The (short story) goes like this: I happily unwrapped my technics sl-1210 mk2 today. It came from an e-bay user that called it "brand new, never used" and sure looks like it.

When I was about to finish assembly (headshell and cartridge and so on) I noticed this weird problem: the arm kept springing back to its resting position, no matter what I did. Needless to say, I acted exactly according to the manual and had previously set tracking weight, antiskating and gimball height according to the suggested procedures and in correct order.

The previous poster mentioned something about a "magnetic force" seemingly pulling the whole arm and this is a spot-on description of the phenomenon.

Here is what I did and it worked like a charm. I loosened the screw at the top of the gimball and then tightened it back. Just to avoid confusion: this is the screw that is in the highest possible position on the whole Technics sl-1210, there's nothing above it but air (or the plastic of the dustcover). As I said - it worked for me, and now I'm listening to Porter Band (their first album: Helicopters). My (uneducated) guess is that you have to be careful not to loosen this screw to the point where something comes apart inside.

@Iki: I'd be curious where you got the info that the tonearm needs replacing? It would seem like an extreme thing to do, as all the possible bits and pieces of this arm and its gimball are available as separate part. I don't doubt th correctness of what you wrote, just curious of the source. If the source is a repair shop, aren't they trying to sell you back your own arm, after doing the screw thing?

Finally, after 2 hours of owning this little tank, I have to say: it simply rocks.