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78rpm Record Player

Bernard67Arnold

Bernard67Arnold

master brummie
Some years ago Enid and I were in TJHughes in Lichfield, it was
near Christmas time and I was looking at the radio etc section. There was a Turntable which played LPs , 78 etc, CDs and FM radio combined, I liked it so she bought it as a Christmas present
for me.Fast forward about severn years, one of my "dog walking"
friends said the other day, I have some 78 records if you want
them.Pure Magic, all the old BBC Dance Bands, and some Bing
Crosby. Having a great time in my conservatory listening to
them. I love the old dance bands, made my day. Bernard
 
That was one hell of a good present Bernard. There's no replacing the feel of loading up your record ready to play (what's a record I hear you young people cry?!!). Only today I was talking about tape recorders and cassette tapes. They seemed so high tech and trendy when they arrived on the scene. I also loved transistor radios - so small and easy to listen to under the bedcovers at night with their little earpieces. I had a Sony transistor radio, gorgeous! However, I have absolutely no idea what a transistor actually is! Enjoy your 78s Bernard - and play 'em nice and loud! Viv.
 
Really? The vinyl LP has been "coming back" for the last few years. The CD is in decline against digital (mp3) sales but there are enough people that want the old vinyl (admittedly this is 33 rather than 78) to get new albums show up as vinyl as well as CD. The transistor radio hasn't gone away either. It's even got to the point where you can buy digital (more radio stations) ones. OK so they don't have short wave and some of the foreign channels but then this is Birmingham and the foreign stuff never did come through that well.
The transistor itself is just a bit of electronics that took over from the valve because it was smaller and more reliable.
The trouble with the old 78s is that you couldn't get a lot on them and the sound was a lot worse than it should have been. They have since sold 33rpm acetate LPs on the strength of the sound quality.
 
Thanks for the info Wam. I remember 78's were quite heavy in comparison to LPs (33 rpms). Think I've said this on another thread, but I remember people turning their old 78s into fruit bowls etc. Don't know how it was done but I assume you'd heat the record. I remember they were made into bowls with wavy edges. Doubt you'd put water in them though given the hole in the middle! Viv.
 
We have a newer turntable and a collection of 78,33 and 45rpm records to go with it. We dust it off every now and then to listen to some of the 60's LPs Mick has, that we haven't replaced with CDs. We also have a collection of tapes, luckily our elderly hi-fi has a cassette deck, so we can stll play them too.
Sue
 
Hang on to them Sue! You have all your options nicely covered that way. And they might be worth more now there's a bit of a revival! Viv.
 
Viv, Mick has some originals, still in their polythene shrink wrap, Gene Vincent being one and others of that era, they are stored very carefully in a cool dry place! Kate, my daughter sold her copy of the Mr Blobby 45 on e-bay a few weeks age (the multi-coloured single)for £15.00 - there are some mad people around, we have another 2 coloured copies here and my other daughter has one too, so like you say, future investments!
Sue
Sue
 
I can't believe a Gene Vincent album in the original shrink wrap would be worth a whole lot. Shrink wrap would usually mean mid 70s or later and Gene Vincent would be worth most in 50s/60s originals. I'm not sure you'd be able to turn old acetates into plant pots to easily but it would be a lot simpler with vinyl. You just need a clean plant pot that's larger than the one you want and a good source of heat for the vinyl.
Most of the records that sell for lots of money aren't because of the music and sometimes there's only one person that will pay a lot of money.
The revival doesn't mean that the old records are going to be worth more. It's not much of a revival and it has more to do with new material than old. I'd be surprised if there was much of a resale market from the revival at the moment.
 
We used to put old 78's on a knitting pin and hang them over the (coal) fire! When they go bendy you can shape them by hand or over a pot.....being careful of course!!
We had loads when our neighbour died, but we only wasted the chipped ones, we had a wind-up gramophone and played it the garden but we had to stuff old socks in the soundbox-thing as it was too loud!!
Dame Nellie Melba. Cavalera Rusticana (something like that...it was a long time ago!)
I do like Glenn Miller though.
rosie.
 
I've got a 1930's wind up picnic grammaphone and a collection of jazz 78's, very loud but great to hear the bands as they were then.
 
We've bought one of the new fangled 'play anything' contraptions - use the radio and cd player a lot but haven't got round to transferring my tapes to cds (which is why we bought it) but the other day I acquired an ELO vinyl album - complete - sheer heaven for a couple of hours ............. well ........ had to make sure the LP was ok!!!!
 
My Mom moved house recently and during the process of sorting out all her worldly goods, she handed me a rather battered looking 78 record and asked if I would like it. On taking it out of its sleeve I discovered it was a recording of Mom's wedding ceremony from 1956. I never knew that she had such a thing!!
It looks rather scratched but I live in hope that one day I might come across a 78 player and get to hear it because my parents parted company when I was 5 and I only saw him from afar 3 times after. He died back in 97 so it would be nice just to hear his voice once more.
I mentioned it to my brother, who then proclaimed. " Ive heard it" He'd come across it when he was a youngster and played it on an old player we had back then..and never told me..!!

Bishopsmate, I'm pleased to see you enjoyed listening to your ELO album..I still have my original copy of "Out of The Blue" signed by Jeff Lynne, but I havent been able to play it for years.
 
lindyloo said:
My Mom moved house recently and during the process of sorting out all her worldly goods, she handed me a rather battered looking 78 record and asked if I would like it. On taking it out of its sleeve I discovered it was a recording of Mom's wedding ceremony from 1956. I never knew that she had such a thing!!
It looks rather scratched but I live in hope that one day I might come across a 78 player and get to hear it because my parents parted company when I was 5 and I only saw him from afar 3 times after. He died back in 97 so it would be nice just to hear his voice once more.
I mentioned it to my brother, who then proclaimed. " Ive heard it" He'd come across it when he was a youngster and played it on an old player we had back then..and never told me..!!

Bishopsmate, I'm pleased to see you enjoyed listening to your ELO album..I still have my original copy of "Out of The Blue" signed by Jeff Lynne, but I havent been able to play it for years.
Click to expand...

You can get your 78 record transferred to a CD or DVD, there are people that do it, and make the sound less scratchy. You will find them on Google I'm sure.
 
Hi You sound like Inspector Morse, I recently sent for some CDs of old dance bands that had been put on from old 78s, they dont sound the same when they have been reprocessed, it takes all the atmosphere out of them, All the very Best, Bernard
 
For what it's worth, when they started "bringing back vinyl" they also started making separate record players and most of them seem to play 78s if you have them. Nowadays the price on these players has gone up and they also play cassettes and CDs. You used to be able to get them for £30 and now it's closer to £100. I daresay you might still find cheaper ones on the internet but, if you've got the money you could try HMV or Argos (HMV advertises some at £60)
 
rosie said:
We used to put old 78's on a knitting pin and hang them over the (coal) fire! When they go bendy you can shape them by hand or over a pot.....being careful of course!!
Click to expand...
Ahhh memories. We used hot water in a bowl to make them bendy. Trouble was, they used to cool off and go hard again part way through, so we ended up with very shallow or lopsided pots. Sudden lack of further interest prevented reheating.
Andrew.
 
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