Long play needles
Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:01 pm
Can someone tell me if long play needles are good to use they say they can play 20 records each I found a brand called dog and baby
I've seen those before and I believe they're one of the far eastern brands that were a sort of copycat of the HMV brand. They are probably of inferior quality.
I would never trust "long play" needles to play more than one side unless I were using them in an electrical pickup AND on records all of the same era and label that were not in great condition or valuable.
Until quite late in all the years of 78 production, groove dimensions and angles weren't standardised and varied quite widely. So when one of those needles has played one side, it will be ground to fit that particular record and will damage others unless the groove is the same.
A favourite needle of mine (for records that won't play well with BCNs) is Columbia Duragold, which was a multi-play needle. I always discard them after every side, just like all steel needles.