So, my brother has my fathers old record player. Its an all in one cabinet thing, about 6 feet long, three feet high, two deep. Has a radio, lid, beautiful cherry woodwork, amazing sound, etc.
It needs a needle. I have no freaking clue what im looking for. I haven't had a record player since i was a kid, and then it was this one (it still has my led zeppelin 3 album in it, as well as my Aerosmith bootleg!)
Heres the pictures my brother sent me. Let me know what i dont know, and need to know to get a needle for it for him.
We're pretty sure dad got it when he enlisted in the mid 60s.
Can you take pics of the cartridge and needle themselves?
There should be a brand on the cartridge which will help with the search.
In reply to jimbob_racing :
Ill try to get him to do so. He said theres no needle present.
What exactly is the cartridge? That way i can give him specific. Im out of my element, but knew y'all would know. Y'all know everything.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Should be what holds the needle in place at the end of the arm.
The 3rd blurry photo is of the cartridge and is at the end of the tone arm. (model number 3530?)
If you can get an in focus photo, you might be able to get a match here. I couldn't find a match for RCA 3530.
TurntableNeedles.com: Find Turntable Stylus by Manufacturer's Cartridge Number
I would need a better photo of the cartridge to be able to read the model numbers but it seems to be an Astatic ceramic cartridge and looks similar to this one. Once you match the cartridge, just get a needle for it.
turntableneedles.com: Astatic Replacement Record Player Ceramic Cartridge
turntableneedles.com: Astatic 17D Type Jukebox etc Phono Pickup Cartridge
So, i asked him for better pictures of the part numbers.
He then proceeded to tell me that hes wondering if he can replace the whole arm or head with something that has cheap needles, as he wants to let his son use it like we did when we were little and hed like to be able to get cheaper needles.
Is that feasible?
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Needles for that cartridge should be as cheap as they get once you find which ones and as long as the cartridge works (which it should) , it's not very high tech. You should also be able to find a newer cartridge that will fit onto the tone arm. Once you get a good number, I would call the people at turntable needles.com and talk to a live human. They will know way more than any of us. I hope.
Ceramic cartridges are primitive and not particularly nice to vinyl. A magnetic cartridge would be a much better bet, but the output voltage would be much lower so you'd need a preamp to match it. You also would need to set the stylus pressure to the spec of the cart - can the arm do that? Also that ceramic cart doesn't look like it has standard mounting like you find on most "universal" mount magnetic carts. Google Audio Technica 3600L for an example of a cheap (twenty buck) cartridge. With sufficient screwing around you might be able to get that to work. Otherwise a basic replacement stylus should be under ten bucks and a whole lot easier.
