Thank you, this is great advice, I have had much better luck getting the sticky threads to come loose after first heating up the Hercules SR-74x cartridge. I did this by turning on the Persei and heating up the Hercules SR-74x cartridge before attempting to loosen the threads.
I am having trouble removing the ceramic rod and the coil from my Hercules sr-74x. Do I need to use pliers for the rod and something pointy for the coil? I do not want to damage them, and applying heat did not make things any easier. Any advice?