Headshell

A head-shell is a head piece designed to be attached to the end of a turntable's or record player,'s "tone arm" and the cartridge is bolted to it.^[1] Normally, by using a couple of 2.5 mm bolts, it's possible to fit all standard cartridges with 1/2’’ (about 12,5 mm) mount.

Some head-shells are designed to allow variable weights to be attached. For example, the H4-S Stanton Head-shell comes with 2g and 4g screw-in weights. Extra weight can be useful to prevent skipping if the DJ is scratching the record.

H-4 Bayonet Mount

Most of them use a standard H-4 Bayonet Mount, which will fit all S shape tonearms. The bayonet has a standard barrel whose dimensions are 8 mm diameter and 12 mm length, with its four pins connected to the four colour-coded head-shell lead wires.

Headshell lead wires colours

The colour standard for the contact connections are as follows:^[2]

• White: Left channel cartridge positive.
• Blue: Left channel cartridge negative.
• Red: Right channel cartridge positive.
• Green: Right channel cartridge negative.

References

1. The World of DJs and the Turntable Culture. Hal Leonard Corporation. 2003. pp. 61–. ISBN 978-0-634-05833-2.
2. The World of DJs and the Turntable Culture. Hal Leonard Corporation. 2003. pp. 61–. ISBN 978-0-634-05833-2.