The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have a 2/4 min. Columbia BET. It has the special reproducer that plays both 2 and 4 min. cylinders. The 2 or 4 min. indestructible cylinders sound pretty good on this machine. When I play these records on my 2/4 min Edison Standard, they sound OK, but not as good as the Columbia. On the other hand, I play Edison 2 or 4 min. records on the Standard, and it sounds great. When I play the Columbia 2 or 4 min. indestructibles, on the Standard, the sound is not that great. Did Columbia indestructible cylinders have a different cut pattern in the groove? I thought all of these cylinders can be played on either machine, provided the speed is correct. Any thoughts on this?
Harvey Kravitz

What type of reproducer are you using on the Standard? H or R or Diamond B? On my Columbia BKT I had the dual speed stylus but it did not play either the 2m or 4m cylinders real well so I replaced it with a an Edison H stylus bar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDVOmba8kAo

Damfino59 wrote:What type of reproducer are you using on the Standard? H or R or Diamond B? On my Columbia BKT I had the dual speed stylus but it did not play either the 2m or 4m cylinders real well so I replaced it with a an Edison H stylus bar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDVOmba8kAo

On my Edison Standard, I use a C reproducer for 2 min. and an H for 4 min. cylinders. It plays the Edisons real well but not the Columbias. That's why I was asking if the groove on the Columbias were cut differently.
Harvey Kravitz

They might have used slightly different sizes in their recording styli, which would explain the difference…

Bill

There also is the possibility of shrinkage of the celluloid used for the different brands through years of poor storage. Columbia was just selling the output of the Indestructible Co. as their own before 1912. The Indestructible 4m would of been a imitation of the Edison 4m wax. Maybe the quality control was just not as good as Edison?

Hopefully somebody could/will comment on the groove pitch used by the two companies. I do know that it is possible to play 2m Indestructible with a Diamond B reproducer without any perceptible damage. I've done this with those that have shrunken and don't track will with C reproducer.

Groove depth can also make a difference. I have a couple of Indestructibles that absolutely will not play on my Amberola 50, which has a diamond stylus that is wearing out and does not track the (relatively) shallow grooves. These records play fine on another machine I have with a good stylus.