What were EMG 'White Fibres' ?

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poodling around
Victor V
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What were EMG 'White Fibres' ?

Post by poodling around »

I was looking in a box in the garage and came across this. Unfortunately the packet is empty but I may have more to find when I do "The Great Gramophone Tidy-Up' ! (That will be the day !). :roll:

Any-way, I assume that they were bamboo fibres - but why were they called 'White Fibres' ? (Okay they were maybe white - but the ones I make and have seen are not white - so did they use some kind of special bamboo or some unusual treatment which turned them white ?).

Also, the packet is about 3 and a quarter inches square - so I doubt 100 fibre needles could actually fit in ?

The packet is stamped 'cut before use' which sounds like bamboo-fibre-like-advice.

Does any-one know about these particular 'White Fibres' I wonder ?
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Orchorsol
Victor IV
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Re: What were EMG 'White Fibres' ?

Post by Orchorsol »

Yes bamboo fibre needles, but I'd be surprised (but delighted) if anyone knows exactly!

More commonly found are the red EMG Davey variety, but I'm sure I remember seeing an EMG advertisement mentioning both. I would assume that "white" probably means uncoloured, i.e. natural pale bamboo colour, and that these were either untreated or doped to a lesser extent than the red variety (and pale green in the case of EMG Davey round shanked fibre needles).

Incidentally green Astra bamboo fibre needles of the same period seem to be similar, perhaps identical in performance to red Daveys, in other words to anyone's knowledge, the best ever achieved. I suspect they were made by the same process.
BCN thorn needles made to the original 1920s specifications: http://www.burmesecolourneedles.com

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4DNb ... TPE-zTAJGg?

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poodling around
Victor V
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Re: What were EMG 'White Fibres' ?

Post by poodling around »

Orchorsol wrote: Fri Nov 03, 2023 8:44 am Yes bamboo fibre needles, but I'd be surprised (but delighted) if anyone knows exactly!

More commonly found are the red EMG Davey variety, but I'm sure I remember seeing an EMG advertisement mentioning both. I would assume that "white" probably means uncoloured, i.e. natural pale bamboo colour, and that these were either untreated or doped to a lesser extent than the red variety (and pale green in the case of EMG Davey round shanked fibre needles).

Incidentally green Astra bamboo fibre needles of the same period seem to be similar, perhaps identical in performance to red Daveys, in other words to anyone's knowledge, the best ever achieved. I suspect they were made by the same process.
Fantastic stuff ! Thank you very much indeed Orchorsol.

Another mystery !!! The hunt is on then for another packet with at least one fibre 'thingy' remaining !!! :)

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Re: What were EMG 'White Fibres' ?

Post by flying500 »

The 'White fibrees' were sold as suitable for 'softe'r records such as chamber music and songs.
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Re: What were EMG 'White Fibres' ?

Post by poodling around »

flying500 wrote: Sat Nov 04, 2023 5:11 am The 'White fibrees' were sold as suitable for 'softe'r records such as chamber music and songs.
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Wow ! Very interesting indeed - and the mystery is solved !

Thank you very much flying500.

It also seems that these white fibres were quite cheap when compared to the 'Three Star Fibres'.

Fantastic !

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Re: What were EMG 'White Fibres' ?

Post by flying500 »

Another item for the wants list!

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Orchorsol
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Re: What were EMG 'White Fibres' ?

Post by Orchorsol »

Just to clarify, what I referred to as "Red Daveys" are the Three Star fibres.
BCN thorn needles made to the original 1920s specifications: http://www.burmesecolourneedles.com

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4DNb ... TPE-zTAJGg?

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