Identifying records for use with a Victrola VV-XI?

[Henry]

I play any and every thing on 78, except the vinyl stuff of course, on my XI. For one thing, without doing some research, it often is difficult to know exactly when a particular record was pressed---and I'm not inclined to do the research! Easy enough, I know, when there are online discographies with this information, but I'd rather spend the time actually listening to the records. Acoustic, electric, batwings, early and later Red Seals, black label big bands, Columbias from all eras, etc., etc.

Just be sure that you use a fresh steel needle for every play (although I confess to stretching that on occasion to two plays for 10" sides)!

[EdiBrunsVic]

The VV XI was made during the acoustic record era. If you want to play records from the same time era as the machine, choose acoustic records.
As noted in other posts, other records made later on will also play on the machine, with proper needles and care.

[Marco Gilardetti]

As happened also previously when an identical question was asked (time perhaps to write a balanced tutorial, methinks...) cautious people hurried to alert that "recent shellacs were not specifially made for heavy pickups", incresing the confusion in the mind of an already puzzled newby.

Although perhaps* correct from a theoretical standpoint, in my opinion this information is of little practical use especially for a beginner, because the progress of the recording/playback technology was not instantly received by customers back then. Most families were not in the position of changing their record players every year or so, and most of them weren't going to do it even if they could. In my experience, the vast majority of late shellac records clearly show the signs of having been played over and over again with steel needles and heavy pickups on portable gramophones or early heavy magnetic pick-ups and alike back then, so little to no further damage could be done by playing them once again, especially if it is done with a nicely rebuilt soundbox and a soft tone needle.

The only reasonable exception IMHO would be a perfect record, with a NOS shiny look that seems to indicate that it had never (or almost never) been played before. Personally, I would indeed reserve these records to lightweight pick-ups, but I would do it with all types of records and not only with later 78s. And, secondarily, it is also very unlikely that such records in "unplayed" conditions may be part of the family heritage of a newby. So, again, a quite unnecessary distinction that is also hard to understand for a beginner IMHO.

(*) I've never read any substantiated data or measures about the groove fragility of later 78s, just common sense and personal opinions brought around from one book/post to another. Common sense would also suggest not to play cardboard Durium discs with heavy pick-ups, but that's exactly how they are supposed to be played, and they play very nicely. Also, gramophones like the HMV 102 portable were still in production in the 50s, and I think it's really difficult to argue that newly made machines were intended to play only records 40 years older than the machines themselves.

In brief: whatever looks made in black flexible plastic and/or has more than one song per side, do not play it on your Victrola. Whatever looks made with a heavy and unflexible black compound, you can play it on your Victrola. Whenever in doubt, take a picture of the record and ask here. Soft tone needles are always to be preferred, especially at first play. Needles must be changed and discarded at every record play (it is OK to play both sides of the same record with only one needle).