Stylus, live and learn.

Just curious here. I have a dual 1009 which I purchased a 78 stylus bar for. It works well with good sound, but the past few days it was like it had dirt in the stylus and was fuzzy to say the least with some tendency to skip and make noise particularly at the beginning sections of many records.. I thought the stylus was damaged in some way. I decided since it won't work right anyway to experiment with seeing just what was inside the holder behind the tiny stylus arm. To my surprise there is nothing there but a shaft that slides in the little tube. Since I couldn't see any obvious problem I decided to push the stylus back in its holder and made sure it was level to the bottom of the adaptor it rides in. When it put it back on the machine the sound was amazingly clear and no skipping. I know that sounds basic to those who dabble in their own repairs here, but the most repairs I do is to mechanical machines and you can see why. Evidently the little stylus gets pushed out of line when the arm for what ever reason gets dumped onto the turntable or falls next to it in a cycle where the records tilt and refuse to drop. Thats another story and not a happy one with this type changer. Either you have perfect center holes are your going to have trouble for sure. Unfortunately two thirds of the albums you find have damage from severe to mild and all of them stop the little arms from lifting the records so they will drop.

Am I correct in assuming that its only a friction fit to that shaft and no glue was used to stabilize the stylus?

Hi Larry,
Your assumption is, to the best of my knowledge, correct. I do not know what your "set-up" looks like, as I do coin operated phonograph ("Jukebox") work, but I have seen many a needle assembly that has "fallen apart", or, "turned sideways", and have, in a pinch, done just what you did to correct (temporary situation)it, till a new needle could be found.
As for the "holes" in the record--all jukeboxes that played 78's were equipped with "trays" that fit under the record and all trays had a brass re-enforced, center hole. This was done as the turntable on these rose up and the "pin" had to find the center hole of the record, and retain it in playing position. On some machines that I see today, the tray is missing, for some reason or another, and the center holes of the records are "dug out" on many, that are missing the tray--
It's just my opinion, but don't think I'd play 78's on a "drop turntable"--especially not if I wanted them to last ! Ron Rich

Ron

Actually when the records have a good center hole, which of course some still do it does a remarkably good job of dropping them and I doubt it would damage them, so far it has dropped lots of records without incident. Not what I could say about some earlier changers, my old Capehart that played both sides used to chew them up at times. The dual manual says its able to play all speeds and change them efficiently which it seems to do. The only thing I wish they had done differently is to have used a softer pad because the originals are very hard and if you don't have a felt or other cushion, then the first record to drop will make a pretty scary clang. I am not sure which changers might have been better at doing the job without supporting the whole stack on the center rod, which does seem a bit much for heavy 78s for sure. So far I don't know of a changer that is suitable to use with a 80's amp and later pickering cartridges that will play all three speeds. I could be tempted to try yet something else if that were possible, but it was this site that originally suggested that the 1009 Dual was the last good changer for all speeds.

Larry,
Suggestion--get thee to a hardware store, and pick up a pack of felt "(kitchen) door pads". They come on a card with about ten thumb nail sized pads on it--and stick them onto the TT, to cushion that first record's fall--- Ron Rich

Rich, I am afraid to think what happens when the needle misses the record for some reason as it sometimes can do and hits the pads. I had to cut my felt a bit smaller than a 10" record when I saw it get hung up in the needle as the arm was knocked off its drop by a tilting record that had issues with the center hole. If one was absolutely sure it would never miss it might be an idea, or as I just happened to realize the pads could be placed so that they aren't ever exposed, but with the felt piece I have I take if off when playing 45 records to avoid the needle getting hung up in the felt. The idea while sounding good might not be practical.

Larry

Larry,
These are thumbnail sized "felts" that I am speaking of, and could be placed well inside the 7 inch sized 45's--
Ron Rich

I would not use an umbrella spindle to drop 78s. The record holes are thicker and often uneven. This fouls up the gripper action that keeps the second disc from falling, because it often grabs the first record. I use a changer with a record pusher (either center or side shelf) for 78s, and I never drop WW-II era discs, because they are made of substandard materials.