Hi Jay:

I don't have that size stylus, but I was wondering about a conical stylus designed for early mono
LPs in a stiffer cartridge like a Goldring. I do happen to have that combo and will try it today.
What I'm worried about there is the cartridge being able to read the tighter (low-volume) groove
parts, but maybe the solution is play the record through twice -- once with the regular stereo
eliptical stylus and once with the mono cartridge, then edit together the best of both.
Time-consuming but maybe the only solution.

Your method is probably ideal for old mono 45's especially those cored out on jukeboxes. I will try
this with a Shure M-78 cartridge, on some 45's that my uncle recently sent me that I know for a fact
my brothers and cousins and I cored out on a cheapo Radioshack record player that used to live on
the porch at my grandparents' house.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jay Bruder" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2016 7:51 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Tracking overcut early stereo records


Tom:
    Have you tried a .0025 78 rpm stylus. It will require a heavier tracking force, but it might
clear up the distortion. I transfer a lot of early 45 rpm records and keep an array of stylus tips
on hand for my Sure M44-7 to account for over-sized grooves and old playback wear.
Jay Bruder

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Tom Fine
Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2016 5:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Tracking overcut early stereo records

I'm wondering if there is a better way in a modern LP playback/transfer context to track some of the
old stereo records that were overcut. In a modern system, such as an Ortofon 2M Black or similar
slender stylus/compliant mechanism setup, the needle rattles around in the overcut parts of the
groove and you get fuzz distortion. With an older LP, not only was the groove likely overcut, but
when it was played on an older system, even a few times, the heavy/non-compliant system probably
made the problem worse for a modern pickup. So is there a modern cartridge that both sounds good and
is stiffer with perhaps a more blunt needle so as to hug the overcut groove? I tried a Stanton 500
with the standard conical stylus and did not like the sound quality, although it did produce less
fuzz distortion on the overcut parts. I don't have any budget to buy a custom stylus, but was
thinking about springing for a sub-$200 "DJ" cartridge, on the theory that this might be designed to
hug wide grooves and not rattle around. Thoughts and suggestions most welcome.

-- Tom Fine