Dumb girl fibre needle question

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3victrolas
Victor O
Posts: 98
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:43 pm
Location: Berryville, VA

Re: Dumb girl fibre needle question

Post by 3victrolas »

If you played these 78s on modern equipment, would there be a little more noise from stray fibers left in the grooves?

gramophoneshane
Victor VI
Posts: 3463
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:21 pm

Re: Dumb girl fibre needle question

Post by gramophoneshane »

Ortho_Fan wrote: BTW, if you're ever in a "baking" mood, here's a recipe for making your own fiber (bamboo) needles:

http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/talkingmac ... eedle.html
How well do these home made needles perform compared to originals?
Originals were chemically treated to make them harder, and ever they have problems making it through one side of a record on occasions.
The parafin wax is obviously added as lubrication in the link above, but personally I think that would also leave more debris in the groove?
Another problem I see in the link above, is that all 3 sides are cut from the soft inner fibres of the bamboo skewer.
Originals ALWAYS leave the outer shell/bark on one side of the needle, as this is by far the hardest part of the plant, and would help stop the point breaking down as quickly.

Surely needles made according to those instructions must give very poor results compared to originals?
Is it really worth all the effort or a waste of time?

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