Transco Lacquers and Styli

[concretecowboy71]

They have been fairly good. They just raised the prices on all styli pretty significantly however.

[Bob Weston]

When I put in a new stylus I run it without applying heat for half a side or so. It seems to burnish the stylus a little and helps with the streaks.

When you guys do this new stylus burnishing, how deep are you cutting? What's the groove width?

Thanks!
bob

[opcode66]

Well, if you want to wear in a stylus to smooth burnishing facets, I would cut at least as deep as you would normally cut. That way, the proper length of cutting edge is exposed to lacquer. And, therefore, the polishing of a proper amount of burnishing facet will occur.

[Bob Weston]

Right. That's why I was wondering what the others have been doing. Since with a variable pitch and depth system the depth will vary, I guess you need to burnish at whatever the max depth might ever be? So...like...4 mil width or something? 4.5? What are all y'all doing for burnish width?

-bw

[opcode66]

You dont necessarily have to cut silent grooves. That way you will get vertical movement off your base depth.

[Bob Weston]

I understand. I'm just asking the other folks who have been cutting silent grooves with the heat off at what depth they've been doing it. Out of interest and curiosity as to their specific experiences.

thanks,
-bw

[concretecowboy71]

I have always ct the grooves at 2mil. I never thought about going deeper until I just read your post. Now I may have to give it a try!

Good to see you on here Bob!

[dubcutter89]

Hmm, makes sense but I think the playback stylus will always stay at the bottom of the groove around 1mil width.
So it wouldn't affect the sound if the top of the groove wall isn't perfect...or? cosmetics, yes. galvanic??

Lukas

[opcode66]

Well, I think you always want as smooth of a groove wall as possible. If the top is not cut nicely, you can get horns, or a jagged edge. And, that doesn't plate and press well at all. Which then results in some background noise.

I do understand what you are saying. However, you are not accounting for the fact that there are a few different size and types of playback styli. So, the size and shape would have an impact on how much of it is in contact with the groove walls.

[concretecowboy71]

I agree, we had a string of jobs last year with pervasive surface noise and the tops of the grooves (test pressings) all looked bad. The deep part of the groove looked fine, but due to a plating issue, the tops of the grooves all looked "torn" and this was the cause of the noise.

[Greg Reierson]

I've just gone through and returned a series of Transco styli (A4214/15/16) with no center line at all. They sound OK with most material but not when the music gets quite. There's a contstant tic/pop party at the noise floor. Strangely, they have what appears to be a perfectly sharp tip but they just don't cut a perfect groove? I'd love to understand why.

What have peope been exeriencing lately?

[dietrich10]

I sent a few back last week with similar issue but they claim nothing wrong with them after reviewing them.
All week I have been using old 320s where the groove walls are very prominent and no streaky grooves.

I put on a brand new 320 and streaks like a noise filled groove yet the noise floor is -44 on unmodulated grooves.

[concretecowboy71]

Just put a 320k on (A0159) and it was the nicest one I have seen in a while. Had an Adamant on before that that did not last very long. From my point of view the quality seems better on both styli and lacquers.

[chenry57]

Sounds like everyone else is having identical problems as me, including Apollo claiming that they are fine upon inspection (and also claiming that I am literally the only customer experiencing problems). JJ Golden advised me to cut a side of silence with the heat turned off & that has cleaned most of them up quite nicely.

It really sucks when they don't clear up, though, as I've then wasted 30 minutes & a blank side. So it goes. The last two 320's I ordered were more acceptable, but I mis the truly mirrored groove walls.

[Phinster]

The current batch of MDC's look fine with Transco styli. Very quiet with smooth walls. MDC's are softer than transco lacs and seem to use a different

dye in the formulation. I recently got 30 hrs on a 320 using a mixture of mdc's and t'co's (about 70/30%)

I know they are difficult to source in the USA. They can't make them fast enough!

[jjgolden]

JJ Golden advised me to cut a side of silence with the heat turned off & that has cleaned most of them up quite nicely.

Caution when doing this, as they can wear and get hissy real quick without heat.
I don't run a whole side without heat, just maybe 30 seconds then check it.... then another 20 sec then check it.
As Cameron said they don't always clear up.
At this point, I've stopped worrying about the look so much and just cut then listen for noise.
Most of the time, the cut is very quiet regardless of the streaks. This is what I've been experiencing lately in the absence of any other options.

JJG

[opcode66]

So, as an industry, we are all going to simply accept streaked grooves as the new norm? Wish someone would have the resources to back the person in the community with the knowledge, the contractors, the project planning and execution skills, and the understanding of how to make them correctly...

[emorritt]

I've looked at some of the Westrex styluses under a strong microscope and on just about every one the burnishing facets are not consistent from end to end. This might be part of the problem. Wish I could have done an internship with Frank and Isabel Capps

[chenry57]

JJ Golden advised me to cut a side of silence with the heat turned off & that has cleaned most of them up quite nicely.

Caution when doing this, as they can wear and get hissy real quick without heat.
I don't run a whole side without heat, just maybe 30 seconds then check it.... then another 20 sec then check it.
As Cameron said they don't always clear up.
At this point, I've stopped worrying about the look so much and just cut then listen for noise.
Most of the time, the cut is very quiet regardless of the streaks. This is what I've been experiencing lately in the absence of any other options.

JJG

Thanks for correcting me JJ. I unintentionally said a full side, although I've found cutting a bit of music without heat has helped clear them up pretty nicely.

As for the streaks, they usually cut quietly on s lacquer, but test pressings are generally noisier & seem to cause diameter loss distortion earlier with streaky grooves than the pressings done after they clear up. Unfortunately I can only observe various records over time to see the trend as opposed to a true variable-free test, so a lot of that info could be coincidentally related to the music content. Has anyone else noticed this?

[concretecowboy71]

Cameron:

I have not noticed what you speak of, but sometimes it is months before we hear a test pressing of a job, so as you mentioned we can only seem to see trends instead of flaws in individual jobs. What I have noticed recently is this:

1) A stylus might have streaks on 14" plates but looks great on 10" plates (very common lately).

2) Streaking actually appears to LESSEN as stylus heat goes down. When I change a stylus now, I run it for a few minutes with no heat and then run several test bands starting at .4amp up to about .55amp. I now try and get the lowest heat possible with as little surface noise.

I get styli that streak, that sound great. Others not as much.