IMHO - My vote would be NO, NO, and NO. The effective pressure a stylus exerts on the record is a function of contact area. When a record has the correct diameter stylus riding in the groove the weight is distributed evenly across the total contact. To put a 4 minute stylus in the middle of a 2 minute groove raises the effective contact pressure by having a smaller contact point. It is the same weight but on a much smaller area. I have examined 2 minute records played with the wrong 4 minute stylus under a microscope and can see the new track cut into the wax and a path of compression on a 2 minute celluloid which did handle the pressure much better but was not completely unmarred. The Diamond B has a round point contact as opposed to the elliptical contact area of the doorknob C and H styli. The effective pressure per unit area on the recording medium is thus higher than the elliptical. I would surmise that some deformation of the 2 minute groove occurs. I may get out my microscope and check at some future slack time. I have a number of Bacigalupi brown wax recordings that were not done with a pantograph copier but were individual takes. While not great they are very presentable. I took one that was not too hot and tried a Model C on it. The wax was deformed with peaks being worn. The stylus ended up with a wax build up on it. When played with an Automatic the distortion was very apparent up to the point I quit playing with the Model C. Occasionally one may find a 4 minute R that has been fitted with a 2 minute stylus by someone along the way. It will play 2 minute records very well as will an N with a 2 minute stylus. The bugbear of the R and S is that getting the swollen potmetal out of the adapter shoe is a pain when one wants to put in new gaskets and service the diaphragm. A rebuilt R with a tuned up diaphragm and 2 minute stylus plays records very well. There is one more dimension to stylus pressure problems. A sapphire 4 minute stylus will flatten more quickly on celluloid than wax Amberols. The flat spot will damage wax Amberols when it gets too wide. Even the diamond stylus will eventually become worn and thus increase wear on even the Blue Amberols. There is a reason that "modern" LP turntables strove to get the tracking weight down below 2 grams. Less record wear was the goal. Edison was no doubt aware of the problem when the company trimmed the weights on the O reproducers to a trowel shape. Why they did not do all the O weights this way consistently is a mystery with an answer sitting somewhere in the Edison Site vault. Kindest Wishes to All, Al
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