Manual Vinyl Turntable Stylus Lifter. Simplest/Cheapest Audio/hi-fi Tool Ever!

There was a time when turntable tonearms tended to be much chunkier than they are now. Fortunately automation or semi-automation was common, so you could routinely play records without worrying about accidentally dropping the arm. However, if your turntable happened to lack this feature or if you wanted to play a track from the middle of a disc you'd have to manually lower the stylus onto the record, which could easily end badly. One traditional way around this was to use a rubber band to lower and raise the stylus into place; the band would provide effective suspension that allowed greater precision and compensated for all but the worst cack-handedness. It wasn't perfect, of course, in that you could easily drop the band onto the record while fumbling with it or end up using your designated band for something else, despite your intention to excuse it from more menial tasks.

The subsequent invention of the cue lever removed the problem to a large extent, but it's still absent from certain turntables. Interestingly, the no-lever list includes both respectable brands such as Dynavector and Orbit and many variants of the cheap Skywin turntable used on low-cost record players. Retrofit levers can be bought, but they can be expensive and in any event can't be fitted to many turntables due to lack of space or other design issues. So, as I happen to own examples of both such turntables, I came up with this enhanced rubber band-based lifting tool that's very cheap and simple to make.

The materials and tools required are minimal.

You'll need a rubber band, first of all. You can try whatever examples(s) come to hand, but I found that one with a diameter of 50mm and a width of 5mm was ideal; you can just cut yours to length if it's too long. The 5mm width is actually quite important as it provides enough grip to get the job done; anything narrower may not have enough of a flat surface area. I considered using a belt (or a section of one) of the kind used in tape recorders and turntables, but didn't have a spare of a suitable size. While I think the contrasting color of an ordinary band gives better visibility (belts are black, as are most records and many headshells), I'll probably try this when a suitable belt turns up. I may even buy one!

The other items you'll need are a toggle and cord stopper of the kind used for drawstrings and elasticated shoelaces. These can be obtained on eBay for next to nothing. You may be thinking of just buying a pair of these laces complete with toggles and using the supplied elastic rather than a rubber band, but its thin, round profile is unlikely to be grippy enough, so I wouldn't recommend it.

By way of tools, you just need a pair of scissors to cut the band and possibly some tweezers and/or a small pointy thing such as a cocktail stick.

This isn't essential, but rather than assembling the device and then deciding you don't get on with it you can just try using the band as it is in the first instance, as shown. This will help you determine whether the band is suitable while also giving you a chance to try out the technique involved, such as it is - you may just end up wondering how you managed previously!

Firstly, drop the rubber band onto a flat surface. If it forms a vaguely cigar-like shape, cut through one end of the cigar to make a stretched-out U. If the result is more like a circle, just cut through it at any point. The reason for this strange ritual is that some examples seem to be manufactured in an elongated shape with pronounced bends at each end, which can produce uneven results if not taken into account; the remaining bend, if there is one, needs to be at the bottom of the loop.

This will leave you with a single length of rubber. Thread both ends through the cord stopper, then clamp them into the toggle, as shown. You may need some tweezers to align the ends in the toggle and/or something to prod the rubber through the holes in the stopper. Assembly complete!

As shown in the introductory photo, this is largely self-explanatory. If your tonearm has a retaining clip in its rest location, unclip it and use the tool to hoist the headshell into position on the lead-in groove or wherever on the disc you need it do be. At the end, simply reverse the process. There's very little skill to this; it'll seem like second nature after two or three uses and the tool is very forgiving, but if in doubt test the procedure on a sacrificial record first.

Make sure that the band is threaded evenly through both holes in the cord stop to ensure that the tension is equal on both sides. The cord stop can be used to adjust the size of the loop at the end - just position it to suit your preference - and it also adds a bit of mass to the band that makes it easier to use accurately. The toggle does what toggles generally do, which is to provide a firm and positive grip on the implement.

One final refinement (which I've yet to get around to) might be to attach a small self-adhesive hook in a discreet location on your equipment where you can hang the tool between uses to stop it wandering off.

I've been very happy with the way this little item does its job, so if you make one I hope you're equally pleased!