The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

Occasionally I have the Ghost Groove thing happen on 78s right after I clean them. Any ideas about what might cause it with a shellac 78? I am using the proper stylus. It only happens on clean discs.

Hi,
Also, just thinking - not only the weight of the playback arm, but also the stiffness of that type of playback stylus would contribute the the damage done to a modern vinyl microgoove. I know I did some major damage to a couple LPs, and those are the 2 factors that makes sense to me.

I have a Meissner also. Set Screw is the term, yes. Here you go: http://www.garage-a-records.com/search.php?pg=1&stext=set+screw+needle&sprice=&stype=&scat= Even with an LP needle, you will probably find that the playback arm is too heavy to play modern LPs without chewing them up. The Meissner has ...

That looks like a presto pickup not a cutter. If I'm mistaken some plea
se educate me as I own one of these.

Exactly, the glass replaced the aluminum but the coating was still there. Sometimes a cardboard center was used to lessen the stress of the center hole and drive pin.

Also during WWW2 when aluminum as in short supply, instantaneious discs were glass based. These, and also Berliners discs utilized a coating that was cut into - not actually etched into the glass itself. That seems like a tough order.

I would be cautious about using a cutting stylus longer than what is intended for that machine. That type of cutter is limited in it's range of adjustment of angle and depth and you might accidentally gauge thru the lacquer when you lower the arm. It might be ok, but I'd procede with caution. Also, ...

Does the bottle project have to be a groove? You originally said you needed to record onto a bottle. Is a magnetic coating an option? My mind wonders sometimes....

Congratulations! Looks great. I have one that looks like the same model, or at least very simlar. I'll have to check my model number. I tried using a cactus needle for playing a lacquer and it didn't do so well. I'm anxious to hear your experience with a poly.
Have fun!

It may not be magic, but when playing 78 shellacs it sure seems like magic. Surface noise cancels itself out - even more noticeable than with mono LPs only because there is more surface noise to deal with. If anyone plays 78s without the mono option, try it and hear the difference. Nothing subtle ab...

I have a box of Allied 10" blanks that have actually become gummy. Palmitic acid is the white powdery substance, correct? I've seen that a lot, but these are actually sticky. Anyone know what that's about?

I guess that's great for the seller, but it's a shame that people don't realize they can be ordered new for a lower price.

re: the cutting stylus - I have read that the cutting stylus used today was developed because of the change to lacquer from wax. They have facets to polish the groove wall, which was not necessary when cutting into soft wax. The damping of the cutter heads also had to be more intensive than with lac...

I think this is what they called the "Dspec" cutter that was, in fact, used for the Vitaphone recordings, but remained in use for many years after for other disc recording. The damper was a long rubber or foam tube within a tube with a tube with a metal vane running thru the center that was attached...

You're pretty handy with a toothpick and plastic cup! That's not bad. If you buy the Edison for 400, you will have a new hobby collecting Edison records. Do you know if the Edison players will adapt to play lateral 78s as well? That would be worthwhile. Did you notice in the video that is uses a lin...

http://youtu.be/PloMY3i8sXE

Here is one of several videos online of an Edison playback on an Edison machine. I think it's amazing to hear what they were capable of, especially being acoustic.
You can re-wire a stereo cartridge to playback only the vertical signal but I never had great results

Here you go

http://www.apollomasters.com/products.html

I may still have the brochure from Micropoint explaining the theory in detail. If I still have it I will scan it and post.

How about Alvin and the Chipmonks played at 16...3 grown men singing silly lyrics painfully slow and over articulating. That's when I discovered the voice of Alvin is actually David Seville.

Showing my age - A Four Tops LP played at 45 sounded like the Supremes. A Supremes 45 played at 33 1/3 sounded like the Four Tops.
Yes, I know there are only 3 Supremes and 4 Four Tops. Not splitting hairs. I was 7. Cut me some slack.