[78-L] Glass Compound 78s

[78records at cdbpdx.com]

Oops!  Sorry about the password BS.  Long story to that.  Please use:

Username:  New090908
Password:  654321

The RadioRecorder labels were applied over another label, shown here:

http://cdbpdx.com/78records/Labels/tn-600_Blues_Flat_5-24-44_RecordSurface.JPG

Yes, this poor record is horribly broken, in to 4 pieces held together by the labels.  It was tough getting a recording from this.

CDB

--- On Tue, 6/16/09, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:

> From: Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Glass Compound 78s
> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 6:18 AM
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Glass Compound 78s
> From: 78records at cdbpdx.com
> Date: Tue, June 16, 2009 8:41 am
> To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> 
> 
> > THANKS for all the info about these. Very helpful.
> > The link below shows the label of one of the records I
> am inquiring
> > about. You can see an under-label around the edge of
> the studio label.
> > Is that label familiar? 
> > http://78records.cdbpdx.com/BCO/tn-800_BCO-07_SentForYouYesterday.JPG
> 
> Yes, this is a Presto Green Seal Glass Base disc
> label.  
> 
> > When looking through this record, it is blue, as
> described. I have
> > some records that are stamped GLASS on the label and
> they are red
> > when I look through them. See link below:
> > http://cdbpdx.com/78records/Labels/tn-600_RadioRecorders_5-31-44_SeeThru.JPG
> 
> I can't see this picture because it is asking for
> passwords.  But Radio
> Recorders was a major Los Angeles studio that did ALL the
> recording for
> CBS on the West Coast and usually had bright yellow
> labels.  The red
> tinge might be AudioDiscs.  Is there a roughness you
> can see or feel
> under the labels at about 2 or 2 1/2 inches diameter? 
> Does the center
> hole look like a fibre base surface?
> 
> > I am keeping them in a 10 page record album. Guess I'd
> better
> > make other arrangements for them.  Thanks! CDB
> 
> YES!! Having them in an album is the absolute worst way to
> store them,
> except perhaps under the wheels of your car. 
> Eventually the result will
> be the same.
> 
> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com
> 
> 
> --- On Mon, 6/15/09, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > From: Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] Glass Compound 78s
> > To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> > Date: Monday, June 15, 2009, 10:14 PM
> > 78records at cdbpdx.com
> > wrote:
> > > > Greetings. I am wondering how to easily
> identify
> > glass compound 78s.
> > 
> > I assume you are referring to a glass-base lacquer
> coated
> > recording
> > disc.  This is a disc that is a sheet of glass
> with a
> > plastic coating on
> > it that the recording is directly cut into.  
> > 
> > > > I was playing a record from 1942 and I
> noticed
> > the sunlight was sparkling
> > > > off the record in a rainbow of color, as if
> the
> > light was being reflected
> > > > through a prism.
> > 
> > This could happen with an aluminum base lacquer disc
> as
> > well because
> > that base is reflectively shiny as well, but when you
> > describe it being
> > translucent you can only be describing a glass base
> disc. 
> > 
> > > > I examined the record closely and discovered
> I
> > could see brightly lit
> > > > images through it. It has an unfortunate
> crack
> > and the edges of the
> > > > crack seem to be flaking off like glass. 
> > 
> > The lacquer coating can flake off like this from any
> base
> > material,
> > aluminum, steel, or glass.  The dark coating is
> not
> > itself glass.  If
> > part of the clear glass base is crumbling, then the
> base is
> > more than
> > just cracked, it is smashed.
> > 
> > > > Could this be a glass compound record? Are
> there
> > any sure-fire
> > > > ways to identify glass compound records
> besides
> > cracking them
> > > > and looking to see if the edges are flaking
> > off?  Thanks! CDB
> > 
> > As dl mentioned, you often -- but not always -- can
> see
> > light shining
> > thru the translucent discs.  If you do not want
> to
> > hold the disc up to
> > the light, you can shine a strong light up thru it. 
> > Once you have
> > identified a glass-base disc it should always be
> stored in
> > a sleeve with
> > a second aluminum-base disc with it, and the disc
> handled
> > only with that
> > second disc supporting it.  Archives with large
> > collections of glass
> > base discs should have a rule that an aluminum disc be
> slid
> > into the
> > sleeve and both discs be taken out together.  I
> was
> > lucky when I worked
> > with the NBC Chicago collection at Northwestern to
> have a
> > large amount
> > of unimportant aluminum based discs to store with our
> > glass.
> > 
> > As dl mentioned, professional grade discs were not
> marked
> > on the discs
> > themselves, only on the sleeves which often can get
> > switched so that a
> > glass base sleeve could house an aluminum disc, but
> most
> > home-grade
> > glass base discs are marked on the manufacturer's
> > label.  But glass was
> > rarely sold to the home recording market.  They
> used
> > steel base and
> > fibre base discs.  Many radio and recording
> studio
> > labels did mark the
> > discs as glass, but not always because the labels
> were
> > sometimes
> > prepared by a secretary, not the recording engineer. 
> > The first glass
> > Presto discs were very thick and had a metal grommet
> in the
> > center hole.
> > AudioDevices' AudioDisc brand had a fibre-center that
> was
> > about
> > 2-inches in diameter, and the edge of how this fits
> into
> > the larger
> > glass hole can sometimes be seen or felt.  Later
> in
> > the war Presto had a
> > printed label that said glass base, but I am not sure
> if
> > the discs were
> > shipped with this label on them or if it was to be
> applied
> > by the user.
> > 
> > As to whether glass discs were more flexible when new,
> I
> > doubt that
> > because one of the reasons glass was used was because
> it
> > was less
> > flexible than aluminum.  One of the selling
> points of
> > glass prior to the
> > war was that it was ideal for use for mastering
> because it
> > remains
> > flatter than metal when being electroplated. 
> The
> > first glass discs were
> > shipped in early April 1941, prior to our entry into
> the
> > war, and before
> > aluminum rationing.
> > 
> > Mike Biel   mbiel at mbiel.com
> > 
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] Glass Compound 78s
> > From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> > Date: Tue, June 16, 2009 12:25 am
> > To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> > 
> > Very simple..assuming that it's sturdy enough for you
> to
> > handle without
> > it 
> > breaking (and those things are VERY thin), hold it up
> to
> > the light. If
> > you see 
> > translucent bluish, yep..it's glass based. As for the
> > flaking, that's
> > not 
> > reversible.
> > 
> > If you find this somewhat risky, you can tape the
> edge
> > lightly with your
> > ring 
> > finger. The sound will be different from tapping an
> > aluminum disc.
> > 
> > Not all manufacturers identified glass lacquers,
> except on
> > the sleeve,
> > which 
> > was pretty dumb. Amazing that 65 years ago, these
> things
> > were able to be
> > 
> > shipped..carefully, yes, but they frequently made it
> > intact. They must
> > have 
> > been a bit more flexible when they were new.
> > 
> > dl
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > 78-L mailing list
> > 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> > http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
> > 
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>