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Looking through the paper, there are a couple of important points to draw from it, both implied:

1. see last page.  This implies that Victor and, presumably, HMV, did not record at below 100 cycles through 1931.  I'm not sure this is accurate.  

2. The basic problem we are having with Victrolac records 85 years later is that the resin from which they were made has apparently proven unstable as they are now always noisier than the shellac Victors from the same period.  

Steve Smolian


-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gary A. Galo
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2018 6:19 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Can't get these vinyl 78s to play.

There was an article in the April 1932 issue the Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers by F. C. Barton that describes the technical details behind Victrolac. Barton worked for the RCA Victor Company and had presented this paper at a meeting of the Society the previous year. Barton describes Victrolac as a "thermoplastic resin."

I've uploaded the article to WeTransfer. Here's the link, if anyone is interested.

https://we.tl/t-UDSzl28hAg

Best,
Gary

____________________________

Gary Galo
Audio Engineer Emeritus
The Crane School of Music
SUNY at Potsdam, NY 13676

"Great art presupposes the alert mind of the educated listener."
Arnold Schoenberg

"A true artist doesn't want to be admired, he wants to be believed."
Igor Markevitch

"If you design an audio system based on the premise that nothing is audible, 
on that system nothing will be audible."
G. Galo


-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gary A. Galo
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2018 4:23 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Can't get these vinyl 78s to play.

Hi Ben,

I have this set. If your records are made of a thin, black material that looks like vinyl, with scroll labels, in a buckram album, then it's actually an original issue pressed on Victrolac. Mine play fine with a 2.5 mil TE. I had a post-war reissue with the flag-style cover that was pressed on shellac with RCA Victor labels. I don't believe the post-war set ever appeared on red vinylite. 

Best,
Gary

____________________________

Gary Galo
Audio Engineer Emeritus
The Crane School of Music
SUNY at Potsdam, NY 13676

"Great art presupposes the alert mind of the educated listener."
Arnold Schoenberg

"A true artist doesn't want to be admired, he wants to be believed."
Igor Markevitch

"If you design an audio system based on the premise that nothing is audible, 
on that system nothing will be audible."
G. Galo


-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of 6295LARGE
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2018 3:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Can't get these vinyl 78s to play.

Hi everyone,

I have a the Victrola set M-127, Schonberg: Gurre-Lieder with Stokowski and
Althaus.
It's apparently a reissue because the records are all vinyl.
I've blown them with a can of compressed air, but the stylus keeps jumping.
I've tried different styli and cartridges and weights:
For instance: Shure M44-7 with 2.8ET and 3.5FCR, *GE* VRII 2.5mil, Stanton
3.3ET in a Stanton 500 cartridge, *but the styli keep jumping grooves* -
one at a time - once per rotation.
I've even tried a Stanton 681 LP stylus.  I've tried 3 different speeds,
BUT IT ALWAYS JUMPS!!
I thought the vinyls would sound better than shellac, and maybe they would
if I weren't having THIS crazy problem.
Any suggestions? PLEASE!

Thank you.
Ben Roth