[Dixielandjazz] Speaking of needles for 78s

[Bill Gunter]

Hi all,

Craig wrote:

"I shall look to see if it is possible to find a a proper 78 rpm cartridge. 
Anyone have some ideas on that?"

I can't be of any help on this, but I do recall from the olden days of my 
youth there was a period when we all went ga-ga for cactus needles to use in 
our 78 turntables.  There was even a cute little gizmo which featured a 
sandpaper disk that was used to sharpen the needles because they tended to 
get dull rather quickly.

Cactus needles did have the advantage, however, of always being in plentiful 
supply as long as you lived in desert environment.

If you can find a 78 turntable with one of those tone arms with the knurled 
screw you used to clamp the needle (we didn't call it a "stylus" back then) 
in place then perhaps a trip to the local desert might be in order.

Just reminiscing,

Bill "love that high tech stuff" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com