I thank Thad for a thoughtful review which really “gets” the objectives underlying the design and manufacture of the Stringtheory™ Woody™ tonearms. I set out to design a musical sounding tonearm which would be easy to use, beautiful to look at, and offer every darned improvement I could think of. Also, this is a low production “craftsman” product. It is by its very nature a one man show. Thad seems to understand this.

Regarding Thad’s decision to do listening comparisons between the Woody and a Rega RB250 outfitted with the Pete Riggle VTAF(VTA on the Fly) and Pete Riggle Counterweight for the Common Man (CCM), I can only laud this choice. The Rega outfitted with the VTAF and the CCM is really a giant killer. That said, in our listening room (The Garden of Earthly Delights), we too have found that the Woody smokes the modified and improved Rega. Simply put, the Woody is more musical. Also much easier to use. Also much prettier.

Thads’s decision to do his listening comparisons by recording vinyl to CD and listening with earphones is a brilliant way to remove room effects from the review process. One could carp about getting digitization involved, but my experience has been that vinyl transferred to CD still sounds like vinyl. I learned this when a friend brought me a CD of his test tracks recorded from vinyl through a simple George Wright phono stage using an AR turntable, a Grace 707 tonearm, and a Shure V15 type V cartridge. Wow! What a great CD. Sounds like great vinyl. Listening through headphones may not give a proper impression of the stereo air a tonearm will provide; I will vouch that the Woody does its job in this regard.

Thad did have some reservations:

Regarding the Pete Riggle Anti-skate Measurement System (PRAMS): The PRAMS™ can be compared to the Wally Skater. The PRAMS allows the user to get anti-skate dialed in correctly, for any tonearm. Thad found that I had installed the measurement scale in a manner that calls for the user to view the arm from the rear while precisely dialing in the anti-skate force. This kind of kinked Thad’s back. Hopefully he has recovered. This was an oversight on my part, with origins in the fact that in my listening setup, it is easier to work from the rear of the table than from the front of the table. This is easily solved, however, by a 180 degree rotation of the block which holds the scale, loosening the screw of the clamp which holds the scale in place, reversing the end from which the scale is clamped, and snugging the screw back down. Takes longer to find a small straight blade screwdriver than to make the changeover. Based on Thad’s experience, I am now shipping the PRAMS set up for viewing from the front, and mentioning in the owner’s manual the possibility of reversing the setup.

I mentioned to Thad that I would probably sell the PRAMS on my website for $99.99. Thad observed that this is quite a bit for something as simple as the PRAMS (even though Wally gets $150 for his prettier lucite version). Yep, the PRAMS is kind of Tinker Toy in construction, allowing me to include it with the Woody at no extra charge. I have not yet put the PRAMS up for sale separately (although I will fill an order at a buyers request), but have decided to go with Thad’s gut reaction. When I do list the PRAMS it will be priced at $50 U.S. Truthfully it takes more than $50 of labor to build it, put it in a box with the instructions, and do a round trip to the post office.

Thad also mentioned that the tonearm hold-down system requires a little getting used to after using the very effective system provided with Rega tonearms. This had never occurred to me, because I started stowing the arm in the most direct manner when I devised the hold-down system, and never looked back. I think the user will find it easy enough to get used to.

This brings up the typical dilemma of the designer. When you choose to do one thing in a design, it precludes the doing of other things. Example: The Woody is designed to have continuous conductors from the cartridge clips to the RCA plugs. It would be nice to be able to use one’s own stash of cables to seek out the most synergy in the system. Unfortunately this would eliminate the virtue of continuous tone arm wires. One can, however put cables in series with the Woody cables for tone control purposes. I’ve done it and it works. It does require female/female adaptors.

Now, Back to the arm wand hold-down system of the Woody. This was a dilemma for me. I had to have something that would not mar the French polish finish of the arm wand, or obstruct the users view of the arm wand. What I came up with is a magnet set into a hole in the wood arm rest block. The magnet attracts a formed chrome plated steel wire target, said target screwed to the bottom of the arm wand with a tiny brass screw. The design holds the arm wand down reasonably securely, and it won’t mar the arm wand finish, or clutter the appearance. I’d like the hold down system to be even more secure, but it surely is better than the complete absence of hold-down provided by arms like those of Thomas Schick and Nottingham Analogue.

Now, finally, Thad’s question about whether the manufacturer of the Woody will decide to close shop and do something else. This happens eventually to all manufacturers. You just can’t buy original manufacturer’s parts for your old Nash automobile or Graf Zeppelin. That said, the Woody is virtually indestructible except for the arm wand. And truth be told, a good woodworker could replace the arm wand. As for my closing shop and doing something else . . . not gonna happen. At age 73 I keep getting good reports from my doctor (and my product reviewers). And I’m having a boatload of fun, having become a little old craftsman. In about 20 years, hopefully, someone will have to pry an unfinished Woody tonearm out of my cold dead hands, and I’ll have a smile on my face when they do.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment. I can be reached at: peteriggle@msn.com .

Kind Regards,
Pete Riggle