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I just got a Sapphire needle today and was excited to use it with my Pathé records. To discover it's not working at all, not tracking the record and leaving what appears to be damage lines around it.

I'm using my 1919 Silvertone IX with the vertical adapter, it is advertised to play Pathé records, so I have no idea what's going on... My Pathé records are in an alright shape, not the greatest but alright. I got the Sapphire needle new on eBay from "guido-phonograph", so I don't suspect any problems with the needle.(Unless I did something to it in the first five minuets of getting it.)

Any advice would be very helpful, and appreciated.

Thanks, Ben.

Tracking is a touchy thing with Pathés. Is your machine sitting level? Is there ANY drag on the tone arm pivot?

JerryVan wrote:Tracking is a touchy thing with Pathés. Is your machine sitting level? Is there ANY drag on the tone arm pivot?

Yes, it is sitting level and there appears to be no drag with the tone arm.

Machines playing Pathé records need to be exactly level. Otherwise the tone arm will skate. But if you are seeing marks on the records I have to suspect that the stylus is defective. Have you looked at it under magnification? You should see a smooth, polished, rounded tip.

Clay

I second the notion of a damaged stylus. One slight mishandling event can fracture the sapphire (dropping onto the record, knocking it against the side of the turntable, the list goes on). It could have also been damaged upon receipt, it happens. Take a look at it under magnification if possible.

For a few of my Pathé's if I remove the screw holding down the tone arm that seems to solve my problem, they play alright. (But for the others it's the same situation.)

Is there anyway to repair the sapphire stylus? (Or is that just pointless?) It just annoys me that I just got it and there's already a problem. Anyway to resolve this problem without sending it back and getting a new one?

I did look at it with a magnifying glass and see a point, but to be honest I'm really not that sure what i'm looking at/for.

Benjamin_L wrote:

I did look at it with a magnifying glass and see a point, but to be honest I'm really not that sure what i'm looking at/for.

Is it possible you ordered an Edison stylus for your Pathé, i.e., a stylus used on Pathé machines to play Diamond Discs? A stylus for Pathé records is a smooth round ball that would have absolutely no evidence of a point.

52089 wrote:

Benjamin_L wrote:

I did look at it with a magnifying glass and see a point, but to be honest I'm really not that sure what i'm looking at/for.

Is it possible you ordered an Edison stylus for your Pathé, i.e., a stylus used on Pathé machines to play Diamond Discs? A stylus for Pathé records is a smooth round ball that would have absolutely no evidence of a point.

No, I got a Pathé styles.(http://www.ebay.com/itm/271875787889?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT ) I even consider it and tried one of my Edison's and a normal steal needle sounded better, A lot better. So I have no idea.

You're sure they're not Pathé Actuelle records, which are cut horizontally?

Give the tip a good look- a bunch of Pathé styluses with glass balls instead of sapphire made it onto the market some years back and they were sold by reputable dealers who weren't aware.The glass wears quickly.