy a NOS unit or a MINT condition sample. 

I have many vintage tonearms in use, they are all perfect without service. 

I would never buy any used tonearm with some defects related to bearings etc. 

If the bearings are fine then all you need (maybe) is internal rewire, but even this is not always necessary!  
 

 

jorgjean OP49 posts08-30-2020 3:29amWhich parts did you service?

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You can get the pillar block bushing in bronze.
All the rubber bushings are available.
The Anti-skate has a pulley upgrade.
I use brass screws and silicone washers to secure the base.
You can convert the older style SME cable to RCA/Cardus, or any cable you like. I use MITs also.

There are a few things you can do. Locate a breakdown of the Tonearm you're working on. Take good pictures, first. Make sure the parts you want to work on are correct. Have some way to magnify, and provide proper light.

I must warn you, you need a good controlled grip. No coffee drinkin' before you start.. I use my other hand to cradle a lot of the work.

I always work on a desk. BUT I usually put down brown wrapping paper, on the floor. I use white paper on the desk. 

I use a PANA Vice. Take the edges off you're common screwdrivers. Use green painters tape, cover the polished area, you're not working on. DON'T go crazy wrapping tape either. It's fun, do you like repairing watches? Not quit that teckie, but that kind of gentle handedness.

Regards

Probably the best way is to ask SME. Checking the bearings i not a bad idea. Will post the recomendation.

  but you must buy a perfect sample from an audiophiles, not a hardly used broken or damaged items.

shopping in the world if you do not buy NOS you cannot know how it was used by the previous owners who can also indicate that everything is fine and, then arrived home everything ok is not at all, the fault of the seller or the transporter, or different owners clumsy.
I don't have the luck or even the money to buy NOS arms, so when I get them I send them to a trusted laboratory that revises or repairs them for me; if there is no need to do anything because it's perfect I don't pay for the service.
I am happy and the situation is fine with me.

If the arm works to your satisfaction you do not need service on the arm.