[78-L] New kid on the block

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Shaffer" <mkshffr at yahoo.com>
> Hello I just joined the group. I got a link to this group from a post on 
> Audio Karma. I will probably just be lurking for a while as I am not (yet) 
> a serious collector. I am quite excited however as I have a GE VR series 
> cartridge on the way which seems a perfect fit for my Dad's old Thorens 
> TD-124 and GE tonearm.
> At first an older (in home theater terms) Onkyo HT receiver will provide 
> the preamp and main amplification until I finish building my vacuum tube 
> integrated amplifier. Or I may end up with it set up in my bedroom system 
> with the 70s vintage Sony STR-V4.
> The table hasn't been used in about 20 years so some tune up may be 
> necessary but I have had a bunch of Grandpa's 78 in storage for years and 
> I am anxious to give them a listen.
> In any case I have a lot to learn about the cleaning, care and feeding of 
> these vintage recordings.
> mike
>
Well, the list is still looking for a concise guide to cleaning 78's; we 
used to have a subscriber
who, every time "cleaning" came up, tried to sell us his special elixirs he 
had developed for
that purpose! Basically, you can get by with soap (dish detergent) and 
room-temperature
water, and something (like a cloth, but textured) that can get into the 
grooves of a 78
(.003" wide). DO NOT use alcohol, of ANY sort; alcohols dissolve the shellac 
compound
of which 78's are made!

To play them, you need a needle/stylus .003" in diameter; if you are using a 
magnetic-
cartridge player, you can buy 78 needles to fit virtually all 
turntables/cartridges! OR...
you can use my approach; I use an old "record player" with a ceramic 
cartridge, and
the output is about "line level" (1 volt) so the cartridge output can be fed 
into the
"Line In" jacks of tape machines, sound cards and/or "stereo" systems. 
Personally,
I prefer the heavier "tracking pressure" of these old "record players" to 
the gram or
three common to modern magnetic-cartridge turntables. Also, keep in mind 
that
all but the very last 78's had a "bandwidth" of about 60-6500 Hz; pre-1926
acoustically-recorded 78's have NO "low end" content!

Shellac 78's CANNOT be wet for any significant length of time; I just looked
through a "milk box" of 78's that had spent a few days under water due to a
plugged drain, and I'll be posting a more detailed account of my findings in 
the
near future!

The main thing to remember AT ALL TIMES is this: shellac records are NOT
flexible...and ANY bending thereof, intended or not, will cause them to 
break!

There are a number of standard "reference works" used by many....possibly
most...collectors of 78's. Many of these were authored by Brian Rust...and a
lot are out-of-print to-day, and sell as "collectors' items" with prices you 
can
well expect...! One of the standard works, however, is mine: "The (Almost)
Complete 78rpm Record Dating Guide" is published and sold by Kurt Nauck
(for around $20). Kurt also mails out auction lists; he has a lot of 
desirable
records, but his minimum bid is $3, so bring a LOT of money!

As far as "feeding"...the problem there is/will be feeding YOURSELF once
you start buying 78's on aregular basis!

I'll be glad to answer any further questions you might have; I'm reached at:
stevenc at interlinks.net

Steven C. Barr
(who owns about 55,050 78's and is interested in MORE!)