[Jukebox-list] Damage to needles playing 78s

[Aaron Heverin]

Good stuff, David. Thanks! That's pretty much what happened to that Little Esther record. You can tell that it was played on a Victrola because a phonograph from the late 40s-early 50s would not have done the damage that this record is showing. Shame really. It's a good tune.

I found a Johnny Moore's Three Blazers record in the lot that has a hairline crack just at the opening 30 seconds of the record. I placed the record on a very flat surface and made sure that the crack was 100% flat. Then I put a drop of Crazy Glue on the outer edge of the record to help make sure that the crack doesn't open up again. I've been doing this for years and have been able to preserve damaged records long enough to get a few more plays out of them for recording purposes.

I'm not sure what those original Astatic 51-2 or 51-3 needles are made of. With my eyesite, it looks just like a steel shank to me. The reproduction carts that Bill Bickers sells...or even Ed Saunders... look like a Saphire. Either way, I noticed that in my restored Trashcan...the 51-2 sounds better than the 51-3. I have quite a few of the needles should something happen, but I'd hate to have to keep some really great music out of the juke just because of a few "scratches."



Aaron Heverin