What does one need to know about playing old 78 rpm records?


I am wanting to go through some of my Dad's records.  These are from the 30's, 40's and 50's. How does one tell if they are shellac or vinyl?  If I want to play them does the substrate matter?  I have a Hana MC cart on a ClearAudio table and don't want to damage it. I'm fearful of worst case hitting a bad spot in the record that sends the arm and cart cascading across the whole record at 78 rpm.  I have a second setup - Rega P3 table with a Sumiko cart, but I don't think it's capable of 78 rpm.

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Showing 1 response by minkwelder

Virtually all pre-WWII 78's (and some after) were made with shellac resins, so don't use any alcohol for cleaning.

Be sure to follow the manufacturers recommended tracking force on your made-for-78 cartridge to avoid stylus and record wear and prevent skips and distortion.

Before the mid-1920's, the actual speed of these recordings was not standardized and varied among manufacturers, so a turntable with pitch control is a plus. The mid-20's also marked the beginning of electronic recording, using amplifiers to drive the lathe. The sound improvement was dramatic.

If you want to venture farther into the world of 78rpm, there are specialized phono preamps that allow adjustment for the many varying equalization curves used.

If you are fortunate enough to find lightly played recordings, you will be surprised by how good some of them sound.