QUESTION ON SPEAK-O-PHONE RECORD

[Pete Stratford]

I had an email from a lady who has this Speak-O-Phone record that is a recording made by her Great Aunt in 1932. She has never heard the content and would like me to play it for her so she can record it. One problem is that It says not to use steel needles. I would need some Bamboo needles which I do not have. What is the story behind these records. Was this something that you could have done at Worlds fair or something??

[CharliePhono]

In addition to fiber (bamboo) needles, I wonder if trailer needles could be used on it. You can see a picture of them on Soundgen's eBay listing at https://www.ebay.com/itm/100-trailer-ne ... 1916350856. I have some by Laubscher which I use on worn records or Hit-of-the-Week discs.

I notice how very similar the graphics on the record sleeve are to the silhouette graphics used on Victor's Orthophonic sleeves. I wonder if it was the same artist? Good luck with transcribing this record. Should be interesting.

[52089]

I would suggest playing this on a modern turntable with a lightweight pickup and recording the result directly to tape or MP3. There are companies that will do this for you if you don't have the right equipment.

There were various ways to get a record made like that. When I was a kid, the local arcade had a small recording booth that made 7 inch 78 rpm acetates that could be played back on a home hifi. I still have 2 of them. Terrible rumble and background noise, but still nice to have.

[Orchorsol]

Pete, I'll happily send you a few sample BCN thorn needles - the record would be perfectly safe with those or fibres (bamboos). Please PM me with your postal address if of interest. I've always really enjoyed helping families to hear personal records from the past like this.

[OrthoSean]

I would suggest playing this on a modern turntable with a lightweight pickup and recording the result directly to tape or MP3. There are companies that will do this for you if you don't have the right equipment.

There were various ways to get a record made like that. When I was a kid, the local arcade had a small recording booth that made 7 inch 78 rpm acetates that could be played back on a home hifi. I still have 2 of them. Terrible rumble and background noise, but still nice to have.

Exactly. These play well with lightweight tonearms and a proper sized stylus. The ones I have if I recall correctly either require a smaller 2.0 or larger 4.0 mil over the "standard" 3.0 mil size. If you want to PM me and send the disc to me, I'd be glad to digitize it for you and return it using minimal noise reduction software. I have 10 different size custom styli and I'd be happy to do so for free.

Good luck,
Sean

[Pete Stratford]

Thanks for the kind offers. A fellow Canadian collector is mailing me a few bamboo needles which should work fine.

Pete

[Curt A]

Personally, I would take Sean up on his very generous offer... it's a no-brainer. Bamboo needles playing acoustically through a horn and trying to record it is not a wonderful solution...