Thorn as needle for 78s

Naturelover

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I read in a book that someone has used a thorn instead of a steel needle. This is in the 1930's.

Excerpt:
I'm using a thorn needle instead of a steel one so as not to wear out the grooves. It seems to work

Any thoughts and opinions?
 
Thorn... very organic sound! :lol:

Yes, I've heard of of that being done. It is the opposite of my young-days trick of listening to the record with a pin held between my teeth.

The thorn would be quite woody and relatively hard --- you wouldn't want in in your finger! It would work.
 
Hi,
Using wood (Bamboo) needles is not new. Early 78 rpm records were made using abrasive materials so as records have less chance of wear than needles, which are easily replaceable. Wood needles were used for one or two plays only as they easily wear out and were cheap.
Regards.
 
Steel needles came in grades of soft/hard. I vaguely remember (iirc) "very soft" ones which were supposed to be used only once.
 
hah hah, no... I did that with pins of the sewing kind. On a wind-up gramophone too!

The Radiogram that was the music source of my early life played only 78s. Quite apart from the records that I actually broke or cracked, I'm sure I wore out many others using old, blunt needles, as the packet always seemed to be empty.
 
to be held between the teeth thad ?? :lol:
Bro,
how about needle fixed to diaphragm of stethoscope. A Headphone for vintage windup gramophone for 'critical' listening. :lol:
Regards.
 
I'm not sure it meant using actual thorns, google says it was some sort of brand for wooden/fibre needles

Google may well be right! I haven't played 78s for fifty years!

Bro,
how about needle fixed to diaphragm of stethoscope. A Headphone for vintage windup gramophone for 'critical' listening. :lol:
Regards.

What a brilliant idea! A real stethoscope would have been beyond my means as a child, but I had plastic toy ones. I wish I'd thought of that then! :eek:hyeah:
 
A real stethoscope would have been beyond my means as a child, but I had plastic toy ones. I wish I'd thought of that then! :eek:hyeah:
In old :)D) days I had accidently dropped a Nazia Hassan record which broke a little chip at the edge. I used to fix stationery pin to match box and listen. You can call it High Fiddle-ity :lol:
Regards
 
I used to fix stationery pin to match box and listen

Another great idea!

You can call it High Fiddle-ity

:)

I just plain broke a few records, but more often would be the crack that appears from centre to one edge. One click per rotation, hence the old saying about a cracked record. There was no way to repair back then, but I wonder if, these days, superglue might do the trick, being a very thin fluid that might run into the crack without leaving audible deposit in the grooves.
 
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Probably shellacs can be repaired and digitized. (As the joint will make clicks which can be removed digitally) But not 33 rpm microgrooves vinyls, as groove walls are 0.075 mm.
Regards.
 
not 33 rpm microgrooves vinyls ...

Apart from surface damage, they are very resilient things anyway. Ever tried to destroy one? :cool: Render unplayable, easy, but actually break into pieces, very hard indeed.
 
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