Archie,
I recently bought a used TT mounted with an AKG cartridge. I won't go into everything that I encountered, but suffice it to say that it pays to check all aspects of what you have bought or assumed. After correcting the counterbalance weight (maybe my error, since the unit shipped with TWO counterweights), I found that tracking much improved. On a hunch I decided to buy a replacement stylus from LP gear, who offered a bit of an upgrade from the original. Yes, the sound ALL came back. Although this is great, I have to wonder just how much damage, if any, the original stylus has made? Or perhaps it was just the cartridge suspension for the original that had aged to the point where it simply wasn't in spec anymore.

Right Arch,

 Since this is new to me, not as a whole, but the new TT/cart/phono amp, and more, I tread very carefully when the thought of dropping the needle on an expensive album that I just bought. Now that I have the hang of cleaning much better than I ever did before, that gives me a sigh of relief. I still have a little ways to go, but now am not so apprehensive as in the beginning. Like buying an older classic car.