( 
)What needle is needed for your old phonograph? This is the biggest question I get...
Here is a simple explanation of needles and how they differ.
Lateral Cut recordings/records
Victor, Columbia, Brunswick, Silvertone, Decca, Sonora, Sonata, United, Paramount and similar labels were lateral cut recordings. Most basic standard 78's are of lateral cut and are found in most antique shops today.
Lateral cut records can be played using metal needles and fiber needles made of bamboo. Vertical cut recordings became the dominant method of recording and are most common to be found among all early phonograph makers.
Pathé made Lateral discs also, in the later years, expanding their business of selling records that played on these popular machines.
Vertical Cut recordings/records
Edison Diamond Discs and Pathé are Vertical cut recordings.
Edison records required the special Diamond stylus and the Pathe required the Sapphire stylus to play the records. Using a metal needle on these records would produce poor sound and ruin the records.
There were a number of labels that made records in the vertical format such as Edison, Pathé and Brunswick, Starr, , just to name a few.
Cylinder recordings were recorded using the vertical method and also required their special stylus made for that specific model of phonograph such as the Edison Home or the Columbia AT gramophones...
Edison's downfall was that he came up with his own technology of recording his records and not sharing that with other companies, known as the Diamond Disc. Being stingy, other companies adopted the Lateral cut as the universal way to make records. Surpassing him in sales of records and selling of machines. The lateral record became the norm and thousands of phonograph and record companies adopted it as the way records will continue to be in the future.
Kind of like VHS vs. Betamax... We all know how that turned out.
This forced Edison to make an adaptor that allowed a reproducer from a lateral cut phonograph such as Victor to be placed onto his tone arm to play the records. Later, he sold both style reproducers with his machines so people would buy his machines and the buyer could change out the reproducer to which record they wanted to play. But his switch was a little too late and eventually fell out of the phonograph selling race as Victor and Columbia became the top 2 and controlled most of the market at that time.
Brunswick got smart too and sold machines with all three stylus' on the reproducer, so it can be turned to play all type of records using the metal needle, sapphire and the diamond on the same reproducer.
I won't get into specifics of what the records were made of, as the technology was continually changing and because of patents of that time, companies came up with their own special mix of materials for their own records. From bee's wax to plastics to wood pulp mixed with wax, records of the early years can be a mixture of many things and today, brittle to the touch.
©2008 JOHNNYBIGHIT
Here is a simple explanation of needles and how they differ.
Lateral Cut recordings/records
Victor, Columbia, Brunswick, Silvertone, Decca, Sonora, Sonata, United, Paramount and similar labels were lateral cut recordings. Most basic standard 78's are of lateral cut and are found in most antique shops today.
Lateral cut records can be played using metal needles and fiber needles made of bamboo. Vertical cut recordings became the dominant method of recording and are most common to be found among all early phonograph makers.
Pathé made Lateral discs also, in the later years, expanding their business of selling records that played on these popular machines.
Vertical Cut recordings/records
Edison Diamond Discs and Pathé are Vertical cut recordings.
Edison records required the special Diamond stylus and the Pathe required the Sapphire stylus to play the records. Using a metal needle on these records would produce poor sound and ruin the records.
There were a number of labels that made records in the vertical format such as Edison, Pathé and Brunswick, Starr, , just to name a few.
Cylinder recordings were recorded using the vertical method and also required their special stylus made for that specific model of phonograph such as the Edison Home or the Columbia AT gramophones...
Edison's downfall was that he came up with his own technology of recording his records and not sharing that with other companies, known as the Diamond Disc. Being stingy, other companies adopted the Lateral cut as the universal way to make records. Surpassing him in sales of records and selling of machines. The lateral record became the norm and thousands of phonograph and record companies adopted it as the way records will continue to be in the future.
Kind of like VHS vs. Betamax... We all know how that turned out.
This forced Edison to make an adaptor that allowed a reproducer from a lateral cut phonograph such as Victor to be placed onto his tone arm to play the records. Later, he sold both style reproducers with his machines so people would buy his machines and the buyer could change out the reproducer to which record they wanted to play. But his switch was a little too late and eventually fell out of the phonograph selling race as Victor and Columbia became the top 2 and controlled most of the market at that time.
Brunswick got smart too and sold machines with all three stylus' on the reproducer, so it can be turned to play all type of records using the metal needle, sapphire and the diamond on the same reproducer.
I won't get into specifics of what the records were made of, as the technology was continually changing and because of patents of that time, companies came up with their own special mix of materials for their own records. From bee's wax to plastics to wood pulp mixed with wax, records of the early years can be a mixture of many things and today, brittle to the touch.
©2008 JOHNNYBIGHIT
Guide created: 12/19/07 (updated 09/10/09)
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