Note: If your turntable was purchased with a mounting board predrilled for the FT-3, start with section 10.
Drilling the Holes for the
VTA-16 Mounting Base
Equipment needed to mark and drill holes:
2 needles at least 2" long, high-quality metal metric ruler, sharp pencil, tape, scissors, drill or drill press, drill bits -
5/32", 1/2", 3/4", 1 1/2", file.
1. Unfold and flatten template sheet. Cut out arm mounting template and base template along dotted lines. Note
die-cut spindle hole on arm mounting template. Pin-point holes have also been made at pivot point A and index
point B.
2. Place the mounting template on the spindle. When marking the centers of the holes on the tone arm mounting
board, it is important to keep the template taut and parallel to the platter.
3. Rotate template on spindle to find the correct hole drilling location. Although the hole can be located anywhere on
the mounting arc (and still maintain the correct 221.7 mm spindle-to-pivot mounting distance), please take extreme
care to be certain that the counterweight, cue lever, anti-skate platform and fingerlift clear the side and back of the
dust cover. Note that some dust covers slope inward and therefore have less clearance as the height above the
mounting surface increases. Also note that the position of the tone arm on the template is identical to the position
the tone arm will have when mounted. If possible, the template should be positioned in such a way that the arm
tube is parallel to the right edge of the turntable.
Note: If your tone arm mounting board is made of very hard material (i.e., metal), it may be difficult to mark the
mounting board with a needle. In the following steps you may substitute a small drill bit for a needle when marking
the tone arm mounting board.
4. Push a needle through the template at pivot point A. Keeping the needle perpendicular to the template, push the
needle down until it contacts the tone arm mounting board below. Press firmly on the needle to mark the tone arm
mounting board. Keep the needle in place at pivot point A and push a second needle through the template at index
point B. The needle should be kept perpendicular to the template and pushed down until it contacts and marks the
mounting board below. Remove the template from the turntable. With a pencil and straight edge, draw a line
between the two marks that you have made on the mounting board. Also label points A and B. Because the paper's
accuracy can be affected by environmental conditions, double check by using a metal ruler to measure the 221.7
mm distance between the center of the spindle and the needle mark at pivot point A. If adjustment of the position of
point A is necessary, the new A should be placed on (or just beyond) the line that was drawn on the mounting
board. The exact position of index Point B is not critical, so no check measurement is necessary. If the tone arm
mounting board on your turntable is removable then remove it at this time.
5. Now push a needle through the mounting base template at point C. Push the needle down until approximately 1/2"
of the needle protrudes through the bottom of the template. Place the template, with the needle in place, over the
tone arm mounting board. Adjust the position of the template so that the point of the needle seats in the mark for
point A on the mounting board. Hold the needle in place at point A and perpendicular to the surface of the tone arm
mounting board. Slide the template down the shaft of the needle until it contacts the mounting board. Keep the
needle in place while you rotate the template until the index line on the template is aligned with the pencil line that
was drawn on the tone arm mounting board. The template is now in the proper position for marking holes D through
F; it must remain in this position when the holes are marked. Tape may be used to hold the template in the proper
position. With a needle, mark the centers of holes D1, D2, D3, E and E Remove the mounting base template from
the tone arm mounting board. With a pencil, carefully label the marks you have made on the mounting board so that
they correspond with the points on the template that was just removed.
6. Drill three 5/32" holes through the mounting board at points D1, D2 and D3. These holes are intended to be slightly
larger than the bolts that go through them to allow fine adjustment of the mounting base position
7. Drill a 3/4" hole through the mounting board at point E.
8. Drill a 1/2" hole through the mounting board at point E
Summary of Contents for Premier FT-3
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