What's This Stylus?

[Cody K]

This was given to me in the belief that it was a sapphire stylus for the Pathé Actuelle. Closer inspection shows that it's not. It has an ivory-colored shaft, and the tip appears to be brass with an inset point of a silver-colored metal. Anyone recognize this? My apologies for the blurred picture -- my camera's lens won't let me get closer.

[OrthoSean]

Looks like a stylus for playing Diamond Discs. If the tip is OK on it, you can use it on your Actuelle for them, but I wouldn't play Pathés with it.

Sean

[gramophone78]

Looks like a stylus for playing Diamond Discs. If the tip is OK on it, you can use it on your Actuelle for them, but I wouldn't play Pathés with it.

Sean

To further what Sean has written.....it is either made from ivory or whale bone. You can find needles on Ebay from time to time made from the same.

[Cody K]

Thanks so much! It'll still come in handy then, when I get my hands on some Edison discs, which is bound to happen eventually!

[HisMastersVoice]

Yes, it's a diamond stylus. I have one in brass which is a loud tone, the ivory (or bone) would be considered a medium tone I believe.

[VintageTechnologies]

That is indeed a diamond to play Edisons with, except I wouldn't. I am convinced that anything but an Edison will wear your records quicker than an Edison. If you must play something with it, chew up some Hawaiian records.

[Cody K]

So, who was this marketed to? Was it specifically made for the Actuelle player, for use with Edison discs, or was it intended for a wider audience? Can it be attributed to a particular company, or was it a commonly produced after-market accessory? Is it something that would be used with a reproducer like the Ultona?

If I remember correctly -- haven't seen one in many years -- the Edison Diamond Disc stylus "floats" above the record suspended by a silk thread, making it relatively light on the surface of the record -- much the same way a cylinder phonograph stylus works. Clearly an arrangement of that kind is going to be kinder to a vertically-grooved record than a tone arm that carries more weight.

The sapphire ball on the Actuelle stylus would seem to be more gentle than this on the Actuelle record's groove, even at the Actuelle's needle chuck's 45-degree fixed angle. This one, having such a sharp point, does seem as if it would treat an Edison record's surface pretty harshly.

I've gotta run out to the store and pick up some Hawaiian Edisons. BRB.

[Dave]

That is indeed a diamond to play Edisons with, except I wouldn't. I am convinced that anything but an Edison will wear your records quicker than an Edison. If you must play something with it, chew up some Hawaiian records.

I agree 100%...you play your DD's at their peril...Aloha!

[OrthoSean]

I agree 100%...you play your DD's at their peril...Aloha!

I have three or four of these made for playing Edisons on other machines, really any machine that plays vertical cut discs would be able to use of these. I agree with the above two posters, don't play anything good with them, if you want to hear DDs the best way, find a nice lab model Edison with a good stylus (a challenge in itself these days, though) or perhaps a Brunswick, I have a BR-260 that I play DDs with often enough and it's very gentle, but it doesn't have the sound of a good DD machine. I got a sealed one labeled "Brunswick" with a bunch of stuff a couple of years ago and decided to open it and try it out after checking the point with my microscope. Perfect point, but it STILL left a grey trail as it played. I tried it on both my Cheney and my Actuelle. The only one of these I have that I'd use on rare occasion is the Cheney Edison stylus. It seems to be "tougher", perhaps a real diamond point and I've played a number of DDs on my Actuelle with it. These were sold by several companies as both sapphire and diamonds specifically for Edisons and I don't really know how you could tell the difference.

My personal choice of test Diamond Discs with things like this are the dozens of copies I seem to have accumulated of "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen". I swear the multiply when I turn the lights off downstairs.

Sean

[Victrolacollector]

I also agree with the previous posts, do not play good Edison Diamond Discs with these, you risk damaging your records. I did have two of them in good condition that I sold. They did not damage my records, but you just never know what can happen.

I recommend a Edison machine to play Edison records. Thats just my two cents.

P.S. Any really rare records in the 52000 series, I would play on a electric machine which is modified to play Edisons.