First of all, Sumiko does not do repairs on cartridges. Once the warranty is up, the best they can do is give a discount on a new one. My current cost would be $900.00 and return my old cartridge. I am not going to spend another dime on a cartridge that is so vulnerable with it's "open body" style. A retip with Soundsmith would cost over $300.00 and quite frankly, this cartridge is not worth further investment; and "What on Earth does that mean?" Well Doug, since you asked so nicely...
I didn't feel the need to go into great detail but here's what what happened. I always use a magnifying visor to do any detail work. I was looking at the stylus as I carefully
cleaned it and noticed what looked like a small hair clinging to the cartridge body. I used some tweezers to touch it and possibly remove it. Immediately, both channels went out on the cartridge. That's all it took. I did a forum search and read several similar accounts of others having the exact same kind of experience with a Blackbird. It wasn't a "hair" or any other foreign body. It was a wire that appeared after using the cartridge for a couple of years. Despite your opinion, I can be honest and list it as "not working" and still get something for it. It can possibly be retipped or used as trade for a discount on a new BB.
I didn't feel the need to go into great detail but here's what what happened. I always use a magnifying visor to do any detail work. I was looking at the stylus as I carefully
cleaned it and noticed what looked like a small hair clinging to the cartridge body. I used some tweezers to touch it and possibly remove it. Immediately, both channels went out on the cartridge. That's all it took. I did a forum search and read several similar accounts of others having the exact same kind of experience with a Blackbird. It wasn't a "hair" or any other foreign body. It was a wire that appeared after using the cartridge for a couple of years. Despite your opinion, I can be honest and list it as "not working" and still get something for it. It can possibly be retipped or used as trade for a discount on a new BB.