How to Find and Buy the Right Replacement Stylus or Cartridge for Your Vintage Record Player

Canadian Astatic organizes its replacement stylus catalog by cartridge type (ceramic vs. magnetic) and then by equipment brand, so the fastest path to the correct part is to identify your cartridge family first, then match your turntable's brand in the corresponding list. This works for most vintage record players and consoles, including obscure brands, because the catalog covers dozens of manufacturers. If your exact model isn't listed, you'll need to measure or photograph the old stylus before ordering.

Step 1: Determine whether you have a ceramic or magnetic cartridge

This is the single decision that determines which half of the catalog applies to you. The two families use different stylus shapes and mounting, so a ceramic stylus will not fit a magnetic cartridge body and vice versa.

If you're unsure, the practical test is to look at the cartridge body and the stylus assembly: ceramic styli are often a self-contained plug-in unit, while magnetic styli are typically a smaller replaceable stylus that clips into a cartridge body. When in doubt, the catalog's picture identification pages exist precisely for this check.

Step 2: Match your turntable brand to the stylus list

Once you know the family, narrow by the brand of your record player or turntable. The site maintains separate brand lists for ceramic and magnetic styli, and the two lists are not identical — a brand may appear in one, both, or neither.

Ceramic stylus brands in the catalog include, among many others:

• Admiral, Airline, Arvin, Astatic, Audio Industries, AUE
• B.S.R., Bradford, Brother
• Capitol, CEC, Claritone, Columbia, Coronado, Crown, Curtis Mathes
• Dual, Electro-Voice, Electrohome, Emerson, Euphonics
• Fisher, Fuji-Denki, Garrard, General Electric
• Harmon Kardon, Hitachi, JVC, Magnavox, Mitsubishi, Morse-Electrophonic, Motorola
• Nagaoka, NEC, Olympic, Onkyo, Panasonic, Penncrest, Perpetuum-Ebner, Philco, Philips, Phonola, Piezo, Pilot Radio, Pioneer
• R.C.A., Ronette, Rotel, Sansui, Sanyo, Sears Roebuck, Seeburg, Sharp, Singer-KLH, Sonotone, Sony, Sylvania, Symphonic
• Teledyne, Telefunken, Tetrad, Thompson, Toshiba, Toyoto, Truetone
• Varco-Vaco, V-M, Webcor, Westinghouse, Wurlitzer, Yamaha, Zenith

Magnetic stylus brands in the catalog include, among others:

• Acutex, ADC (Audio Dynamics), Admiral, Airline, Aiwa, Akai, Audio Technica
• Bang & Olufsen, Bradford, Brother
• Capitol, CEC, Clairtone, Coral, Crown
• Denon, Columbia, Dual
• Electrohome, Empire, Excel Sound, Fisher, Fuji Denki, General Electric

Note that some brands (for example, Admiral, Airline, Bradford, Brother, Capitol, CEC, Clairtone, Crown, Dual, Electrohome, Fisher, Fuji-Denki, General Electric) appear in both families. That's why Step 1 comes first — the brand alone doesn't tell you which stylus you need.

Step 3: Confirm the specific stylus with specifications and pictures

Brand and model get you to a short list, not a final answer. Before ordering, use the two verification resources the site provides:

1. Specifications pages — the Ceramic Stylus Specifications and Magnetic Stylus Specifications pages list the technical details of each stylus, so you can confirm the shape and mounting match what's in your player.
2. Picture identification — the Ceramic Stylus Picture Identification page lets you visually compare your old stylus against catalog images. This is the most reliable check when model numbers are worn off or the same brand used multiple stylus types across similar models.

The goal is to confirm three things: the stylus shape, the mounting/clip style, and that the part is listed for your cartridge family.

Step 4: Check the price list and confirm compatibility before buying

The site publishes a Price List page where current pricing is listed. Check it for the specific part number you've identified rather than assuming a price from a similar item.

For older or obscure brands, confirm compatibility explicitly before purchase. The catalog's breadth (covering brands like Toyoto, Varco-Vaco, Morse-Electrophonic, and Penncrest) is the reason it's useful for vintage equipment, but breadth also means similar-looking parts exist across families. If anything about the match is uncertain, verify against the specifications and picture pages first.

If your exact model isn't listed

Not every vintage model will appear by name. When that happens:

• Measure or photograph the old stylus. Remove it carefully and record its dimensions and mounting style, then compare against the specifications and picture identification pages.
• Work from the cartridge, not just the player brand. If the cartridge was replaced at some point, the player's brand may not match the stylus you actually need.
• Contact the supplier. Canadian Astatic describes itself as North America's largest supplier of replacement stylus and replacement cartridges, and it also carries vocal, communication, and CB microphones — so it's positioned to help identify a part that isn't obviously listed.

Quick decision path

• Ceramic cartridge → Ceramic Stylus brand list → specifications + picture ID → price list → order.
• Magnetic cartridge → Magnetic Stylus brand list → specifications + picture ID → price list → order.
• Unknown cartridge type → check the cartridge body and stylus assembly, or use the picture identification pages before choosing a list.
• Model not listed → measure/photograph the old stylus and confirm with the supplier.