[78-L] styli size help
Sean Miller
smille1 at nycap.rr.com
Sun May 22 14:25:38 PDT 2011
I agree, they're well worth the investment. For several years I only had the Stanton 2.7 mil conical stylus which is great for absolutely mint post war 78s, but not much else. Once I got a few of the Expert ones, I was astounded by the difference, especially with things like noisy Victor Scrolls that looked mint but, well, you know....
Sean
On May 22, 2011, at 5:02 PM, Philip Fukuda wrote:
> 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.
>
>
> p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 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.
>
>
>
> p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }a:link { color: rgb(0, 0, 255); }
>
> 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
>
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