As superior as the tech might have been Edison basically doubly ruined his chances of market success, 1.) directly competing against an already established (pseudo-) standard in the typical shellac disc, 2.) only recording music that Edison, an older white man with conservative tastes in music, liked - the other companies had music that was much more in line with young people's tastes, and even "race records" for black audiences (of course much like pride merchandise of today, they only saw that as an opportunity for more money, which it was, but hey ... every dollar spends equally)

+FloridaClay Nope - 52089. I'm assuming your incorrect number here was actually just a typo.

+Robert Wright Yes, a number transposed. It should have been 52089.

FloridaClay I figured that was the case. :-) Anyone who knows there were electrically recorded Diamond Discs usually knows what numbers in the series they started.

Edison's records were pressed on a material similar to bakelite and used a diamond stylus, so that may account for the higher quality. The vertical groove (as opposed to Victor's lateral) also allowed for a fixed pitch between revolutions and the tone arm was driven by a screw drive. Yes- superior in several ways! But this was probably the first Beta/VHS argument in history. Edison was practically deaf, though...

Thanks for clarifying this. Much appreciated.

Everybody can sing, actually- it's just that some fail miserably in the attempt!

LOL Well stated!

I bought the CVS-16, capable of playing 16" transcription records. It will play just about any record made, but I have to admit that I really don't like the tonearm. The extra length provides less tracking error for records 12" and less, but it lacks some simple features- such as an adjustable anti-skate mechanism and it doesn't have a cue lever to lift the arm. The arm, in my opinion, SUCKS! ...And I'm looking for a way to replace it. Yes- that "lateral" switch makes things convenient for those old Edison DDs, and some transcription discs are lateral (but very rare). The Edison DDs that I bought were in a lot of 15, and most of them weren't in very good condition, so this one os one of the best ones I had or I would have posted more.

Rob F I find them to be Dramatically better than Columbia, Brunswick, some Victor and most others. Played on a Diamond Disc or Edison C-2 Electrical Phonograph they sound so much fuller, much more Bass than other companies could accomplish, and usually longer allowing the few Jazz records to be more fully appreciated. Those of us who collect Edison know these things

...And the same to you!

He wired the cartridge for vertical records, he even explained it at the beginning of the video. He shows a diagram at approximately 2:00

@@maximilianfischer8899 Then he did it wrong because this plays in Stereo, i.e. both vertical and horizontal signal are reproduced, including the unnecessary noise.

I heard, the paper label records needs 65 micrometer as 1950's shellacs and the discs from before plays best with a modern stylus and 18 micrometer.

I'm curious about that myself, but I don't have the correct phonograph. It's been said that Edison records were superior in fidelity to the Berliner disc.

Ha ha! Thanks! Hope you're staying warm through the horrible freeze!

Search a bit, you can find youtube videos that give diagrams.

It was a joke...

Yoko was good at breaking up the Beatles, though.

the diamond disc is not made of Bakelite, Aylsworth molded phenol and formaldehyde mixed with wood-flour and a solvent into a heat-resistant disc. This material always remained absolutely plane (flat), which was essential as it formed the core of the disc record. A phenolic resin varnish called Condensite was applied to the core, and then the disc was stamped in the record press. The finished 10" disc weighed ten ounces, heavier than most, partially due to the 1/4" thickness of the record. A diamond point was obtained for the stylus. The Disc Phonograph and the Edison Discs were designed to be an entire system, incompatible with other discs or disc players.

But the later Diamond Discs with paper label needs the 1950's shellac stylus.

No- absolutely wouldn't sound the same! Remember- the old mechanical phonographs reproduced sound with a diaphragm and a horn- a small column of air controlling a larger volume of air in the horn. The phono uses a small current of electricity to control a larger current, and then adds RIAA equalization to the signal (bass is emphasized). I didn't perform any EQ or signal processing for this video, and I'm sure that steps could be taken to counteract the RIAA curve. Still, acoustic reproduction will be vastly different from electronic reproduction, electronic may retrieve more detail from the record, but to achieve the sound of the original Edison phono would be difficult if not impossible. Actually, this guy may have a better method: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/b7Z_dLqFltvKZWg.html

The ideal point size for these Edison discs is 3.5mil! So even the 3mil is a bit small, but is the closest you will get.

With this information, thay probably used this process for quadaphonic productions. They would sound weird on stereo, but sound excellent in mono configuration.

Recorded straight into Audacity, then an "acoustic" curve applied, and then normalized- yeah, I did trick the audio a bit. Who knows what would be optimal for these old acoustic records- especially since each cartridge has its own coloration. Yes, the disc speed was 80RPM. Califone models ending with "5" have a pitch control, and I've learned to make my own stroboscopes using Adobe Illustrator.

Forgot to say thanks for the record date, thanks also for correcting my vocabulary regarding rotate: yes, there is a difference!

@@Mark5W8Comer Trouble is, the stupid modern energy-saving light bulbs don't work with strobes. Anyone have a solution to this?

@@Vinyl_Dave Don't use a stupid modern energy-saving light bulb... Get one of those LED night lights with the photocell built in, use electrocutioner's tape to cover the cell (this keeps the light on). These work far better than neon lamps.

@@Mark5W8Comer Ta, Mark. (My alternative was simply to keep hold of those old ordinary bulbs - nothing wrong with them so no reason to throw them out. What a wasteful world we've created!)

You are very misinformed (or have been very unlucky) because there are some fantastic rhythmic dance and jazz recordings on Edison discs, with artists such as the California Ramblers (as the Golden Gate Orchestra), Original Memphis Five, Billy Wynne's Greenwich Village Inn Orchestra, Polla's Clover Gardens Orchestra, Georgia Melodians, Jazz-o-Harmonists, Earl Fuller's Jazz Band.... I will shortly be posting some Edison tracks on my Expert Senior KZfaq site.

I have a Jazz Oracle CD reissue of Red Nichols' recordings for Edison. If you like 1927 jazz it's well worth having!

I agree, Edison records were all approved by Edison himself and he had odd and conservative taste.. His son Theodore Edison married my second cousin Anna Ousterhout and our family knows all the "Edison Nonsense, such as the fact he stole poor young inventors projects and had his staff perfect them and mass produce them with the Edison name. Don't be too impressed with Edison….

These records are good

@@expertsenior6262 Edison was mostly deaf and he hated jazz. Word.

Because the groove was "hill and dale," or, vertically recorded, warps in the record would reduce the ability to play them, and the thicker record didn't warp (as much...).

I don't think it is hurting the record. The tonearm is just too light.

And one play, if recorded onto your computer is fine. I would think it was better and more gentle than an acoustic 5 oz. pickup would be.

Let's not insult the singer. Yoko Ono was not really a singer at the best of times. (Maybe ''Who Has Seen The Wind'' is an exception.

A lot of that had to do with Mr. Edison himself! Only the selections and artists he approved would be recorded, so if he didn't like a particular genre, it wouldn't be recorded. Edison preferred "old standards" over popular tunes of the day.

Richard Hall Yes, that was unfair of me. Not only are the words understandable, they're actual words- not psychotic squawks. All apologies! -Mark

+Mark5W8Comer ah yoko was okay. just avoid 'live peace in toronto' and you're fine. she sounded okay on 'double fantasy.' like gary coleman told us, diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks!

Richard Hall she sings beautifully. Yoko is wretched.

Yeah, it's always fun to slip in a gag track at a party! I slipped in Eddie Duchin's "Ol' Man Mose" once- laugh riot! Amazing, though- they had electronic recording, but electronic playback lagged behind a few years

You know I ought to give this a try! My Brother mixes music for football games! And I have a Ann Case 8000 series EDISON I ought to slip into his machine! IMAGINE The look on every ones face! I HATE THAT RECORD! I Use it as a wall hanging! Most all of My Collection including EDISON Records are Jazz and Pop of the time with a Mix of Western & Country from the 1920`s and 1930`s!

I love the jazz records from that era. Musicians seemed to have much more talent than now. What I can really get into is "Jumpin' Jive," sort of dancy jazz/pop, but I don't know which artists to pursue...

Start out By looking at My site, I Have only Five Uploads of My own that I want to Do Over due to the Computer clean up distorting the Music! But look for "roybo1930" I have a HUGE Playlist, Just look up My Playlist, You will Find "In Thick With Edison" A Collection of others AWESOME EDISON Diamond Disc Recording`s, "Bluebird`s In the Buff" Lots of Buff Labeled BLUEBIRD Records from the 1920s to 1930s! "Paper Moon" Soundtrack! I know a Lot of Folks who were in the Movie, I even drove two Of My 1931 Plymouth, And My 1925 Dodge Brothers Car to Hays, Dorrence, McCrackin, Etc. Kansas! So I put together a lot of Very Favorite Recording`s Much More then the actual Soundtrack, I am working on A Corrected Soundtrack But I will have to do some trick uploading for that! But You can see A HUGE Amount of Artist From the 1900s to around 1937! Jazz, Pop, Blues, AWESOME Dance Recordings! And You will see the Names and Record Labels of the Artist You may LOVE! Let Me know if You find it! roybo1930 then click on Playlist! And I hope You Enjoy!

And I will forever be sorry for the Yoko comment! Yes- the Edison discs played a little longer- the groove was vertically cut which allowed a finer pitch to be achieved, less chance of a horizontal groove excursion to intrude on adjacent wraps of the spiral.

Oh, I can see what you mean with the Yoko comment, there's SOME similarity, but, this woman is a very professional singer, Yoko is not a singer at all! she actually CAN carry a tune, if she wants to, but, she seems to prefer her annoying caterwauling!

Ummm... You *didn't* disassemble the cartridge, did you? All you would need to do if anything is dismount it, not disassemble it. Rewiring it is a simple thing to do- all you have to do is cross the leads from one of the channels. If you've taken the cartridge apart, I don't know what I can do to help you.

its all fixed now so no problem yeah i realised what i did wrong

No, es una especie de baquelita, a 80 rpm.

Yes! This phono has variable speeds and I have a stroboscope disc for 80rpm.

Mark5W8Comer cool!

Stereo records really aren't a lateral cut- and not necessarily vertical either. Given that the groove walls are at 90°, each side of the groove can have a different signal recorded onto it. Imagine the groove wall being a "V" where only one side of the V moves for one channel, and the other side of the V moves for the other. In some respects, the stereo groove is a hybrid of lateral and vertical, but shifted onto its side by 45°.

Slight correction to your comment: The overwhelming majority of 16-inch radio transcription discs are LATERAL. Many vertically cut transcriptions were issued around the mid-1930s to early 1940s in the (completely false) assumption that 'hill and dale' groove modulation (like all cylinder records) provided superior quality. (Any perceived improvement was due to such discs being invariably pressed on vinyl rather than the oft used, relatively noisy surface shellac). Surviving vertically cut transcriptions are far less in number than than standard lateral types. Luckily for collectors however, there are still plenty of vertical transcriptions to go around.

I estimate mid 1920s given the paper label on this disc, Edison DD had embossed “labels” on their early pressings. This disc is not in the discogs database, I don’t have any details.

@@Mark5W8Comer45worlds says August 1924, but there’s no source given for that. I used to watch this video (and this channel) quite a lot when I was about 13. I come back to it quite often!

It is claimed that Edison only produced records of music that *HE* liked- not necessarily of what the public wanted to buy!

Mark5W8Comer And that why they didn't sell as well as 78s. Or other flat discs for that matter.

Edison only signed artists he personally liked. A lot of the Diamond Disc songs were dated even then.