The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Excuse the rebump of this topic, but has anyone else tried the mentioned ALLOTRIA needles recently? They now come also in nice old-fashioned tins and are an ideal item for a gift to fellow gramophone owners. Any idea wether they are repacked british-made needles, or an original item by Allotria? Thank you.

I too like Bry-O-Phonic for soft tone. For Medium or loud tone I have had great success with Chamberlain Needles. You can find them in old topics here.

If anyone has ever accidentally dropped a worn needle into a cup of fresh needles you can find the worn one with a magnifying glass by simply holding it under a light, looking at the tip and turning it between your fingers. The worn side of the tip will flash reflections or wink at you under the light. Years ago while looking for a worn needle in a cup of medium Bry-o-phonic needles I started seeing how they all winked a little bit! Then looking at them with a loop I could see how rough the tip looked. This is a by-product of the rough way they are produced with ground tips.

I buy Chamberlain medium tone by the thousand and use them in all of my horse shoe type electric pick-ups (i.e. Victor Electrolas, Brunswick Panatropes, Edison needle type, etc) to great success!

WDC wrote:Well, Henry, it just depends on the record you want to play. But I already got rid of mine and only use the mentioned soft and mediums frequently.

Here's what I meant with the both medium needle types. The lower is the pen-shape which I do not prefer at all. The medium and loud Bry-O-Phonics have the very same shape plus nickel plating. The medium needle above is the type that matches the original Victor needles best. They do also differ slightly in thickness and length but it's really the better angle shape that really matters.

I understand the point, (no pun intended), that you're trying to make about shape. However, consider that the portion of the needle body that you're looking at does not ever contact the record and does not necessarily describe the geometry of the point. The functional portion of the needle, (that being the part that rides in the groove), would be virtually invisible to the naked eye.

My problem with Bry-O-Phonic Soft Tones is that they're so thin they cannot be chucked into the triangular blocks meant for fiber needles.

No problem on my Exhibition. As I tighten the screw, the soft-tone needle seeks a corner (almost invariably the farthest from the screw) and nestles there. How does yours behave?

I can't speak for Edisone, but in my Credenza, they would basically act as if they were tight and "jump" while playing. Tightening the thumbscrew to the most possible tightness more than once for me and they would literally snap and break. This is a brass soundbox that has no issues whatsoever with any other needles and never has.

Sean