The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Just seen these needles on ebay. Why are they shaped like this. Is there an acoustic reason or just a joke

I've seen them in an advert or in one of those big tin boxes with several types of needles. .
Look in the shaft, to see if there is any identification stamped...

I believe it's so you can vary the tone based on the orientation of the needle - twists in line with the grooves gives loud tone, perpendicular gives softer tone... or something like that

That needle is from the Traumüller und Raum needle factory in Schwabach, Bavaria, Germany. The brand name is Marschall Ondulette. It's a unique design for some reason unknown to me. They came in soft, medium and loud versions as pictured on the needle tin.

There were many weird and wonderful shapes of needle - I would think most of the variations didn't make the slightest difference to the sound ! Here's a selection.....

An ad from the factory...

Curt A wrote:That needle is from the Traumüller und Raum needle factory in Schwabach, Bavaria, Germany. The brand name is Marschall Ondulette. It's a unique design for some reason unknown to me. They came in soft, medium and loud versions as pictured on the needle tin.

Seems I was wrong on the orientation thing then

Gramtastic wrote:There were many weird and wonderful shapes of needle - I would think most of the variations didn't make the slightest difference to the sound ! Here's a selection.....

That's a nice needle card, which I believe was a salesman's sample card. I have several of them and it's fascinating to look at all of the different designs for throwaway needles, some even have the names stamped on each individual needle. It was obviously a time of great pride in manufacturing, when so much care went into the making of an important but small item that is immediately discarded after one or two uses...

If you have more interest in this fascinating subject of phonograph needles and needle tins, you should get a copy of the needle tin "bible" - "Grammophon Nadeldosen" by Horst Dieter Linz which is still available on Amazon and well worth the price. The book is loaded full of high quality color images of almost every type of needle tin that was ever made, along with an approx. price guide and rarity scale.
It's another interesting aspect of phonograph collecting...

https://www.amazon.com/Grammophon-Nadel ... B01HCAU71C

They are obviously going to be superior, they are already shaped like a sound wave!