The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello All,

In my testing of the new Bruce Stylus a couple of times now I have experienced new looking run off areas where once the stylus is placed down on it lines appear. Not really dark lines but noticeable under a decent light. That happened yesterday again. Today I took the same record and placed another barely used Bruce Stylus down on it, same thing happened. Yet when I go a different record there is no obvious sign of the stylus from either head.

I know this has been mentioned before and several explanations have been given for why this happens. A coating added to some records was suggested several times. That may be the issue at hand. Still when discussing wether a stylus is still good often the run off test has been the gold standard for determining that. It may be that a better way is to test they stylus for any black material after the play though the grooves? Even that can be iffy as a record can produce some dust or dirt on the stylus when its been unplayed for a long time. Obviously a noticeable change in the look of the playing grooves would be something to look for. Even there sometimes the first few plays of a new record can slightly change appearance most likely due to the slight variations in shapes of stylus.

Any thoughts on what is the real test, short of having a high powered magnifying glass?

Happy Holidays

Larry

To me, the only objective evaluation of the problem is by an exam of the stylus tip itself under a good microscope, let's say at 100x power. I don't believe a magnifying glass or loupe has the magnification to reveal what you are looking for. In addition to that, I also find that shining an LED flashlight up close from various angles while examining under a microscope reveals a lot that would otherwise be missed! Examine the tip straight-on and in profile. If the tip remains a perfect hemisphere with no facet to indicate wear, then I would suspect variations in the condition of the records themselves.