The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I’m enjoying my newly acquired Victor V and thank everyone who offered help and information. The good folks at VRS in St Johnsbury, VT rebuilt the reproducer while I waited in their shop and the old machine sounds much better. I recently had a chat with my 90 year old cousin who remembers using this machine as a child and he asked if I had tried using a thorn apple thorn in place of a steel needle! Back then times were tough, money was in short supply and people made do with what they had. If I try a thorn I think I will use a less valuable machine and on a record I don’t value too highly!

There were needles made of cactus, thorns, bamboo, etc. produced by many companies. Trying a thorn apple thorn certainly won’t damage the machine, but I’d use a record I didn’t care about first to test it.

I love finding new needles out in the wild (in the literal sense) to try on my phonographs. I recently found some great needles while hiking in east Texas last weekend. Some needles sound better than others, just experiment with records you do not care about much first like hismastersvoice mentioned.

-Travis

There are plenty of thorn apples around. People who mow pastures with tractor mounted bush hogs complain that they get lots of flat tires from them. I hope not too many of the period records which came with my Victor V were played with thorn apple needles!

Sherwoodm wrote:I hope not too many of the period records which came with my Victor V were played with thorn apple needles!

Honestly, they are probably gentler than steel needles.

I used honey locust thorns when I lived at home. Whenever I needed needles, I'd just clip some off of the tree.