EDWARD W SAUNDERS INC

SHURE CARTRIDGE TO STYLUS GUIDE

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE:

It seems as if Shure made hundreds of different cartridges and when the consumer attempts to purchase a replacement stylus, more often than not they are told that it is no longer available.  Let's say that five folks go out one Saturday in 1976 to buy a new cartridge. One goes to Radio Shack and gets a Shure RS8T, another goes to Macys and buys a Shure M101ED.  The next guy happens to be at Sears and picks up a Shure 9758ED on a blister card while right down the street at Olson's they are selling our customer a Shure AM92ED. Our final shopper is in the independent stereo shop on the corner where he selects the Shure M75-ED Type II. They all go home with exactly the same thing. Yes, the numbers are different; so are the packages and, perhaps, even the colors but the base cartridges and, more importantly, the styli are identical.  This was a common practice designed to compel the consumer to buy replacement styli from the same retailer they purchased the cartridge from.

So, we jump ahead to current times and our five folks want to play records again. Well, certainly a new stylus is in order.  Olson's and the shop on the corner are long out of business.  Sears and Macys haven't handled any phono items for ten years or more. Radio Shack actually has the stylus (sort of) but the 20 year old kid, hip-hopping around the store selling cell phones wasn't even born when the Shack sold RS8T's and has no idea, nor does he care, that their catalog number 42-2870 is what you need. A call to Shure with any number other than M75-ED will just evoke a long silence on the other end of the phone.  The reference supplied here will allow you to easily find out the actual Shure (and Pfanstiehl) needle number you require and, in most cases we can supply it for you.

We have based this cross on the Pfanstiehl needle catalog as they had the most comprehensive and correct listing of the private label Shures.  Clicking the link below will spawn a five page PDF document. On the first three pages look up your cartridge number.  The three digit number to the right of the cartridge is the Pfanstiehl needle number, in this case 760. The alpha characters following the three digits denote the stylus jewel specifics. In this case D (diamond) E (elliptical) D (.2 X .7).  

Once you have determined the Pfanstiehl needle number, browse to the pictorial charts on the last two pages to see what the Shure number is.

We see here that our Pfanstiehl 760DED is a Shure N75-ED-II. Here are a couple of tips to consider when resurrecting an old cartridge.  All the needles of a style / shape will fit and function in the cartridge so, if you can't find a Shure N75-ED-II, you can use an N75-EJ, etc.  Also, where Pfanstiehl is concerned, adding a 4 before the needle number gives you the same thing in their generic line. IE: 760-DEJ is a Shure brand N-75-ED-II in a Pfanstiehl package. 4764DEJ is their brand, a 4764DE will work, etc.