I am planning to do more #gramophone :gramophone: streams at some point, but as I discovered during the stream that my soundbox isn't in great shape, I need to sort that out first. Hopefully I'll stream again in a couple of weeks' time!
Jack Payne (no, not the footballer. Or the AFL footballer. Or the rugby player. Or the other footballer...) was one of the biggest stars on Crystalate's "Imperial" label in the 1930s. You can tell he's a massive star because he gets his face and signature on the label, something I've not seen before on a 78. On this 10-inch record (about 3 mins per side) he plays short excerpts of eight different tunes - it almost feels like a proto-"Stars on 45". #gramophone :gramophone: #record#music#1930s
If 8 songs on a 78 isn't short enough snippets for you, here's a promotional Jack Payne record with a diameter of 3.5 inches. Each side plays for about 40 seconds!
Apparently you can clean 78s with WD-40. I'd not tried it before, but I have one record that was so dirty it just wouldn't play - dirt puts more drag on the needle, and the spring motor isn't as powerful as an electric one, so it just ground to a halt after two or three rotations. My normal cleaning method of soapy water and a toothbrush didn't help, so I tried the WD-40... and sure enough, it plays perfectly now! #gramophone#RetroTech#records#music
@ApproachingSteed Yeah, all sorts of ways to clean records - for vinyl I have a setup that works reasonably well using an alcohol-based cleaning solution that I rinse off with distilled water. I would like to get a vacuum-based cleaner one day, but as you say that needs a wet/dry vacuum and that's expensive. Those gel stylus cleaners are great too.
None of that is any use for 78s though, as shellac is soluble in alcohol! And of course there's no need to clean single-use steel needles.
@thomas Ah, I see. I don't have any 78s. I knew the cheap washer "says" it handles 78s, but sounds like you need to be careful. Pretty sure the cleaning liquid used with my cleaner is essentially watered-down Drip Dry like for dishwashers. Not sure if that has alcohol of not.