My new Rek-o-Kut 3.5 mil 78 stylus is making a night-and-day difference with many, if not most, of my 78s. My standard (2.7 mil) stylus is excellent, but it's not properly tracking my older 78s. And my older 78s make up the majority of my stash, so....
The D5135EJ Rek-O-Kut 3.5 mil, elliptical, 78/transcription stylus isn't cheap at $150, but we can hardly expect such a non-mass-produced audio item to come cheap. Anyway, my Victor and Columbia acoustical sides have a vivid, full-bodied quality that make the old results sound sad. I was half-afraid the 3.5 mil size would be too large for ordinary, non-transcription 78s, but it's proving to be just right.
I've been ripping tracks like crazy, and before long I'll have some up. At the moment, I'm putting together a Joseph C. Smith playlist--he's the orchestra leader who just got a 2-CD set on Archeophone. I'll also be putting up MY(P)WHAE regular Earl Fuller, who, far as I know, has yet to get a CD, save for his frenetic jazz sides, none of which I find interesting. His regular dance sides on Columbia, however, are priceless artifacts. Ironically, they're more legitimately jazzy than any of Fuller's ODJB-style attempts.
So, stay tuned. If this was Halloween, I'd say "stay tombed." Ha, ha! Get it? Stay tombed! But it isn't, so I'm not.
Meanwhile, this is not my player, nor would I use such a player, but it's very neat-looking. Reminds me of those cool suitcase phonographs from grade-school. It might be one, in fact. Try not to think about the tracking damage that tonearm would be doing after a couple swipes....
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The D5135EJ Rek-O-Kut 3.5 mil, elliptical, 78/transcription stylus isn't cheap at $150, but we can hardly expect such a non-mass-produced audio item to come cheap. Anyway, my Victor and Columbia acoustical sides have a vivid, full-bodied quality that make the old results sound sad. I was half-afraid the 3.5 mil size would be too large for ordinary, non-transcription 78s, but it's proving to be just right.
I've been ripping tracks like crazy, and before long I'll have some up. At the moment, I'm putting together a Joseph C. Smith playlist--he's the orchestra leader who just got a 2-CD set on Archeophone. I'll also be putting up MY(P)WHAE regular Earl Fuller, who, far as I know, has yet to get a CD, save for his frenetic jazz sides, none of which I find interesting. His regular dance sides on Columbia, however, are priceless artifacts. Ironically, they're more legitimately jazzy than any of Fuller's ODJB-style attempts.
So, stay tuned. If this was Halloween, I'd say "stay tombed." Ha, ha! Get it? Stay tombed! But it isn't, so I'm not.
Meanwhile, this is not my player, nor would I use such a player, but it's very neat-looking. Reminds me of those cool suitcase phonographs from grade-school. It might be one, in fact. Try not to think about the tracking damage that tonearm would be doing after a couple swipes....
Lee