Okay, I started out with the stylus pressure on my GE RD-410-8 (GE C-650 ceramic ctg.) at 4 grams, or just a hair over, according to my Aiwa stylus pressure gauge. I lightened it up to 3 grams after reading the specs in the service manual (2.5-4.5 grams). From what I understand, 3 grams is still heavy by comparison to "modern" cartridges, but how much do I need to worry about record wear at 3 grams of pressure?

I remember when I was a little kid (4-5 years old, in the mid 70's) I had a little battery-operated portable player that I played my kid records on (Disney, mostly), but my dad said I couldn't play any of his records on my player because it would wear out the records, and that my kid records couldn't be played on his player, even though I was VERY careful with my records not to scratch them, because after being played on my player my records would wear out his stylus. How much truth is in that?

3.5 to 4 grams is probably good for that machine for playing a mixed bag of records. If you track too light for the stylus to follow the high frequencys it will cause more wear than tracking a little heavier will. If it sounds good at 3 grams and trips reliably at the end of the records you should be fine.

Many kiddie phonographs from the 1960s often tracked at almost 10 grams and used a high-output and stiff (3 volt) cartridge which will certainly cause significant wear on good records. Your GE cartridge is better than that.

Ken D.

Long,long time ago we would place coins on the tonearm in order for the "needle" to track properly.
BOB

If you follow the hype, and succumb to propoganda directed towards the masses, you'll eventually go nuts just like all the rest of them.

I'd suggest that 4 to 5 grams in a properly operating changer is fine to play records with.
Please, don't go nuts over this.

Well, thus far the only skipping problem I have had at 3 grams is with records that were scratched or badly scuffed (mostly thrift store finds, though two were from EBay), and going back to 4 grams certainly did not alleviate that problem, so I put it back on 3 since it sounded fine with good records.

The main thing is to set the tracking force to the recommended value for the cartridge being used. Over the years; I've found that playing a record with a damaged stylus/cartridge causes much more damage than playing a record in the 3-5 gram range.

I agree that the kiddie player is not the best thing to play good records on because they track very heavy and use the cheapest tonearm/cartridge combination possible. If you play a record at 3-5 grams on a properly working record changer with a good cartridge/needle, I don't see that your records will wear quickly. I'd be willing to bet that most of the records that I got second-hand were played on a ceramic cartridge equipped record changer and these same records still sound fine when played on a more advanced magnetic cartridge equipped turntable. In fact, a bunch of my albums were played on a Magnavox micromatic record changer with a ceramic cartridge tracking in the 3-4 gram range and they sound fine today when played on more advanced equipment.

Well, I played my old kid's records on the GE changer for MY kids. Considering I was playing it through the speaker of my A-K 40 via my 12AT6/12CS6 transmitter, the old records didn't sound too bad, and Warren & Naomi (aged 5-1/2 and 4, respectively) were fascinated by it - especially when it changed the records!

My parents old RCA Victor console tracked at 5 grams, and the (well played) records I still have from it play just fine to this day, even on my component system.

I still have a number of old LP's, mostly classical, that survived my years with my old Motorola console, which had a replacement changer using a ceramic cartridge. Devil knows its tracking force, but it certainly was heavier than any magnetic cartridge arm. Those LP's were among my favorites, so they racked up some mileage.

They still track well and sound acceptable with my component system, albeit with a bit of surface (wear) noise and, in some cases, slight high end loss, which gets worse toward the hub of the disc.

Considering the use these discs got, I'm happy that they survived as well as they did. No one can deny, however, that heavy arms can cause record damage.

On the other hand, faulty needles cause even more damage.

Larry

With my Miracord 50H with a Stanton pickup I track 78s at 3.5 to 4 grams with excellent results.

Well, at 3 grams, my GE tracks 33's. 45's, and 78's equally well. Obviously, if the record is badly scratched (like some of my LP's ) the needle skips, but otherwise it works great. My 1940's vintage Johnny Mercer 78's sound FABULOUS when I play them through the Type "E" speaker on my A-K 40, via my 12AT6/12CS6 transmitter!