Magic Needle Maple Grove is a place that is filled with wonder and enchantment. Located deep within a dense forest, this hidden gem is known for its magnificent maple trees that are said to possess magical properties. Legend has it that these trees are imbued with an otherworldly energy that can grant wishes and bring about incredible transformations. As one enters the grove, they are immediately struck by the beauty and vibrancy of the surroundings. The trees stand tall and proud, their branches reaching for the heavens. The leaves, a stunning array of fiery oranges, reds, and yellows, create a mesmerizing carpet that seems to glow from within.
The leaves, a stunning array of fiery oranges, reds, and yellows, create a mesmerizing carpet that seems to glow from within. It's as if the entire grove is ablaze with autumnal splendor all year round. But it is not just the visual spectacle that makes Magic Needle Maple Grove so special.
Groove Tickler: The Needle and the Damage Done
Words and photo above by Rafe Arnott, all other photos courtesy of Joseph Long except where noted.
A calling in life does not always ring clearly through time and space, it is not always audible to the intended recipient. Most people struggle trying on jobs or careers which turn out to be a poor fit for their unique dimensions. Joseph Long followed a circuitous employment path seesawing from musician to auto mechanic, and points between, before finding himself behind a high-powered microscope intuiting the needle and the damage done to phono cartridges. Long runs Groove Tickler, a high-end, bespoke moving coil and moving magnet phono cartridge repair business located in New England.
If you, like me, ever wondered what dark arts were employed in the repair of the microscopic (and somehow inherently magical) internals of phono cartridges, then you'll be pleased to know this interview strives to answer many questions surrounding the fascinating, and little-known machinations of those involved in this storied tradition. The resurrection of what should be considered the most important device in the chain of vinyl playback – that point of connection to the analog waveform embedded in the surface of an LP – is, in my estimation, a noble pursuit. Especially in the disposable, and musically ephermeral society we live in today. Often discarded when considered to be broken, the fact that these devices of jeweled, and delicate construction could be offerred the chance at bringing life to music again is a story worth telling.
Photo below: Joseph Long at work repairing a cartridge.
"I used to joke that I was the opposite of most audiophiles: they present different records to the same cartridge over and over again. I present different cartridges to the same record over and over again."
Resistor Mag: Describe who Joseph Long is, what’s your background? Where are you located?
Joseph Long: “Who am I? The older I get, the harder that is to answer. I’m 52, born in the Midwest, lived in New Orleans for about 12 years and then transplanted to New England. My background is about as eclectic as it gets, as I have tried my hand at so many things. I am or have been a carpenter, architect, barista, pizza delivery driver, janitor, kit drummer, Highland snare drummer, electric bass player, lead singer, film photographer, film camera repairman, watch repairman, auto mechanic, and this is just scratching the surface. I’ve done about all there is to do that was accessible to me at the time and I am always interested in doing something new. I’m also a licensed attorney. Most of it was driven purely by necessity as far as I could tell. When I stumbled into cartridge repair, though, it was a game changer for me. It is something I’m interested in immensely, I’m good at it and the demand is high. It has become something I really look forward to every single day and the adage that when you find something you love, you never work a day in your life – that is something I live now.”
Resistor Mag: How did you end up wandering into the strange landscape of high fidelity?
Joseph Long: “It’s always been there with me. My dad was a big hi-fi guy, still is. When I was a kid, the weekend would come around and my dad would put a stack of records on the changer, power up the Harman-Kardon A220 driving the 12” full range EV Wolverines and it would be music all day while he barbecued outside. I didn’t think of it as hi-fi or audiophilia. It was just music. Always vinyl. My dad still runs that amp but the console with the EVs is long gone.”
Resistor Mag: Describe what Groove Tickler is and how it started.
Joseph Long: “Groove Tickler to me is just a playful attempt at honoring the tongue-in-cheek sexual innuendo in branding of hi-fi in the golden era of the ‘70s. Plus, I needed a catchy name and it just popped into my head. Most people love it. My wife is the only one who doesn’t like it, of course. I started on AudioKarma (AK) as “Needlestein,” long before I actually repaired any cartridges. At the time I took it upon myself to collect and review all the aftermarket styli for Pickering and Stanton I could find. People had these wonderful cartridges and were always looking for a recommendation on a good stylus since the originals had dried up after Stanton/Pickering was sold off to Gibson when Walter Stanton retired. I got curious about other cartridges and saw that there were really nice ones on eBay for almost nothing, but they didn’t have a cantilever or diamond. They would be offered for $25 back then and be relisted four or five times before anyone bought them. That was before vinyl came back. So I started buying them, repairing them and talking about them on AK. Soon, people were sending me cartridges – and they were telling people about what I was doing – and then more people were sending me cartridges, and it just kept building from there to the point where I turned to eBay and later, Instagram as GrooveTickler.”
Photos below: Left – Koetsu Urushi Tsugaru receives a new factory Ogura Vital 8/70μm “PM” line contact diamond. The original diamond had broken, the stub of which is seen in the lower left image. Right – Ortofon Quintet Black undergoing a stuck mounting screw extraction and retapping of threaded mount holes. This cartridge also received a new nude Shibata diamond on the original boron cantilever.
Resistor Mag: Are you an LP collector, and if so what’s your collection like?
Joseph Long: “I used to joke that I was the opposite of most audiophiles: they present different records to the same cartridge over and over again. I present different cartridges to the same record over and over again. I still have the first record I ever bought: Christmas with the Chipmunks. I purchased it with gift money in 1977 when I was seven. I found out much later that it was a reprint edition. It’s still a Christmas staple. My collection is varied but probably predictable given my demographic. I collected records of popular music from my teen years and early twenties. The stuff I collected then might as well have been the entire IRS Records catalog and some Nirvana. You hit 30 and you don’t like what’s on the radio anymore and you find jazz. For me, living in New Orleans probably hastened the pace, but I feel like we all get there eventually. In college I was one of two freshman who had a record player. CDs were too expensive, and forget about affording a CD player. There was a great record store when I was a poor student called Record Ron’s. Record Ron’s Too in Uptown on Maple Street was right across the way from me. You could save ten Record Ron’s bags and turn them in for a free record. So I bought all my records one at a time. Most titles were $1, but that was a lot of money for me at the time.”
Resistor Mag: Do you have a preference of genres, or types of albums?
Joseph Long: “I mix it up, but I’m not someone who checks out the deadwax. I splurged for an original mono CL-1355 Kind of Blue and spent about the same amount for an original copy of The Sundays Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. That pretty much sums it up. Before that I was one of the last members of the BMG record club and I’m a charter member of Vinyl Me, Please. Seven-inch 45s, Blue Note mono? Maybe one day. Private pressings? Maybe one day.”
Resistor Mag: Do you have a serious hi-fi problem, or is your setup more modest and laid back?
Joseph Long: “I have taken a lot of equipment in trade for cartridge work from fellow hobbyists who really are well beyond hobby level. I haven’t had time to set it all up. I have a truly awesome system in boxes in my basement. My main system in the house is a 22W Chi-Fi tube amp (Meixing Ming Da MC34-B) that’s been tricked out by a local amp guy. Turntables are Ariston RD80 (a lot like a Linn LP12) with a Grace 707 and Grace F9E, and a Curtis Mathes (Remember them?) KP-430 direct drive rebadged Technics P-Mount that I bought in high school which sports a Pickering XSP/4004 with an original D4000. Preamp is a Bellari Rolls VP-129 and the speakers are BIC Acoustech HT-64 with a BIC Venturi V1220 downward firing sub. My actual LP12 with a Koetsu arm and Koetsu Onyx cartridge is in the basement with the rest of the dream system, awaiting setup. sigh.”
Photos below: Left – 40-year-old Micro Acoustics MA 2002e direct-coupled electret cartridge with new Namiki Micro Ridge diamond in original beryllium cantilever testing over 40dB channel separation and perfect channel balance. Right – Benz Micro with broken boron cantilever before repair.
Resistor Mag: You work on, what is arguably, the most important point of translation in the vinyl playback chain – the pickup, or cartridge. Why this and not amplifiers, speakers or turntables?
Joseph Long: “Cartridges have always fascinated me from the start. When I was three, I broke the needle on my dad’s Pickering. Back then, if you broke a needle, that meant two trips downtown. The first was to order the needle and the next was to pick it up. There was no Amazon. I sometimes feel that, I don’t know, memorable occasion where I messed up the family’s entertainment, combined with the joy I felt when the new needle finally arrived again, put me unconsciously on a path to what I do now. Forums are filled with “Oops!” and “Ouch!” stories. The feeling of breaking the cantilever on a favorite cartridge is really – as far as I can tell – like none other in audio. Perhaps it’s the desire to reach out and say that I can help you see this misfortune as an opportunity to repair or even upgrade for less than replacement costs as my attempt to erase that feeling I had long ago when I broke my dad’s needle. and replace it with the joy I felt when the new needle was installed. When people get their cartridges back, they are often exuberantly elated and relate that back to me. That’s really why I do it, the feedback is awesome.
“Besides that, I had developed skills uniquely suited to cartridge or pickup repair. I had been challenging myself by repairing ever smaller things. Houses to cars to cameras to watches to pickups. There’s a lot of crossover there, too. I make all my own tools and some of them really are basically scaled down automotive tools with which I was familiar for doing similar jobs with cartridge repair. The way I get diamonds out of a cantilever without damage is the same way you get a ball joint out of a control arm. If you’re a mechanic, you know what I mean. The way I wind a coil is the same way you rewind an alternator – just on a miniature level.
“I also knew I had very steady hands from building model cars when I was a kid. I got into hyper detail then. My 1/24th scale cars all had sparkplug wires correctly assigned from cap to plug from a Chilton’s reference manual. They all had battery cables, heater hoses, hose clamps, etc. So I had a lot of techniques and I knew a lot of tools and materials from that world which would work for cartridges. I also have astigmatic myopia (extreme nearsightedness) which sucks for just about everything, but for repairing cartridges, it’s like having a secret super power.
“Why not amps? Too scary, too many parts, too big to store, too heavy to mail. Why not speakers? Too big, too bulky, too awkward, also parts. Why not turntables? Don’t get me started on turntables. Worst thing that ever happened to a cartridge… you have this beautiful, simple, elegant, efficient transducer, but to work it has to be strapped to this godawful contraption. Ugh.”
Resistor Mag: The ability and precision required to repair cartridge stylus must be akin to micro-surgery, could you describe the tools and equipment you need to do the job?
Joseph Long: “I would be happy to, but it would be about the most boring part of the whole interview. Mostly, I use modified tweezers and I rely on a Swiss Army knife more than I’d like to admit. Then there are jigs I make out of brass rod that fit specific cartridges that aid in removing bodies. Good sharp surgical razor blades are a must – I probably go through three a night. My microscope is a Shure SEK-2 that I may also modify a little bit to make it more useful for rebuilding, but I get by with one as-is. All the photos I take are through the SEK-2. I have a couple wide field binocular microscopes made by Bulova. Haven’t had time to set one up. Mostly though, I use eye loupes and watch repair tweezers.”
Resistor Mag: Do you collect rare cartridges? What’s your personal holy grail pickup and why?
Joseph Long: “Well, I collect everything. Many I collect as reference. I know how each cartridge is supposed to sound, and I think having a stock version of just about any cartridge that may come my way for repair is immensely helpful. This is possible for most cartridges, but of course not all. I can’t afford to have every Koetsu just lying around in the shop waiting for the one owner this side of the Mississippi who has a Tiger Eye to send me their cartridge for a new diamond. But for most other cartridges, I usually have one as a reference.
Personal Holy Grail? Changes every day. I’m a huge Stanton and Pickering fan. Norman Pickering is a fascinating guy and personal hero of mine. I can love a Pickering V15 just as easily as a scarce Walter O. Stanton Collector’s Series CS-100. Holy Grail for me would be the Pickering V15 Series II with the DSR-S Stereohedron stylus and gold Dustamatic brush. No one has even heard of this cartridge unless they heard about it from me. I have been lucky enough to find two of them. For the serious audiophiles out there who aren’t interested in Pickering esoterica, I love my Goldring Excel GS. I know reviews were lukewarm, but oh well – I love mine. It does everything right for me and sounds just like a Linn Karma. The Karma gets great reviews, but the Goldring not so much. What? Contradiction in the audio world?“
Resistor Mag: What’s the most difficult type of repair to perform?
Joseph Long: “Usually, repairing a broken tie wire on a moving coil cartridge. This requires a complete tear down. Finding the materials to do this takes determination. I have had to scour the planet to find the tiny gauges of wire to be able to make this repair. Not only do you have to tear the cartridge down to its most basic array of parts, but you have to wind all new coils and then get it back together again and working flawlessly. Audiophiles are tough customers.”
If you, like me, ever wondered what dark arts were employed in the repair of the microscopic (and somehow inherently magical) internals of phono cartridges, then you'll be pleased to know this interview strives to answer many questions surrounding the fascinating, and little-known machinations of those involved in this storied tradition. The resurrection of what should be considered the most important device in the chain of vinyl playback – that point of connection to the analog waveform embedded in the surface of an LP – is, in my estimation, a noble pursuit. Especially in the disposable, and musically ephermeral society we live in today. Often discarded when considered to be broken, the fact that these devices of jeweled, and delicate construction could be offerred the chance at bringing life to music again is a story worth telling.
It is the feeling that permeates the air – a sense of magic and possibility. Many believe that if you listen closely, you can hear the whispers of the trees as they communicate with one another, sharing ancient wisdom and secrets. It is within this sacred space that people come to seek answers, solace, and guidance. The magic of the needles is known to have a profound effect on those who visit. It is said that if you stand beneath a particular tree, close your eyes, and make a heartfelt wish, the tree will listen. And if your intentions are pure, the magic of the needle will guide you towards the realization of your deepest desires. But the magic does not stop there. The maple trees also have the power to transform those who seek their enchantment. It is believed that walking through the grove and breathing in the ethereal air can cleanse the soul, renew the spirit, and heal the body. People come from far and wide to experience this transformative energy, hoping to leave behind their troubles and emerge as a better version of themselves. All who enter Magic Needle Maple Grove are reminded of the interconnectedness of all things. The ancient trees teach us that we are part of a larger universe, bound together by invisible threads. They remind us to be mindful of our actions and thoughts, for they have the power to shape our reality. In this mystical haven, time seems to stand still, allowing visitors to tap into their innermost desires and dreams. Whether it is for love, abundance, health, or happiness, the magic of the needles offers a glimmer of hope to all who dare to believe. Magic Needle Maple Grove is a place of wonder and fascination – a testament to the beauty and power of nature. It is a reminder that within the chaos and uncertainty of the world, there is always a place of solace and magic waiting to be discovered..
Reviews for "The Artistry of Maple: Experiencing Magic Needle's Grove of Inspiration"
1. Jennifer - 2 stars - I recently read "Magic Needle Maple Grove" and I have to say, I was highly disappointed. The story dragged on with unnecessary details and the characters were poorly developed. I found myself struggling to stay interested and ended up skimming through most of the book. The plot felt disjointed and the writing style was choppy. Overall, I would not recommend this book to others.
2. Mark - 1 star - "Magic Needle Maple Grove" was a complete waste of my time. The storyline was predictable and lacked originality. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth. The writing was incredibly dull and lacked any creativity. I couldn't connect with the story or the characters at all. I regret picking up this book and would not recommend it to anyone who wants a compelling and original read.
3. Sarah - 2 stars - I honestly struggled to finish "Magic Needle Maple Grove". The writing was tedious and the story was unengaging. The author failed to create a compelling plot or develop any memorable characters. The pacing was slow, making it difficult to stay invested in the story. Overall, I found this book to be a disappointing read that failed to capture my attention or leave a lasting impression.