£180 for a soundbox? E.M Ginn Expert...

Discussions on Talking Machines of British or European Manufacture
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WDC
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Re: £180 for a soundbox? E.M Ginn Expert...

Post by WDC »

Hmm... do they even work with fibre needles? It is hard for me to believe, that a fibre needle could stand the increased mass for a complete record side. They sometimes ever wear off to quickly when used with regular reproducers. Well, I might be wrong...

Starkton
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Re: £180 for a soundbox? E.M Ginn Expert...

Post by Starkton »

WDC wrote:They sometimes ever wear off to quickly when used with regular reproducers.
Yes, especially when too soft or not dried enough fibre needles are used. The additional weight of soundboxes contributes to the problem. Several of my records had to be cleaned elaborately to remove the persistently sticking dirt from fibres. The sound quality was muffled and blurred before cleaning. Perhaps this is the often praised smooth sound of such needles?!

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Steve
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Re: £180 for a soundbox? E.M Ginn Expert...

Post by Steve »

Of course they work with fibres, that is what they were intended for. :roll:

With decent well dried (and stored within glass jars with silica gel crystals) fibre needles I can easily play through six 10" sides of jazz with an Expert 2 / 4 spring soundbox. The sound isn't muffled either; it's clear, bright and very smooth in the high frequencies, lacking the sharpness and spikey 'highs' you often get with acoustic reproducers and steel needles.

However, I should perhaps note that the records have to be in excellent condition and preferably haven't been played much with steel beforehand! That is what causes wear and fibre points breaking down.

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OrthoSean
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Re: £180 for a soundbox? E.M Ginn Expert...

Post by OrthoSean »

I wouldn't say that records that have been played with steel needles will wear a fiber point more quickly. Sorry, I'm being "picky", but as long as the disc hasn't been "steeled" (ie grayed excessively), and you've properly cleaned it to remove years of grime, dirt, greasy fingerprints etc etc, you'll find that they should play just fine with fibers. Having a well adjusted / rebuilt reproducer is also a good idea. I can get at least three sides from one fiber tip on my 8-9, Credenza or HMV 163 with no problems. Softer recordings, like violin solos and such, I can usually get five or six sides from. The important part is that the needle is dry, as Steve points out (no pun intended) and that the disc is clean and your reproducer is adjusted and properly rebuilt. When this was all new to me, I never understood how anyone could even get one side with a fiber needle, after some rebuilds and realizing that dirty or excessively worn records weren't helping, I had plenty of luck and still use fibers a good part of the time as my needles of choice.

Sean

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Swing Band Heaven
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Re: £180 for a soundbox? E.M Ginn Expert...

Post by Swing Band Heaven »

I haven't had much success with fibre needles - although I did try them some years ago now and didn't realise they had to be kept **completley** dry. I have however had much better luck with cactus needles which are supposed to be very kind to records and don't seem to have the same picky requirements as fibres. They can also be re-sharpened many many times and whilst fibres can be re-pointed I always found that they seemed to dissapear before I knew it.

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