Fun with Styli

[Matt Brown]

Recently purchased an Edison Diamond B reproducer - great price and really nice reproducer.

Anyways, I rebuilt this Diamond B, and the sound is really marvelous - nice and loud, quite clear, warm with a good amount of bass.

BUT

An "echo" of the music on each cylinder could be heard about a second BEFORE the actual recorded music (yes I know that an echo comes afterwards, but I don't know how else to describe it).

OK - so I took this thing apart and put it back together several times (six to be exact), each time making sure that everything was in order - hinge block moves freely, stylus bar moves freely, all that jazz....

I ALSO examined the stylus itself, using a 40x loupe - it looked just fine to me. In fact, it looked excellent.

No change - the "pre-echo" effect was still there.

Having exhausted all other culprits, I figured it must be the stylus - so... I got a brand new stylus from "Expert Stylus" - got it today, installed it - problem solved.

I guess the moral to the story is that not all styli flaws are visible to the eye.

Matt

[rocky]

Glad you resolved that problem! Now you can get back to enjoying your phonograph and cylinders!

Rocky

[gramophoneshane]

yes I know that an echo comes afterwards, but I don't know how else to describe it.

I think ill call this a PRECHO ;D

[maroongem]

an "Echo" in a diamond stylus is usually indicative of a worn diamond. Yes folks, even diamonds can wear out. The good news is, you will be long dead before the new diamond wears out. (We hope)

[steve]

I had a model O and the two minute stylus did not sound that good, it had more surface noise than my NOS one. I magnified it about 90x and the sapphire had a flaw in it, but the playing surface was not worn and when I replaced it the sound was good.

Diamond stylus are very hard to see with a loupe, the light reflection makes it hard to see the condition, at least for me. Flat spots are easy, but wear is hard.

Regarding Expert, the new stylus bars they make come with a pin that fits tight in the bar and loose in the shoulders, do you know why they do that?

Steve

[maroongem]

Steve,

Unless it had been done prior to your obtaining it, with care you can carefully rotate the stylus in the bar after heating it. I use a soldering iron and a pair of 00 tweezers. I hold the stylus bar with an alligator clip and clamp it in a small jeweler's vise. Using a 10X loupe, I touch the tip of the iron to the bar near the stylus.
These were shellacked in, so it softens quick. Then using the tweezers, you can rotate it to an unused surface. You can get 3 sides from a stylus if it hasn't been rotated prior.
I usually send my original stylus bar to Expert for a new needle, so that the pin fits properly, ie: tight in the "ears" but free moving on the bar.

Bill

[steve]

Hi Bill,

I wrote Expert about the tight fit in the ears question, I will let you know if I get a reply. Since getting you post I have rotated many styli for people. I really appreciate your posts.

Steve

[lukewarmwater]

maroongem said:

an "Echo" in a diamond stylus is usually indicative of a worn diamond. Yes folks, even diamonds can wear out. The good news is, you will be long dead before the new diamond wears out. (We hope)

Jeez! What's the bad news then? Luke W.

[maroongem]

Well, I guess the bad news would be that you get a flawed stylus from Expert Stylus. I've heard (but not experienced personally) that some bad styluses have come from there recently.

Bill