pegs don't line up correctly with the connection on the 1200 tone-arm. It works again after doing the "remove and dab with saliva" trick. I'm considering switching to the headshell variety styli because I think this will solve the problem.
The pins inside the tone arm that match up to the headshell pins are spring loaded. It can pay to check that they are still moving freely ... I know the saliva thing works .. and have even seen it as a ritual practice for Battle DJ's who change heads regularly .. However I have found problems in the past with different brands of headshell that sport different length pins. I have a pair of track masters that have very short pins compared to my regular Technics headshells.. and had similar trouble connecting. Also strangely I have one deck that I always have to reload the headshell twice inorder to make it work. No licking involved. ?! I havn't brought a piece of vinyl in about 5 years (is that a 313 sin?) but I have already decided that I will never sell my decks, and have a a good supply of spare styli for all my carts. That is what ultimately will kill the turntable. When manufactures stop producing stylus. Which is what happened to many turntables with fixed headshells on the advent of the CD. Luckily the Technics 1200 sports the removable headshell and is able is able to support many different manufactured brands. .. ah .. geeking out the decks ..
