[Dixielandjazz] Copying 78s (was Digitizing Vinyl)

[Bud Tuba]

I'm glad that someone else has happened upon this trick of the trade as well as I.  I even did the same sort of thing back before the computer by modifying a cassette recorder to record at 45/78 times the normal speed and then playing back the cassette on a regular player.  Of course, I could not make subtle adjustments of speed differences, but the dynamics of the turntable are less pronounced when the record is played at 45 rpm.  The tone arm does not bang around as much and is more likely to track correctly across cracks, etc.  If you have to patch in a fix for a bad crack, it is easier to re-record and manually guide the tone arm across the gap. 

The other trick I use is to apply a light coating of WD40 to the record surface after washing to reduce high frequency noise, of which old worn 78's have in abundance.  I have received many comments in disdain of this practice, but I have yet to find any problem as a result.  Even after the record is stored for a couple of years and replayed, it sounds better than it did before the application and unless a person does a careful chemical forensic analysis of the record, it is not visibly detectable.  

Roy (Bud) Taylor
Smugtown Stompers Jazz Band
Rochester, NY
585-415-3985 Cell
"We ain't just whisling dixie!"


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