Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

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operabass78s
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Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by operabass78s »

I've wanted to do this for a long time and would like to know how. I want to wire a phono cartridge for vertical playback so I can finally listen to my diamond discs etc. I have a Stanton 400 v.3 for LP discs and a Pickering 4604-D3 for 78 RPM discs. I tend to shop at KAB USA so I am wondering if I should use one of these cartridges or a stylus of a different diameter for vertical. Also, I notice the cartridges have 4 wires that are clipped to the stylus, probably for audio signal (I have no clue on electrical wiring, etc). I have provided a (very) rough schematic. This is what one of the cartridges looks like when the stylus is down in playing position. Any help is appreciated.

Image

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Viva-Tonal
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Re: Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by Viva-Tonal »

Swap the red and green wires.

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Shane
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Re: Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by Shane »

Well, in technical terms, what you want to do is wire the two channels in series. In simple terms, what you want to do can be accomplished in a few steps:

First off, if your 78rpm cartridge is mono-wired already, skip step one and go straight to step 2.

1) Take the RCA cables that connect the record player to your amplifier. Cut the wires, and strip them. Each cable has two wires inside, so strip each one, and make sure the two wires don't touch. Then connect (preferably solder) the two positive terminals together... these are the two wires that go to the "pin" at the ends of the RCA Cables. By the way, you don't necessarily have to ruin the cable coming out of your record player... you can get double female RCA connectors at a Radio Shack or other electronics store, and then connect another RCA cable to it which you'll cut up. This will act to mono wire your phonograph, making it proper for regular 78rpm discs.

2) I'm having trouble reading your diagram, so bear with me here. Once the cartridge is wired for mono, simply switch the positive and negative wires on ONE channel (i.e. either the left or right hand side). Then you'll have it wired for vertical.

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Wolfe
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Re: Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by Wolfe »

If by chance you have an older amplifier with a mono switch, you could swap the red/green, then punch the mono button and that should do the trick.

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Viva-Tonal
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Re: Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by Viva-Tonal »

The diagram is meant to illustrate the rear end of a Stanton 500 pickup. This is a stereo pickup.

The gold in the upper right is to indicate a small copper strip which runs from the pin to which the blue wire is connected, to the metal outer casing of the cartridge. This is the negative side of the left channel of the cartridge, which is grounded to the headshell, tonearm, etc.

The white wire is the positive lead for the left channel.

The green wire is the negative lead for the right channel; the red wire, the positive lead.

My statement, reverse the red and green wires, renders the right channel out of phase relative to the left channel, and preserves the shielding of the cartridge.

PS--What Wolfe said, too!

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operabass78s
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Re: Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by operabass78s »

I do have a mono switch on the stereo amp/console (I have one of those giant old, paneled wood consoles that's about the size of a volkswagon). So I think the general consensus here is to swap the red and green wires on the 78 RPM cartridge? (I bought one specially to do this so I have a "Vertical Only" cartridge). If someone is familiar with the stanton cartridges how should I do this? I just don't want to risk damaging the cartridge. My assumption would be tweezers or something of the likes.

P.S. Kudos to whoever figured out what the schematic was supposed to be :D

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Re: Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by Viva-Tonal »

Needle-nose pliers are what you want.

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Wolfe
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Re: Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by Wolfe »

operabass78s wrote:I do have a mono switch on the stereo amp/console (I have one of those giant old, paneled wood consoles that's about the size of a volkswagon). So I think the general consensus here is to swap the red and green wires on the 78 RPM cartridge? (I bought one specially to do this so I have a "Vertical Only" cartridge). If someone is familiar with the stanton cartridges how should I do this? I just don't want to risk damaging the cartridge. My assumption would be tweezers or something of the likes.

P.S. Kudos to whoever figured out what the schematic was supposed to be :D
You can use pliars to remove the wires if you are extremly careful. Problems arise if you pull too hard or jerk your hand and accidentally rip the connector off the end of the delicate tonearm wire. :o I've done that, it's not fun.

With tweezers it can be hard to get a good grip if the connections are really tight.

Another way to go is to use something like a flat blade screwdriver or pocket knife, to gently push the connectors (by their edge) off of the cartridge pins. And then use tweezers or pliars to reconnect them.

As far as damaging the actual cartridge, that's probably not going to happen, but be careful of the stylus, if it's removeable, remove it during the job.

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Shane
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Re: Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by Shane »

"I do have a mono switch on the stereo amp/console (I have one of those giant old, paneled wood consoles that's about the size of a volkswagon)."


Those are the best kind, my friend! What brand is it?

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Re: Wiring a cartridge for Edison/Pathé/Etc.

Post by Valecnik »

Operabass,

So then I assume you would have separate headshells and switch out the headshell and cartridge when you want to go back to laterally cut discs? That should work.

I know you can also (and some companies like this one offer http://www.esotericsound.com/) a turntble with a lateral/vertical switch installed. One should also be able to do that yourself but I've never tried it. Then you would not have to mess around with the cartridge and can just slip any sized stylus you like into the cartridge. It's really easy to remove/reinsert them.

In any case your DDs will sound infinitely better with either approach I think. Adding an old equalizer or doing some equalization via pc will help even more. BTW for the optimum sound out of DDs the recommended stylus size is .35 mils eliptical.

Good luck, bruce

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