The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have seen some phono needles called 'Transcription' needles, like from Recoton. They say 'for playing your own recordings' so does that actually mean these are for playing home-recorded discs, or were they really used for recording those discs? Either way, how did they differ from the typical steel phonograph needle back then? Thanks!

They were made for playing back home recorded discs. I've got some of these, some refer to "shadowgraphed" as well, whatever that was. If there is a difference between these and regular steel needles, it may be that the steel is softer, as a home recorded disc (acetate) would wear out VERY quickly using regular steel needles.

Anyone else care to add to this?

Sean

Shadowgraphing of needles was often done in the early days to ensure quality. A shadowgraph displays an enlarged picture of the subject as its shadow, silhouette, or profile. Think of it as a projection microscope. Steel needles were usually cold-formed by ramming the wire against a die to form the tapered, rounded end. Misadjustment or dirt in the machinery could result in malformed ends that weren't properly rounded or had sharp edges. Such a sharp edge on the tip of a needle would rapidly gouge the record, particularly the soft vinyl ones made by embossing as were the RCA home recordings of the early 1930s.

So sounds like these transcription needles are probably just specially selected needles to assure more perfect points, and maybe softer steel. I might pick up a cheap pack on ebay one day and check them out, maybe see how they wear. If they really are made of softer steel, they might be a better alternative to standard steel needles if one still wants to play newer (late 30s, 40s) 78's on their acoustic machine occasionally. I know it's not recommended, but since my records are all near-worthless, I do it all the time : )