Not to reply to my own message, but I was able to adjust it with an allen key,
through a small slot... not too fun, and to top it off, the grado is lighter
than the table is designed for (i.e. weight pushed all the way to the pivot),
and tracking really light (I made a makeshift balance, using a dime as a
reference weight... the tonearm flies up... ) I'd guess it to be tracking around
or slightly under a gram. I'm going to drill out some of the counterweight when
I have more time.

I have another idea too... has anyone tried this? In the bad part of downtown,
all of the pawn shops have signs in the window advertising "mini scales $10".
Obviously, most people buying these scales are not looking to measure tracking
force, but I think it might be a lot cheaper and possibly more accurate than
some of the units offered for the purpose.

Max Holubitsky wrote:

Okay this is a new one for me - I recently acquired a Pioneer PL-05 front
loading automatic turntable. It's a really neat device, perhaps not high end
audio, but it is solid, and seems to be fairly well made. Anyhow, I replaced
the cartridge with a Grado black, which is significantly lighter than the
previous Audio Technica cartridge. I cannot figure out how to adjust the
tracking weight. The tonearm has a movable counterweight, which has two
allen set screws holding it in place, but for the life of me I cannot figure
out how to access these screws, without totally taking the unit apart.
Anyone ever had to do this before? This really has me confused!

thanks

Max