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Hello all,
I ended up buying a Pathé phonograph and it came many Pathé records. Many say Sapphire Record on them while others do not say this.
I do have a couple of needle cut Pathés which clearly state what they are but I’m curious as to how to tell what a Pathé sapphire record is from a Pathé needle cut.

Any help would really be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Gerald.

To the best of my knowledge, all Pathé needle cut records are marked as such and will say "Actuelle" on the label, at least in the USA. Anything without those markings will be a vertically cut record requiring a sapphire stylus.

52089 wrote:To the best of my knowledge, all Pathé needle cut records are marked as such and will say "Actuelle" on the label, at least in the USA. Anything without those markings will be a vertically cut record requiring a sapphire stylus.

52089,

Thank you very much!
Also when I held them to the light it did look like many of them had a very different pattern than that of lateral cut records!

When in doubt, here's an easy way to tell: put the record on a modern turntable and set the playback to "mono." If the record is vertical cut, all you'll get is surface noise or surface noise with a very, very weak musical signal. There's also a good chance the tonearm will skate merrily across the surface, so watch out. If the record is lateral, playing it in "mono" will give you a strong musical signal, and you shouldn't have skating issues.

[edit] So I take it you managed to come to a meeting of the minds about that Pathé upright we discussed over in the "machines" forum? Good luck with it!

52089 wrote:To the best of my knowledge, all Pathé needle cut records are marked as such and will say "Actuelle" on the label, at least in the USA. Anything without those markings will be a vertically cut record requiring a sapphire stylus.

"At least in the USA" is the key-sentence of this post. It's quite exactly the opposite elsewhere.

Thank you all for your help. To test on a modern turn table should I use my LP stylus or the 78 stylus?

Thanks again!

The 78 stylus.

Marco Gilardetti wrote:

52089 wrote:To the best of my knowledge, all Pathé needle cut records are marked as such and will say "Actuelle" on the label, at least in the USA. Anything without those markings will be a vertically cut record requiring a sapphire stylus.

"At least in the USA" is the key-sentence of this post. It's quite exactly the opposite elsewhere.

Really? I have a few French Pathé discs, both etched label and paper label, none of which say "Actuelle" or the equivalent of "needle cut" and they are all vertical, sapphire records. Could you please clarify your comment and/or provide examples?

I do not have any French Pathé laterals, so I have no idea how they are marked.

Thanks!

Hello all!

I gave drh’s tip a try on one sapphire labeled record and one not, they both easily skid when helped and did not sound very loud so I think I have many sapphire records.
Now for another question; can a sapphire stylus be damaged if it is accidentally placed on a regular lateral cut record? Also, will a crack in a Pathé Record damage a stylus?

Thank you all for your help! It’s greatly appreciated!
Gerald.

VictorVV-X wrote:...
Now for another question; can a sapphire stylus be damaged if it is accidentally placed on a regular lateral cut record? Also, will a crack in a Pathé Record damage a stylus?

Thank you all for your help! It’s greatly appreciated!
Gerald.

Risk to your stylus depends on the crack, but one thing seems to be universal: Pathé vertical cut discs are prone to nearly invisible hairline cracks that sound like gunshots in playback, presumably because of the vertical modulation.