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Vintage 78s

I have a series of 1940’s mono 78s of my uncle recruiting for the Marines after surviving the sinking of the Yorktown. He returned to the states as a hero and made some recruiting recordings but was offered a commission as an officer and returned to combat. He was killed in the battle of Saipan. How can I listen to these precious recording on my new Technics SL1300G with a Dynavector XX2 cart.  I was born shortly after his death and carry his name, Peter Conway Schultz, with pride

drambuiequillhill
thecarpathian's avatar
thecarpathian
6,087 posts
 

I'd be wary of damaging your cartridge if the 78's are in bad condition.

Other than that,  set your table to 78 and enjoy!

drambuiequillhill OP
12 posts
 

These records are pristine

lewm
14,647 posts
 

Buy a cartridge suited to those 78s, before playing any of them. Miyajima markets a few. Visit their website for guidance. Then digitize.

upshift
92 posts
 

I was about to mention digitizing also, then you can frame the 78s as mementos to your uncle.  And you can share the files with family.

pryso
2,055 posts
 

@drambuiequillhill, I have a 78 album (3 records) of Louis Armstrong and All Stars at Town Hall from 1947.  Dad was a huge Satchmo fan and had a collection of 78s and LPs, but this is all I have remaining from those.

I bought an inexpensive Pfanstiehl 78 stylus (tracks at 4g) for a spare Pickering body.  Not optimal but I didn’t want to spend much as I knew they wouldn’t be played many times.  However I didn’t want to damage the records.

The 78 groove will be wider than any 33.3 LP so appropriate stylus size is helpful.  There continues to be lots of 78 cartridges available costing more than I paid.

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