How do you weigh a reproducer, exactly?

[victorIIvictor]

52089 wrote, "The Actuelle phonographs play both vertical and lateral groove records by a simple adjustment on the tonearm."

Thank you for clearing up my misconception. It's good to know that the Pathé Frères Phonograph Company of New York didn't immediately abandon its customers from its vertical-cut heyday. I wonder if its successor, the Pathé Phonograph and Radio Corporation, offered any phonographs with capability to play vertical cut discs. I need to dig out my copy of Dethlefson & Copeland's Pathé Records and Phonographs in America,1914-1922, obviously.

Cody K wrote, "the stylus might well track too lightly, and ride the walls of a groove rather than the bottom, increasing the risk of tracking error (as Mark mentioned) and record damage."

Actually, I was thinking about deficient conceptions of tonearm geometry (e.g., lateral disc players whose tonearms are not offset, but rather centered on the motor board or (with an external horn machine) the case. But, as you point out, insufficient stylus pressure can cause significant tracing/tracking error and record wear, too.

Jerry B wrote, "I couldn't let it rest on my fingertip let alone trying to lift the Exhibition. Try it!"

It's interesting that the shellac compound used in the records intended to be played with, for example, an Exhibition, resulted in a much tougher, stronger record than those that came later--strong enough to bear up to a needle pressure high enough to cause pain! The pickups used in the 1940s and 50s exerted much less pressure on the record's grooves, but such a records are so much easier to break and so much more likely to be found broken in the wild!

Best wishes, Mark