[78-L] 78-L Digest, Vol 64, Issue 17

[Doug Pomeroy]

To play a record in reverse, you need, as was noted, to reorient the
arm and to re-mount the cartridge (this is not easy).  

I agree it is the skating force, which causes a normally mounted cartridge 
to wear the left groove wall (the one on the spindle side) more than the right 
groove wall.  
  
But I think this is only true when the disc in played in the conventional way,
from outside to inside, and if such a disc is played backwards, the tone 
arm moves from inside to the outside, and I believe in this case the skating 
force is impressed upon the opposite groove wall (the right one).

I experimented, years ago, with playing worn discs backwards, thinking
that this would to some extent avoid the longitudinal groove damage
caused on a disc which had been played over and over again in the same 
direction. Reverse playing allows the stylus to track the groove modulation 
from "behind" an area of damage rather than from "in front" of it, and I had 
hoped this might reveal a less damaged section of the groove. However, 
I found, as have others, that reverse playing offered no improvement.

Doug Pomeroy
Audio Restoration and Mastering Services
193 Baltic St   
Brooklyn, NY  11201-6173
(718) 855-2650
audiofixer at verizon.net



On Jan 14, 2014, at 3:00 PM, 78-l-request at klickitat.78online.com wrote:

> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2014 14:05:55 +0000
> From: Don Cox <doncox at enterprise.net>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Record Noises - Identify and Understand Cause
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Message-ID: <yam13162.2775.76990520 at smtp.ntlworld.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain
> 
> On 13/01/2014, DAVID BURNHAM wrote:
> 
>> No there is nothing in this, I don't even think it's an urban legend.
>> 
>> I see there are so many answers to this so I'm sorry if I repeat
>> something that has already been said. Centrifugal or centripetal
>> forces don't really enter into it, since the cartridge/stylus assembly
>> isn't spinning. Playing the record backwards shouldn't offer any
>> solution to the noise because the noise is already there, (and if you
>> have a turntable that does allow playing the record backwards, make
>> sure you rotate the arm across the centre spindle so that the record
>> isn't pushing against the stylus). The spindle side of the groove may
>> get more wear because of skating forces which weren't really
>> addressed, in my experience, until the Dual Changers of the mid to
>> late '60s. These forces would push the stylus against the inner groove
>> wall, no matter which direction the record is spinning. My preamp does
>> allow playing back just one side of the groove so I know this method
>> works on some records, but rarely if ever have I found that it has any
>> effect on blasting. Once again, I believe that blasting is caused by
>> the poor compliance of the styli with which records were commonly
>> played before the LP era.
>> 
> It also occurs on LPs played on cheap early LP players with low
> compliance cartridges.
> 
> Regards
> -- 
> Don Cox
> doncox at enterprise.net