The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Did all Pathé Records start playing from the inside out ward. Or did some start playing at the outer edge??? If so when did they change and why??? Ob

European Pathé records are center-start. American Pathé records both hill-and-dale and lateral ('Actuelle') are edge-start.

All etched label French/Belgium Pathé discs are centre start, but I believe they changed to outside start shortly after the paper label was introduced in 1915.
All French Pathé lateral recordings are outside start, as are all US vertical & lateral recordings.

Thanks. If I ever Found one of these records, I have a High end Turntable with a 78 speed and a reverse function. Would a centere path record play on it if I did it on reverse?? Bob

kidsongs wrote:Thanks. If I ever Found one of these records, I have a High end Turntable with a 78 speed and a reverse function. Would a centere path record play on it if I did it on reverse?? Bob

A reverse function? I'm not sure what you mean by that but I would think you could just adjust the anti-skating and the tonearm would follow the record groove from the center out, just as you could play a center start on a Victor, with the proper reproducer and stylus. It might be difficult to get it to stay in the groove on a modern turntable. The grooves are very shallow.

These center starts are not so difficult to find and are not expensive, except for that very large size. They do sound excellent on original equipment too btw.

kidsongs wrote:Thanks. If I ever Found one of these records, I have a High end Turntable with a 78 speed and a reverse function. Would a centere path record play on it if I did it on reverse?? Bob

Pathé centre starts were recorded at speeds of between 90-100rpm so your turntable will either have to have a speed adjuster that reaches that range, or you would have to record them to CD at 78rpm & speed up the recording in your computer.
By reverse function do you mean you can switch & reverse channel output polarity to enable vertical and lateral recording to be played?
I cant imagine a record player that actually reverses the direction of the turntable