[78-L] Pepsi (Was something else)

[Steven C. Barr]

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From: "Michael Biel" <mbiel at mbiel.com>
> Occasionally discussed on the OTR lists and the OTR-Digest.  But how
> about when your family got your second PHONOGRAPH and when you were
> given your own personal PHONOGRAPH?
>
Okeh, since you asked...

When I first listened to 78's (as a VERY young child), we owned a very large
RCA Victor radio-phonograph (which I wish I still had!). It had the usual 78
record changer. It was probably from 1940 or 41?

In 1973, after I inherited those 78's from my late father, I used a rather 
odd
set-up. My "audio system" at that time was based around a Sony r2r recorder
my brother had purchased cheaply through the BX (base exchange) when he
was serving in Viet Nam; I had a sixties RCA "record player," and figured 
out
that I could cut the ceramic-cartridge leads and feed that signal into the 
"Line
In" jack of the tape machine (I didn't know the technical details then...I 
just
knew that it worked!). The record player took Astatic N8-3d diamond needles;
I could take a city bus to the Astatic operation in Scarborough (east-end
Toronto) and buy the needles for about $3 apiece. I usually bought a dozen
at a time; 78's quickly wear even diamond needles.

Sadly, both the record player and the tape deck were sold VERY cheaply by
the EX-friends who decided to "help me" by selling as much of my stuff as
they could; of course, they had NO idea what my stuff was actually 
worth...?!

I'm trying to set up a similar system now; however, I'm lacking in "fine
motor dexterity," possibly due to a slight stroke I may have suffered a
few years ago...which makes the wiring and soldering effectively
impossible...! I may wind up buying a 78 needle for a vintage Dual
changer I was given; however, I have always felt that these modern
very-lightweight players produce too much surface noise and not
enough music...?!

Steven C. Barr