[78-L] Cold Shellac

[Michael Biel]

On 12/24/2010 12:19 PM, David Lennick wrote:
> Carefully hold it up to the light and you'll be able to see through it. Notice
> I said "carefully". Audiodiscs were exceptionally thin when on glass base and
> the cold could have been the culprit, or even just taking it out of the sleeve
> while handling it like a normal shellac disc.  dl

You didn't mention if the reverse side was blank, only that there was no 
writing on the label.  If it is blank, lay it on a flat table blank side 
up and put a piece of scotch tape on the crack.  If it is a two-sided 
recording side you must quickly support the record with tape on the rim 
over the crack and on the ungrooved land at the center on both sides.  
Most likely the AudioDIsc has a fibre center under the label.  The glass 
does not extend all the way to the center.  It has a 2-inch center hole 
filled in by the reddish fibre center and the labels glued ontop of this 
to hold the fibre center in place.

Get a junker record and store it in the sleeve with the glass disc and 
always handle BOTH of them together.  If you need to flip the record 
over, get a second disc and put it on top and turn the SANDWICH of three 
discs over.  Never handle even an "unbroken" glass disc alone because 
the glass can be cracked under the lacquer and the only thing holding 
the disc together is the lacquer.

By the way, glass based discs cannot flex, nor can they warp.

Mike  Biel  mbiel at mbiel.con
> On 12/24/2010 12:15 PM, marimbamoods at comcast.net wrote:
>> interesting thought, Glenn, especially as this is apparently a lacquer disc.
>>
>>
>> the fact that this transcription is a glass-based lacquer would explain something i noticed about it. when i unpacked the disc, the first indication i had of the crack was the sound of the two halves rubbing together as i slid it from the sleeve. although i have received cracked shellac 78's in the mail before, the sound this particular rubbing made was something i had never heard before. it had a high-pitched brittle tone, something like fingernails against a blackboard sound. that would seem to corroborate the glass-based lacquer as the substance, and hence the breakage. this is my first disc of that sort, but i have heard of their fragility.
>>
>>
>> david