can i do this?

[phonograph guy3435]

i have a victrola 8 in one. one feature is a turntable on the top. it has speed features of 33 ⅓, 45, 78. the problem is it has a red stylus. does anybody know if this makes me unable to play older (pre-1920) 78 records?
also, this machine skips sometimes but other times i play both sides of a record and it wont skip once.

[Inigo]

This is not the ideal player, but it works. The old 78s have a wider groove than LPs and singles; your stylus will play with much noise as it is very narrow. Amazon sells stylus like these but special for 78rpm records, with a larger point. With these it will sound better.

[Ortho4-7]

It’s pretty easy to swap out the .7mil LP stylus for a 3mil 78 stylus on these cheap portable/all-in-one units. I did that for a while on a Crosley suitcase player, back when my main turntable lacked a 78 speed. Sounded just fine! Keep in mind that 78 styli tend to be sapphire, which wears out faster than diamond, so buy a couple spares if you plan on making this your primary 78 spinner.

[Ken Doyle]

Can't tell for sure from your picture, but that looks like a 793 stylus.

See: https://thevoiceofmusic.com/catalog/par ... ategories=

[drh]

i have a victrola 8 in one. one feature is a turntable on the top. it has speed features of 33 ⅓, 45, 78. the problem is it has a red stylus. does anybody know if this makes me unable to play older (pre-1920) 78 records?
also, this machine skips sometimes but other times i play both sides of a record and it wont skip once.

You probably *can* play pre-1920 78s on that, but note that it's not very well suited for them. Before about 1930, record speeds were all over the map, and 78 RPM is the one speed at which "78s" from that period almost never seem to go. For records of that era, ideally you want something with some (or extensive) ability to adjust the speed. A turntable with a fixed 78 speed is better suited for records from the '30s and later (Swing era, WW II music, etc.), when the recording companies did better about keeping to 78 RPM as a standard.

Just as a point of reference, in case you're new to all this, 78s were the standard format from the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries up until 1948, when the LP was introduced. LPs very quickly drove 78s from the general market, although they persisted in certain niches, notably religious and children's records, for some time thereafter. Recording was acoustic--done with horns and mechanical diaphragms--up to 1925. After 1925, the industry adopted electric (microphones and tube electronics) recording methods. So pre-1920 records are also pre-electric recording, but they account for a little less than half the period in which 78s were issued.

A few other things to note for 78s generally. You will get LOTS of extraneous noise if you don't have a "mono" setting. Use it if you have it, although I'm guessing that player doesn't have one. If it has tone controls, don't be afraid to adjust them to get sound as pleasing as you can; the machine will be set up for LPs, and they have a standard equalization that does not apply to 78s. Don't make the mistake, though, of turning a treble control 'way down to suppress surface noise, as you will also kill the top end of the music. The ear adjusts to noise with surprising ease with a little practice, and decent sounding music with noise is preferable to dull, dead sounding music that still has noise, just a bit less of it. And finally, you've already noted issues about tracking with that tonearm. Don't be surprised if it won't handle 78s that aren't perfectly flat or perfectly centered. Early records make demands on playback gear that your machine was never intended to handle.

[phonograph guy3435]

thanks!