A guide to recommended tip sizes for 78 playback.

[Viva-Tonal]

Here is a portion of a Vintage Jazz Mart (VJM) article written by Mark Berresford and Ron Geesin entitled "A LAYMAN’S GUIDE TO STYLI FOR PLAYING 78s." The complete article may still be on the VJM website.


.0018" Useful for some acoustic Richmond Gennett recordings and some early aluminium and acetate transcription discs.

.0020" Extremely useful for the majority of acoustic Richmond Gennetts. Strangely, the Wolverine Orchestra’s Fidgety Feet/Jazz Me Blues likes a whopping 0.0035"! Also a number of acoustic OKeh ‘field’ recordings (e.g. the 1923 King Oliver OKehs) like this size.

.0024/5" Very useful for acoustic, ‘Truetone’ and some electric OKehs, pre-1920 Victors, most post-war records. Many Paramount 12700 series. English Columbias 1925-26 mainly prefer this size.

.0028" Post-1922 acoustic and electric Columbias, most electric OKehs, acoustic and early electric Paramounts, Gennett (acoustic and electric New York recordings and electric Richmond recordings), Brunswick/ARC (acoustic and electrical), US Decca, Victor 1921-25, most Plaza group acoustics, pre-1931 Parlophone, Black Swan, Cameo, Pathé/Perfect lateral recordings. A good starting size to work up or down from.

.0032" Useful for some Brunswick/Vocalion electrics, post-EMI merger English Columbia/HMV/Parlophones, Columbia acoustics to 1922, some early US Columbia electrics, also some later Columbia electrics where the master has been heavily polished or high numbered stampers have been used. Autograph, some Paramount 12800s (though these vary enormously – up to 0.004"!).

.0035" Most Victor electrics post 1926, some very early Victors (1901-06), acoustic Vocalion, HMV/Zonophone 1925-31, most QRS, Plaza group electrics, Edison Diamond Discs, most Electrobeam Gennett post-6400 issues.

.004" Early electric Victors (1925/6). One notable anomaly is the October 1927 Brunswick session by Johnny Dodds’ Black Bottom Stompers, where the cutter was particularly blunt and all the sides from the session need a 0.004" stylus.