Recording A Broken 78

[Lord Theo]

Hi everyone,

I've been asked to restore a 78 that is broken into two clean pieces and have manged to record it at 33 1/3 rpm without skips. can I bring this recording back to normal speed to continue the restoration process?

[Craig Maier]

Quoting LordTheo:

" - - - can I bring this recording back to normal speed to continue the restoration process?"

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Yes. I perform the fractional speed transfer and then correct the speed with the speed change filter. You will have to do it in two steps, first from 33 up to 45 and then from 45 up to 78. After that is done, then commence the restoration process. I do not know what happens if you do not correct the speed first. I suspect that the INF's may have a difficult time with it because the slew rates of the impulses will be too small in value to be properly detected and interpolated.

[DJBohn]

Hey Lord Theo,
That had to have been a clean break! Most of the 78's I've run across even with just a crack usually has some chipping at the grooves. Did you have to do any "surgery" on it before you could play it, or use any paper shims on the trailing edges so the needle would "jump" over the crack? Just curious.

[Lord Theo]

Luckily, the break was small, about 1.5 x .5 inches, & affected only the opening 30 seconds of music. The disc is VERY warped and allegedly broke when it was played on an old gramaphone...due to the weight of the arm. I firmly pressed the 2 pieces together, taped the crack from the underside & added corrugated cardboard for additional support, shimmed the grooves and recorded @ 33 1/3 using a Stanton 500 78rpm stylus set to 4 grams. I was left with a lot of scraping noise where chipping occured, but only 2 skips....could have been worse.

[Audyossey]

Luckily, the break was small, about 1.5 x .5 inches, & affected only the opening 30 seconds of music.... only 2 skips....could have been worse.

I'll say. From your first post, I figured the disk had broken in half. This type of break is much harder since part of the break tends to run along the groove, making that section untrackable. I have one like that but, unfortunately the broken piece disappeared years ago. Nothing to do about it now.

HB

[DJBohn]

Audyossey, there may be hope for that record yet. I believe I read several years ago about someone who made a broken 78 playable by filling in the chips with a tiny bit of melted candle wax. You just carefully carve a new temporary groove into the wax prior to playing. I couldn't be sure about it though as I have never tried that procedure myself. I always wondered about any wax buildup on the stylus...

[Craig Maier]

Quoting DJ -

"You just carefully carve a new temporary groove into the wax prior to playing."

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A friend and record collector by the name of Art Zimmerman came over about 6 weeks ago with a broken 78. The record is one of two of a kind known to still exist, the other being in the Library of Congress, which is broken into two pieces. The record that Art brought here was missing about a 1.0 inch arc at its edge which went into the radius of the record by about 0.50 inches.

Art cut a piece from another worthless 78 that matched the missing sector to fit in there. Then, he used candle wax to fill the crack between the main record and the new sector (filling the crack on both sides). Under a magnifying glass, he used a pin to establish the groove pathway between the main body of the record and the substitute piece (through the wax).

We transferred the record in three takes for each side. Between those transfers, I was able to complete an excellent transfer using the "Cut" feature in Diamond Cut coupled with manual interpolate.

So, what you have heard about can be done since I have witnessed it.

Note: The wax did not clog the stylus, which was an unexpected result. I do not know if it matters, but we used Rokeach brand Shabbos candles (wax) to do the job; it just happened that is what I had here to work with. It probably does not matter too much, however, but I mention it if someone wants to precisely reproduce the experiment.

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The record in question was:

Gotta Have More Money

&

Hortense

by

The Johnny White Sextette

[DougMac]

A Question for Craig

Quoting DJ -

I do not know if it matters, but we used Rokeach brand Shabbos candles (wax) to do the job; it just happened that is what I had here to work with.

Craig,

Was it a Yiddish record? ;-)

Doug

[Craig Maier]

Yeah, and it was observant too. And when we played it, it sounded like my mother kvetching to me - - - just like a broken record. "Gotta Have More Money" - - - Oye Veh!

Note: All kidding aside, it was a jazz record.

[Audyossey]

...The record that Art brought here was missing about a 1.0 inch arc at its edge which went into the radius of the record by about 0.50 inches.

If I'm following the description correctly, that's about what I have. The missing section probably encompasses three or four rotations of the record, since the lead-in groove is fairly wide. It's intriguing, but I doubt it's worth the effort for the particular record I have.

I have another record that just has a big scratch near the edge. I've never declicked that scratch because I like it! It's right on the beat of the music and fades away in a musically logical way. It's sort of like an old nagging friend. Nag or not, I'd miss that friend.

HB

[Craig Maier]

Quoting Audyossey:

" - - - but I doubt it's worth the effort for the particular record I have."

---------------------------------

It makes no sense to do that kind of work on a typical average busted up 78. But, when only two are known to exist, and both are broken, then it is a different story.

[Audyossey]

...But, when only two are known to exist, and both are broken, then it is a different story.

Definitely so. Did either of you contact the Library of Congress to perhaps offer the restored version to them?

HB

[Craig Maier]

Art is planning to do that. Additionally, he plans to give a presentation about the restoration at the next IAJRC convention. My wife just mailed out a copy of the restored 78 on CD ROM to him today. He is pretty pumped up about it.

(IAJRC - The International Association Of Jazz Record Collectors)