New 78's Possibilities...

[Victrolacollector]

This is awesome. Don is a asset to our community. The only problem that I can see is that there are so many good song titles to produce. Where does one start. One of the songs that I would like to see made on Cylinder or Disc is “Puttin on the Ritz.”

[Orchorsol]

I really don't think the small regional labels that proliferated in the 1940's and early 1950's had Banbury mixers. I bet they bought preformed "pucks" of shellac and heated them up on a large hot plate until they were soft enough to put in the press. Of course one still had to have a steam boiler to heat the press.

Quite so, but I think it doubtul that any industrial plants still using Banbury mixers, 2-roll mills and preformers either would want to produce shellac compound, or could successfully produce it straight-off. The fine-tuning and pitfalls that could cause huge pressing problems would probably take a number of trial batches to get right - a batch being around 60 to 80kg for a modest sized Banbury. Pilot scale mixing equipment just doesn't work the same. I used to troubleshoot exactly all this equipment in the rubber industry myself some years ago, on the technical and chemical sides of compounding and moulding - I would love to be positive and encouraging about the possibilities but frankly it would be crazy to even try, unless someone had extreme amounts of money to burn. Donnie is working miracles; it's surely the way ahead.

[gramophone-georg]

I really don't think the small regional labels that proliferated in the 1940's and early 1950's had Banbury mixers. I bet they bought preformed "pucks" of shellac and heated them up on a large hot plate until they were soft enough to put in the press. Of course one still had to have a steam boiler to heat the press.

Quite so, but I think it doubtul that any industrial plants still using Banbury mixers, 2-roll mills and preformers either would want to produce shellac compound, or could successfully produce it straight-off. The fine-tuning and pitfalls that could cause huge pressing problems would probably take a number of trial batches to get right - a batch being around 60 to 80kg for a modest sized Banbury. Pilot scale mixing equipment just doesn't work the same. I used to troubleshoot exactly all this equipment in the rubber industry myself some years ago, on the technical and chemical sides of compounding and moulding - I would love to be positive and encouraging about the possibilities but frankly it would be crazy to even try, unless someone had extreme amounts of money to burn. Donnie is working miracles; it's surely the way ahead.

I agree. Leave it as it is. The cost of equipment and setup to press actual shellac discs will drive the cost of these repros through the roof and make originals look like bargains.

[SteveM]

I'm still super excited about this. Here is my semi-formal request, in case anybody else wants to jump on ...? (I'm not sure though, if this is the appropriate time or place to do this ... I know it's been done in Yankee Trader before.)

Postmodern Jukebox: All About That Bass (would need a length edit to fit a 10" I guess, which I could do if needed ... I do lots of audio production)
Postmodern Jukebox: Thrift Shop (again, would need an edit)
Ray Noble: Midnight, The Stars And You
Dooley Wilson: As Time Goes By

[donniej]

I've sent a message to Postmodern Jukebox and if we can work out the licensing then I'll certainly produce a few of these.

[SteveM]

I've sent a message to Postmodern Jukebox and if we can work out the licensing then I'll certainly produce a few of these.

This is freaking awesome!

[donniej]

It looks like licensing for Squirrel Nut Zippers can be arranged online. It adds ~$10 per song, with a minimum purchase of 25 licenses. Postmodern Jukebox doesn't seem to be listed but here's the link, if you'd like to browse the possibilities, and PLEASE make suggestions!!!

https://secure.harryfox.com/songfile/pu ... search.jsp

[VanEpsFan1914]

"The Ghost of Stephen Foster" by the Squirrel Nut Zippers?

Or perhaps get RAMONA BAKER to wax a few sides for you? She's still kicking and is a wonderful pianist.

[Lucius1958]

It would be nice to have the Crumb vinyl 78s transferred to a surface that could be played on vintage equipment...

That, of course, raises a couple of difficulties: first of all, the copyright and licensing issues, which may be formidable. Second, those 78s were cut for a microgroove stylus: you'd have to remaster them with a wider groove, to fit a steel needle.

Still, it's an interesting possibility.

Bill

[SteveM]

Re: licensing. I need schooling.

If I buy a song on iTunes, for instance, I'm allowed to burn it to cd as many times as I want. I guess I could even put it onto a cassette, if my car had a cassette player. The problem is, I don't have a cassette recorder. Can I get my neighbor to record it onto cassette if I pay him for the cassette and his time? How about if he has a lathe and I don't have a CD player (which I don't : ) or cassette player, but DO have an old phonograph.

In terms of these 78s ... tiny, tiny, numbers ... trying to scrape together as many as 10, even. And for personal use, at that.

I'd gladly buy a song on iTunes and send it to Don and pay him for his time and expenses to put it onto a resin disc that will play it back for me. Just for me.

Where is the disconnect here, that I'm missing? (Honestly asking, in the spirit of learning.)