I recently restored a Philco 46-1226 console with a D-10 turntable. I wanted to upgrade the needle/cartridge. I'm not going to be playing any rare records that need to be handled special. I just want to be able to listen to my small stack of 78s on ocaision. Any suggestions?
Ben

That changer with the tiny little platter?
You don't have much choice with those.
They are crude and clunky, track at something like an OUNCE of needle pressure.
That translates to 28 grams - and wears records fast.
I'd keep it for "show" if anything.

That changer with the tiny little platter?
You don't have much choice with those.
They are crude and clunky, track at something like an OUNCE of needle pressure.
That translates to 28 grams - and wears records fast.
I'd keep it for "show" if anything.

go to http://www.thevoiceofmusic.com and tell them what you need and he'll get it for you

click on cartridges and then scroll down to cartridge help and tell them what you want and he'll get back to you immediatly

Little? Crude? Clunky?
That describes me pretty well
When I get home I'm going to weigh the tracking. It couldn't be over 14 grams, in fact I might have to tape a few quarters on it to get it to not skip

Seriously, The amount I'll be playing it I'm not too worried. Might call it a "functional" show piece.

Voice of Music it is...thanks

Repair Tech, I looked up the tracking weight in the manual.
You are sooo wrong! The top end is 1-1/4 oz!

So instead of tracking at 28 grams it tracks at 35 grams. Instead of having a brick on the needle, it has a concrete block. I understand now............

Nice!
You'll never need to clean the records you'll play on that changer - the needle itself will dig and plow the dirt out of those grooves.

...and the non-toxic coal dust like residue left behind cleans up in a jiff with any whisk broom and a dust pan.

I personally dont see a problem with a 35gram tracking weight for shellac 78's. I remember reading somewhere that around 90 grams was the recommended maximum for shellac, & I doubt any acoustic machine would track at anywhere near as light as 35 grams. Most of my acoustic machines track in the region of the 90 gram max, and some records I've been playing fairly regularly for over 30 years & they show very little or no signs of wear.
I do have a few machines that I wont play good records on as they DO wear records because they track at 173 grams!
So is 35 grams really that much of a problem to play the occasional Bing Crosby or Doris Day 78?

I think so. There is a big difference between the old acoustical machines and the records that were designed to be played on them versus the more modern electrical recordings and pickups. The manufacturers were constantly striving for lighter tracking forces to reduce record wear, needle talk and surface noise.

We were just having fun with the heavy tracking forces that the old machines used to track at compaired to more recent techniques. I think most of us are aware that the manufacturers were only doing what was necessary at the time.

I guess this raises an important question. Since the Philco was manufactured in '46, how can a person determine which 78s it was engineered for? Or, is it fuzzy science with overlapping pressing formats?

I also think I'm going to have West-Tech rebuilt the cartridge and stylus. I've spent a lot of time keeping the restoration original and as I've said before I'm not going to be playing it every day. Gary at VM has been real helpful but a newer cart would have lower output and his NOS crystal cart would be buying into the same problem. If I remember correctly the crystals in those degrade over time.

It will play any 78 made of shellac. Some of the very late 78s were made of a heavy vinyl, I would avoid them, although they would probably be OK as they were made to be played on a 1946-vintage turntable.

-David

I play ALL my 78s on acoustic machines regardless of age. Even my vinyl 78s get played occasionally on acoustic machines, although for those I use a special needle that HMV produced (I dont think Victor ever made them) called trailer needles.

There is a niche for everything on this forum. I play all my records, including 78-rpm with magnetic cartridges, none tracking over 4-grams. I don't have any 78'rpm records older than Harry James' Music Maker from '41. I've never owned an acoustic machine but I have operated them and found the music and the sound quality difficult to pay attention to. It was like listening to canned music over the telephone while on hold.

That's because those old crankers don't have bass-treble controls and no darn woofers.
I'd sooner listen to Miss Pope in 2nd grade scrape her long fingernails on the blackboard.

According to Welch & Reed in "From Tinfoil to Stereo"(1959) the Victor No.2 reproducer traked at 120 grams & the Orthophonic reproducer tracked at 140 grams. I have a pair of Victrola VV-Xs that use the No.2 & a 1926 Credenza that uses the Orthophonic one. I clean my 78s before playing them & change the needle after each side. The records don't seem to suffer for it, & I have enough of them that I don't play the same ones over & over. As for what era of records to play on acoustic machines, some folks say don't play anything past c.1935 on any of the older windups. The claim is that 78 records made after that were of a softer shellac, & the tracking force of the tonearms got lighter as the records got softer. As an experiment I played a late 1940s classical set of "The Moldau"(Dvorak) on my Credenza, carefully looking for any shellac debris off the needle. I didn't see any. But the record had better frequency response than a late 1920s 78 plus it seemed to have a lot louder cut grooves(higher signal to noise ratio). So overall the sound coming from the Credenza wasn't as pleasant compared to records of the 1925-1930 period. It sounded a tad harsh, even using soft tone needles.

Newer records are much more heavily modulated, moving the stylus from side to side much further. They also have wider frequency range so the wave form is much more complex. The old mechanical reproducers were not designed to play records from the future, just as you shouldn't play a stereo record with a mono cartridge. The damage may not be obvious after the first play but it's slowly tearing up the record.

Ben and Friends,

I’m not familiar with the tone arm set up on Philco 46-1226 but using either springs or counter-weights you can lighten the tracking force so that you can use a more modern ceramic cartridge that tracks in the 3-5 grams range. I’m a big fan of acoustic and in particular orthophonic phonographs, but I agree with Doug’s comments that the old mechanical reproducers weren’t designed to play records from the future. They simply don’t have the compliance capabilities (ability to track and pick up the wider frequency ranges) recorded and pressed into later period records. Not only is the weight of the reproducer/sound box so much greater, the crude design of rubber flanges and diaphragm gaskets can’t touch the flexibility of the tiny, soft rubber yoke in a ceramic cartridge. Also important, a more modern cartridge and lighter tracking weight won't wear your 78 records as much as older pick ups.

When restoring these to service, I'd recommend all electrically amplified phonographs or record players be upgraded so that the stylus will kiss the record. Look for a ceramic cartridge with a 3.0 mil sapphire needle. There are many. If your tone arm can fit a popular standard half inch mount, the Pfansteihl P-132 which replaces the Varco TN4A works nicely. The Output voltage is 0.4v and it tracks at 4-6 grams. I know this cartridge has a dual stylus (for 45/LP 0.7mil diamond) but for the price, you can clip off the plastic 78/LP switch if it won’t fit. If available and the price is the same or (typically) lower, look at the Pfanstiehl P-182 with optional replaceable 3.0 mil 78 stylus. It’s important that the needle size is 3.0 mil.

One of the most popular recommended dealers on ARF is Gary, located at http://www.thevoiceofmusic.com, for good advice and a good source.

Jack

I'd be interested in seeing HOW a Philco D-10 changer can be made to track and TRIP at 3-5 grams..... reliably.
Those older changers were crude affairs with crude pivots and trips.