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Planned Outage - Sunday 10 August - 02:00-04:00 - EDT _Routine Maintenance ×

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Posted (edited)

Mr.  Jack Stanley uploaded this Diamond Disc (Titina - Billy Wynne's Greenwich Village Inn Orchestra) to his YouTube channel a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed it so much, I had to find a copy for myself.

 

Instead of playing it on my Edison C-150 or A-250, I decided to mix things up and play it on my Paramount.

 

A quick word of warning: when playing a Diamond Disc on a non-Edison machine, always make sure it's set to the vertical (hill-and-dale) setting and that you're using the proper Edison stylus. (It’s similar to a Pathé stylus, but instead of a ball tip, it has a point.) This setup comes with risks. Edison Diamond Disc machines are designed to minimize wear, largely due to how the discs and machines were designed. Rather than relying on the groove to move the reproducer across the record, Edison machines use a feed screw. They also apply minimal tracking force with a limited weight (just enough for proper contact) unlike many non-Edison machines that can place the full weight of the reproducer (and tone arm, depending on the machine.) on the disc.

 

Playing Diamond Discs on non-Edison machines is one of my guilty pleasures—but you have to be careful. Make sure the stylus hiss sounds right, check that you're not causing visible wear, and ensure the tonearm moves as freely as possible. (And of course, your reproducer should be properly serviced.) Then again, I say the same to anyone serious about playing discs or cylinders on any period machine.

 

Edited by BenL
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