'Transcription' needles?

[frenchmarky]

I have seen some phono needles called 'Transcription' needles, like from Recoton. They say 'for playing your own recordings' so does that actually mean these are for playing home-recorded discs, or were they really used for recording those discs? Either way, how did they differ from the typical steel phonograph needle back then? Thanks!

[OrthoSean]

They were made for playing back home recorded discs. I've got some of these, some refer to "shadowgraphed" as well, whatever that was. If there is a difference between these and regular steel needles, it may be that the steel is softer, as a home recorded disc (acetate) would wear out VERY quickly using regular steel needles.

Anyone else care to add to this?

Sean

[gregbogantz]

Shadowgraphing of needles was often done in the early days to ensure quality. A shadowgraph displays an enlarged picture of the subject as its shadow, silhouette, or profile. Think of it as a projection microscope. Steel needles were usually cold-formed by ramming the wire against a die to form the tapered, rounded end. Misadjustment or dirt in the machinery could result in malformed ends that weren't properly rounded or had sharp edges. Such a sharp edge on the tip of a needle would rapidly gouge the record, particularly the soft vinyl ones made by embossing as were the RCA home recordings of the early 1930s.

[frenchmarky]

So sounds like these transcription needles are probably just specially selected needles to assure more perfect points, and maybe softer steel. I might pick up a cheap pack on ebay one day and check them out, maybe see how they wear. If they really are made of softer steel, they might be a better alternative to standard steel needles if one still wants to play newer (late 30s, 40s) 78's on their acoustic machine occasionally. I know it's not recommended, but since my records are all near-worthless, I do it all the time : )