[78-L] styli size help

Sun May 22 14:02:25 PDT 2011

Thanks for your input, Sean. I've got a 2.5 mil TE for postwar records,
 2.8 mil (due for replacement anyway - good for late 30s records, also 
Columbia/OK electrics) and 3.5 mil TE for scroll Victors. Probably could
 get 1 or 2 other sizes. Yes, stylii are expensive, but like 
discographies, well worth the cost. I've bought mine from Expert Stylus Company (see contact info below).

Here is a portion of a Vintage Jazz Mart (VJM) article written by Mark Berresford and Ron Geesin entitled "A
LAYMAN’S GUIDE TO STYLI
FOR PLAYING 78s." The complete article may still be on the VJM website. 
Hope the table copies OK. Otherwise email me off-list, and I can email 
the entire article (which also contains drawings and explains the 
differences between truncated, conical, elliptical, spherical, etc.

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			STYLI
			SIZE

			LABEL
			TYPES AND/PERIODS

			00.18"

			Useful
			for some acoustic Richmond Gennett recordings: Some early
			aluminium and acetate transcription discs.

			0.0020"

			Extremely
			useful for the majority of acoustic Richmond Gennetts. Strangely,
			the Wolverine Orchestra’s Fidgety
			Feet/Jazz Me Blues
			like a whopping 0.0035"! Also a number of acoustic OKeh
			‘field’ recordings (e.g. the 1923 King Oliver OKehs) like this
			size.

			0.0024/5"

			Very
			useful for acoustic, ‘Truetone’ and some electric OKehs,
			pre-1920 Victors, most post-war records. Many Paramount 12700
			series. English Columbias 1925-26 mainly prefer this size.

			0.0028"

			Post
			1922 acoustic and electric Columbias, most electric OKehs,
			acoustic and early electric Paramounts, Gennett (acoustic and
			electric New York recordings and electric Richmond recordings),
			Brunswick/ARC (acoustic and electrical), US Decca, Victor 1921-25,
			most Plaza group acoustics, pre-1931 Parlophone, Black Swan,
			Cameo, Pathé/Perfect lateral recordings. A good starting size to
			work up or down from.

			0.0032"

			Useful
			for some Brunswick/Vocalion electrics, post-EMI merger English
			Columbia/HMV/Parlophones, Columbia acoustics to 1922, some early
			US Columbia electrics, also some later Columbia electrics where
			the master has been heavily polished or high numbered stampers
			have been used. Autograph, some Paramount 12800s (though these
			vary enormously – up to 0.004"!

			0.0035"

			Most
			Victor Electrics post 1926, some very early Victors (1901-06),
			Acoustic Vocalion, HMV/Zonophone 1925-31, most QRS, Plaza group
			electrics, Edison Diamond Discs, most Electrobeam Gennett
			post-6400 issues.

			0.004"

			Early
			electric Victors (1925/6). One notable anomaly is the October 1927
			Brunswick session by Johnny Dodds’ Black Bottom Stompers, where
			the cutter was particularly blunt and all the sides from the
			session need a 0.004" stylus.

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Suppliers
(UK)
Expert
Stylus Company, PO Box 3, Ashtead, Surrey KT21 2QD, UK. Tel: +44 1372
276604; Fax: +44 1372 276147. Expensive (and a near – monopoly),
but they are the best in the business and the first choice for
professionals and collectors the world over. Their years of
experience and friendly (and free) advice will benefit both neophytes
and old hands alike.]
(USA)
KAB
Electro - Acoustics, P.O. Box 2922, Plainfield, NJ 07062 Tel: (908)
754-1479 /Email: info at kabusa.com
Web site: http://www.kabusa.com
A very helpful and knowledgeable specialist company, usually with a
limited availability for given stylus sizes. 
Not included in the article: Kurt Nauck at www.78rpm.com. They may be from Expert
Stylus, I don't know for certain.Philip

From: Sean Miller <smille1 at nycap.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [78-L] styli size help
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Message-ID: <BLU0-SMTP435D15EE739AE36B7347B5AC8F0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Drill bits, I love it!!  That's how mine are lined up.

The custom 78 styli I use most that I have are the 2.0 mil TE, 2.5 mil TE and the 3.8 mil TE.  Yes, I have several others, but these are the ones I find to be the most handy, the 3.8 (or a 4.0) do Victor Scrolls from the 20s best and also reduce HMV crackle considerably.

Sean

On May 18, 2011, at 4:27 PM, Cary Ginell wrote:

> 
> Since hand-cut styli are expensive, I could only afford to use two, so after consulting with some folk I bought them fro Expert Stylus: a 3.2 for pre-war discs, a 2.8 for post-war, and threw caution to the wind. Maybe some day, I'll have an entire row of them, .1 ml apart, laid out like drill bits.
> 
> Cary Ginell
> 
>> From: bowiebks at isomedia.com
>> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
>> Date: Wed, 18 May 2011 13:13:49 -0700
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] styli size help
>> 
>> Me too...as Sean and some of you others know,  I am like a deer in the 
>> headlights when it comes to any of this techy-techno talk,  esp. about 
>> styli.
>> 
>> Taylor
>> 
>> 
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Andrea Walsh" <petquality1 at gmail.com>
>> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 1:07 PM
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] styli size help
>> 
>> 
>>> No, answer Sergio onlist, I would like to see the answer to this too!
>>> 
>>> Andrea
>>> On May 18, 2011 12:47 PM, "Sergio Gutierrez" <antoniopaints at hotmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Can someone post here or help me off line with styli sizes I can use for
>>> the different companies/labels
>>>> The styli on my head shell is done and now need to replace,I found a
>>> standard styli but maybe i should stock up on a few more
>>>> what is good to keep around if i only get a few extra i know some of you
>>> vets can have up to a dozen.
>>>> Had a good tome in ARSC for the few day i attended it was good to meet
>>> some new collectors in my area and those from elswhere
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks-Sergio