> Greg, maybe the answer lies in a needle chuck similar to the Pathe? Another related topic is maybe to reconsider the paradigm of round needles.
One thing that makes me shake my head is the "necessity" of breaking in needles by playing them on junk records to "facet" them. In my view, it would be better to pre-form the "needle" tip so it is close to what it would be after it is "broke in" by playing. Of course, this means the needle has to be properly aligned in the reproducer. So this brings up the idea of using non-round needles so when inserted will be appropriately aligned. They could be oval shaped, for example, or even be square or rectangular where they enter the reproducer. This probably precludes screwing them in, but I think there are other innovative ways to fix a needle into the reproducer with a minimum of mass. Maybe with a non-round needle that will free up our thinking to consider new innovative techniques. ***** As a final note, I used to work as a staff scientist and mechanical engineer at three DOE National Labs, and one thing I learned is to always think outside the box. In addition, there are a lot of interesting things that can be done to make materials with very unusual properties that one cannot get with "bulk" anisotropic single materials. Some of the stuff we looked at had amazing properties at the same size scales of 78 needle tips. For example, I believe it is possible to have a material with elastomeric properties that would adapt to a groove, yet be able to appropriately transfer the audio energy to the reproducer while maintaining overall integrity for a number of playings. Jon Noring
