Hello,
I have two Wilcox-Gay A87's. I have been trying to get at least one working for recording on plastic plates. The closest I have to getting sound recorded on a plate is by whistling into the supplied microphone very loud and high pitched. I tried recording from my iphone/computer 1/8" -> mic input with nothing but noise as a result. I have also tried increasing the speed of a track, holding the mic up to the computer speaker, and playing the track (recorded at 78rpm to be played back on 45rpm) with similar noise results.
I have read that the amp is 500 ohm (seems to be working fine) and the cutting head (astatic) is a crystal based head that could be dried out (has not been restored by westech, etc).
My questions are:
Is there an alternative head I could use with this?
A magnetic head would be preferable no? does the head have to "fit" or can i modify the arm to use any head (presto for example)?
I am assuming I would need a 500 ohm head to use with the amp but that is not necessary, can I just hook another head up to my kenwood amp for example?
What cutting stylus should i be experimenting with? I have a ton of victrola steel needles. Will those work to experiment with?
thanks!
m