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Just got this from Ebay. I haven't seen one of these before that only advertises the needle cut records. Are there others? This one also advertises their radio and portable phonograph lines.

I love the line that these new records can be played "on any phonograph" - except of course a Diamond Disc machine with no third-party adaptor!

Enjoy!

This is quite interesting and thanks for sharing it. It would be even more enjoyable to hear one of the records advertised!

There are some needle cuts on Youtube, but sadly, only a handful or so. I've never found one "in the wild", and never wanted to pay the kind of prices these bring.

Edison needle cut records aren't really anything special sonically. They cost a lot of money now because they are rare, but they didn't bring much of anything to the party technically back in 1929. My biggest complaint is that they are noisy. I've got two 10 inch that are mint - I don't think they were ever played before I got them. And I've played them only with modern equipment, so they've probably never seen a steel needle. But they are just as noisy as the obviously played ones that I have and that I've heard. Edison didn't take much effort in developing the compound that these are pressed from. The lead ins, lead outs, either side, and even the land is noisy. From my experience with compound development at RCA Records, this is a classic case of crappy compound. So owning an Edison needle cut is kinda nice to have to show off, but they aren't that pleasing to listen to. You'll get much better audio from a clean Victor scroll of the same vintage.

I've had some new looking Victor scroll records that are also noisy. An unplayed Columbia Viva-Tona sounds better to me. I would have assumed that the Edison company had some ARC facility press the Edison needle-cut records. So the Edison lateral records were pressed in East Orange New Jersey at the Edison facility???

OrthoSean has a rare Eva Taylor/Clarence Williams vocal/piano Needle Cut record, transfers of which he has shared with me, which corroborates Greg's observations about noisy surfaces. Otherwise nice and rare record, though.

I have one Edison needle-cut record, a very clean copy of the Rodeheaver record #11024 someplace in the archives. I must have bought it at Union decades ago. I don't recall it being particularly noisy, although it has been many years since I have played it.

There is also a B A Rolfe flyer standing in front of a C-2.

I have more than a dozen Edison needle cuts as well as a 12" in original sleeve. No, they are not common but not impossible to find if you are willing to pay more than $50 for one.

The C-4 I own plays them very well but you have to look at which cut and grade Edison gave to it to find a good one.

Kurt
Tacoma, WA

I owned a Needle Cut, it was Waldo Mayo, I paid $ 50.00 for that crappy record lol, and only fetched $20.00 for the record when I sold it, I needed the money. LOL

They are rare, but not exceedingly rare. I would expect to pay more for Vaughn Deleath etc.

beaumonde wrote:OrthoSean has a rare Eva Taylor/Clarence Williams vocal/piano Needle Cut record, transfers of which he has shared with me, which corroborates Greg's observations about noisy surfaces. Otherwise nice and rare record, though.

I just saw this. I think you're a little cloudy with your memory.. ..I have two BA Rolfe laterals, both of which are in very nice E or better condition. One is a little muddy (inherent in the recording, not the shellac) and the other sounds fantastic. I'm thinking you may be confusing the Rolfe transfer which is a bit distorted with the Taylor.

The Eva Taylor / Clarence Williams I have is the second to last DD ever issued. Mine came from unplayed dealer stock and I've never played it on a vintage machine. I did make nice digital transfers of it and they sound amazing.

Sean