The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

If you ensured that your player is level, then my recommendation is that you try to play a disc in good condition. Pathés in bad shape can become unplayable.

I have several pathé styluses, old and new, all of them in good shape, but I have found some records that I could not play with any of these styluses, when the disc is worn the needle simply skids irrespective of the alignment of the turntable.

It is easy to identify a Pathé in good shape, its grooves are so shallow that when the disc is worn its surface looks dull. A disc with a bright surface is always a playable disc.

They are early Pathé records, the first one I was ;" How you going to keep them down on the farm."(Which I'm terrified I've damaged it.) They aren't Pathé Actuelle records.

I never considered the stylus being glass, I may look into that.

My records aren't the greatest condion on the planet, but they are alright, which I'm scared I've damaged half of them.

I would suspect the stylus is damaged and has a sharp edge. Use a 10x loupe to inspect it. The stylus is relatively large and should look like a ball.

VintageTechnologies wrote:I would suspect the stylus is damaged and has a sharp edge. Use a 10x loupe to inspect it. The stylus is relatively large and should look like a ball.

A bit like looking at the tip of a ball-point pen.

Clay

Here is a picture of the sapphire ball tip of a Pathé stylus. Hope this helps. Cliff