Doug,On the Victor pre-grooved discs could you use heat by placing a lightbulb above the spinning record to soften it? Steve> > Now, on the Victor pre-grooved discs. The system did work, as long as the> plastic disc was soft enough for the recording stylus to re-shape the top> of thr grooves. I've bought several packs of recording styli off of eBay> and at rather reasonable prices. I have several of the early RCA sxets with> the home recording, including an RE-57. Today, the discs have hardened> enough that, while you will get a take on the disc, the modulation will be> faint. Acouple of years ago, I did a quickie off the air on an RCA 381> (1935), and it does play back, but not enough to crack the plaster. My> equipment consist of a few W-G Recordios, and a Presto K8. I have plenty> recording blanks, but again, the acetate has hardened to the point that a> cut is very noisy.......screechy. When I used to buy new blanks in the> fifties, as a kid, the test of freshness was if your fingernail could make> a little dent in the acetate. > > Another thing to think about is whether your recorder (a cutter) has a> crystal cutter head or magnetic. Most home recorders of the forties had> Astatic X26 crystal heads, and they're all dead today. There is a guy in> Canada who rebuilds cryatal pickups, and I believe, crystal cutters. The> Wilcox-Gay and other recorders had crystal cutters on them. > > > > [Original Message]> > From: Andrew Baron <[email protected]>> > To: Antique Phonograph List <[email protected]>> > Date: 12/2/2006 11:05:00 PM> > Subject: [Phono-L] Glass recording discs and home recording systems> >> > I have a bunch of the acetate-surfaced 12" glass recording discs, > > NOS, still in their original wood crate, ca. WWII. They're > > interesting in that you can hold one up to the sun or other strong > > illumination and see right through the disc. The light shining > > through the acetate layers and glass appears as a deep, dark blue- > > gray. The recording surfaces are a perfect mirror-- I'd say smoother > > than the Wilcox-Gay or other home or commercial recording discs or > > acetate transcriptions I've seen. A couple of these have the acetate > > unbonded in great flakes, revealing the clear(er) glass core, but > > most are perfect. Some day I'll see how well they record on the > > Recordio, in relation to their aluminum-cored brethren.> >> > Home recording has interested me, in its various evolutions from > > Edison cylinders to the commercially unsuccessful RCA Victor pre- > > grooved discs of the early thirties to the more successful acetate > > coated disc systems of the late thirties to early fifties. I've > > accumulated all the apparatus to record on these various systems; > > machines, cutting styli, blanks, etc. Have done some experimentation > > with the cylinders and the acetates. I've played around a bit with > > the wire recorders (what a pain that system was! -- Very crude > > arrangement of friction bands and spring tension to regulate speed, > > etc.), but haven't yet attempted recording on the pre-grooved Victor > > system of 1930-31. Those blanks and cutting & playback needles are a > > bit harder to find. I also need to do a full electronic restoration > > on the RE-57 before I can get my feet wet on that system, but it > > intrigues me nonetheless.> >> > Are there any on this list who have experimented with these systems?> >> > Andy Baron> >> >> > On Dec 2, 2006, at 6:49 PM, estott wrote:> > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Walt Sommers" > > > <[email protected]>> > > To: "'Antique Phonograph List'" <[email protected]>> > > Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 7:21 PM> > > Subject: RE: [Phono-L] Glass record> > >> > > Sorry if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you might not be aware that > > > recording and transcription discs were made on glass cores during > > > the war, to save on aluminium. Given an acetate coating the glass > > > blanks functioned just as well as the metal cored ones but they > > > were heavier, thicker, and of course they broke.> > >> > > Now, in reality the government had plenty of aluminum in stock, but > > > attention to scrimping and saving was good for morale and kept > > > people's minds occupied.> > >> > > Eric Stott> >> > _______________________________________________> > Phono-L mailing list> > [email protected]> >> > Phono-L Archive> > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org/archive/> >> > Support Phono-L> > http://www.cafepress.com/oldcrank> > > > _______________________________________________> Phono-L mailing list> [email protected]> > Phono-L Archive> http://phono-l.oldcrank.org/archive/> > Support Phono-L> http://www.cafepress.com/oldcrank From [email protected] Sun Dec 3 11:51:06 2006 From: [email protected] (Steven Medved) Date: Sun Dec 24 13:12:06 2006 Subject: [Phono-L] 2007 Phono-L Mugs Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Hi Loran,What is the e-mail address where I can paypal my annual support for the list?Steve From [email protected] Sun Dec 3 12:12:04 2006 From: [email protected] (Loran T. Hughes) Date: Sun Dec 24 13:12:06 2006 Subject: [Phono-L] 2007 Phono-L Mugs In-Reply-To: <[email protected]> References: <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> On Dec 3, 2006, at 11:51 AM, Steven Medved wrote: > Hi Loran,What is the e-mail address where I can paypal my annual > support for the list? There's a PayPal donation button at http://phono-l.oldcrank.org or you can send to me at [email protected]. Thanks, Loran
