Playing 78s on 33/45 rpm table

[ttyner]

There has been some discussion at one of the SIGs I attend at HAL-pc
(Houston Area League of PC Users) about playing 78 rpm records at 45 rpm
and restoring to proper pitch with software. It's been my contention that there
are no 78 rpm needles to fit the cartridges on the LP turntables and if the 78 is
played with the installed stylus, it will ruin the disk.

Has anyone had any experience doing this or any factual data on such.

On the Kent State affair. All you young wippersnappers really make me feel my age. I was there. I had a contract to do some engineering evaluation on the new library. Two of my technicians & I ate lunch on the roof which overlooked the shooting green. I was just getting in my car to go back to Canton when I heard the rifle fire. My men saw the whole thing. I have never seen an accurate description of the atmosphere that prevailed over the campus prior to the shooting.

[Craig Maier]

Stanton makes at least one 78 stylus (roughly 3 mils) for their 500 series. And, Expert Stylus in the UK makes numerous sized 78 stylii to fit standard magnetic phono cartridges. And, playing a 78 RPM record with an LP stylus will not damage the record, but it may damage the stylus. After all, 78's are made to track 2 pound tone arms and they are made of crushed rock mixed with Shellac. It's hard to imagine a tiny 0.7 mil stylus tracking deeply into the groove (below where the record is supposed to be played) doing any damage to the record at 1.5 grams. One thing is guaranteed, however. The transfer of a 78 with an LP stylus will have a terrible S/N.

As for Kent State, all that I remember about that is:

"Four Dead in Ohio" (CSN)

That was a nasty time in some of our lives, indeed, present party included. I drew a 43, if ya know what I mean.

[cromag]

A quick google on "78 rpm stylus" came up with plenty of hits -- including several companies I've dealt with -- for Audio Technica cartridges, etc. You might also check for companies that provide service or carry supplies for jukeboxes.



RE: Kent State -- I was on my summer job, security escort for cash collections in the South Bronx when they held the first lottery. I got a very, very good number. The guy I was with needed to reconsider his plans for the future.

[Dan McDonald]

I've got 4-5 different styli I use - cylinders (2 & 4 minute), 78s and lps.



It was a time that holds very bad memories. I was #336, so I was one of the lucky ones.

[DougMac]

I drew a 43, if ya know what I mean.

I know exactly what you mean. I drew a 10! If only I could be so lucky with lottery drawings now!

I also found out that 4F trumps a 10.

Back to the question at hand. No one has pointed out how easy it is to do the speed correction with DC Art. Also, you need to record with flat EQ and apply the proper rollover after the speed correction.

I have a broadcast turntable that plays at 78, therefore I don't normally need to record at 45. I also use Stanton headshells that allow weights to be added directly over the stylus. Craig has written an article here why this method of adding tonearm weight is better. Even with the weight, I sometimes get better results by recording a warped record at 45, the doing the speed correction.

Doug

[quartet87]

Ortofon also has 78 styli for one of their cart series.

[DJBohn]

Quartet87 is quite correct - I have one of those Ortofon 78 styli I purchased from The Needle Doctor (I believe $45?) as an optional tip for their Super OM Moving Magnet series. (Super OM-10, 20 & 30)

[Doug]

on this topic, does anyone know what should the anti-skating be set to for a 78rpm record?
Given most of us would be applying more than 5g tracking pressure, does anti-skating still make a difference?

I was thinking about it last night, the outer groove of a 78 rpm record is probably the most worn, so would it be best to set the anti-skating device for the least sideways bias/pressure so that the stylus ride more on the inner groove wall than the outer worn wall?

I'd like to know what others have been doing

[Craig Maier]

My habit has been to set the anti-skating in the same way for 78's as with LP's. First, I set the tracking weight (pennies, dimes, etc) Then, I take a non-grooved record and place the tone arm in the middle of the blank. I adjust the anti-skating until the tone arm stays where I put it.

I do not know if this is the optimal way to go about it, however.

[Doug]

I was doing the same up until ~2 weeks ago when something went wrong with the spring tension in the anti-skating device. I'm not sure what occured, but the result was a broken wire for the left channel and the anti-skate device was damaged (bah - semi-automatic turntable!). In addition, the audio from the working channel was sounding crap, and I thought it was because of the lack of anti-skating

I have since taken the anti-skating device off completely, re-soldered the fine phono wire and put everything back in order...I cannot tell the difference on a 78rpm record when comparing recordings I transcribed with the anti-skate device and without.

I was just worried I needed it, and now I'm not so sure it's important for old records.

[Lord Theo]

I play 78's on a Stanton direct drive turntable & have been told by technically-oriented people to set anti-skating to zero.

[Doug]

That's what I wondered given you set it the sidways tension to be equal with the tracking weight...and if the latter is alot more, then the anti-stkating effect is in essence, ineffective/negligible