Electric Pickup Phonographs

[ImperialGuardsman]

Hi everyone,

I just recieved a large number of 78's (about 800) from the 30's-50's from a collector who had to many. I know that these should not be played on the old acoustic machines as the reproducers are too heavy and there was no/less abrasives in the shellac to wear down steel needles. What type of old player is best for these?

I only ask because I thought that I read that the early electric pickups were atually worse than the older reproducers, even though they had lighter tone arms. Pictures would be great for do's and dont's.

Thanks,
Nicholas

[OrthoSean]

If you're looking for a "casual listening" experience and don't want to shell out a lot of dough for something good, I'd suggest someting like a Califone, Hamilton or Newcomb school machine. They play all speeds, have a light weight tonearm and needles are a-plenty relatively cheap. You certainly won't get audiophile quality out of one of these, but they're great for casual listening / auditioning discs that are new acquisitions. I keep one on hand all the time for this.

Sean

[ImperialGuardsman]

Sean,

Thanks for responding. I've been offered one like you described for a good price, but my only concern was that these may have been from the era where they caused more damage. I'm sure that most not be the case, judging from your response.

If you would, what are the electric phonographs that were worse (in terms of wear) that the old acoustic ones?

[gregbogantz]

As Sean suggests, these school players are good choices and they will not damage 78s the way the earlier players can. These use cartridges that track at 10 grams or less. The players that are likely to inflict the most damage are those made in the 1930s that used crystal cartridges that were often fitted with "permanant needles". These carts track at 30 to 50 grams and the extra-hard osmium or sapphire needles used with them can wreck a record, particularly the early vinyl 78s from the post WWII period. But you are not likely to find one of these with the crystal cartridge still working, so this may not be much of a temptation.

Another thing to be aware of is the earliest electric players that used the big heavy horseshoe magnetic pickups. When these pickups are properly rebuilt and used with steel needles as they were intended, they will cause no more harm to shellac records than acoustic reproducers. Don't play vinyl on them. But some people fitted them with "permanant" needles and these needles can chew up a record when they become too worn. Because they are not permanant at all - they wear out after about 50 or fewer plays when operated at these high tracking forces. But the main problem with these early magnetic pickups is that they get very stiff because the rubber needlebar suspension parts turn to concrete. If they are not rebuilt, not only will they sound bad but they will wreck you records in just one play, even with the proper steel needle.

So unless you want to nerd around with these old players (as I and other collectors do), your best bet for casual listening is to use one of the school players. They are small, portable, and they actually sound pretty good. The Newcombs are may favorites, but the other brands are good, too.

[VintageTechnologies]

I also recommend one of the Califone or Hamilton commerical record players used in schools. They were used right up to the 1980's and seem to be plentiful. Find a recent one that has a solid-state amplifer instead of a tube amplifier. I answered a local eBay ad and disovered the seller had a dozen at his house to pick from. Many had damaged or missing stylii, but I chose one good machine from that lot for $40.

[FloridaClay]

Another side benefit of these old school machines is that some of them will play the old 16 inch 16 rpm radio transcription discs.

Clay

[ImperialGuardsman]

Thanks for all the thoughts!