"Michael Graziano" <mgraziano1 at o-lite.com> said... >> Victrola Academy with needles and slate records. Excellent working condition >> Moving sale. $350.00 or OBO. 512-819-0661/512-677-6039. > Gotta love those slate records. Actually, I don't see anything amusing about it... the description is accurate. Many of the old 78 rpm discs used ground slate as the principle component of the pressing compound, held together by shellac! The reason was to grind the needle to the groove shape in the first few revolutions... it looked like a chisel afterwards. This is why you were NEVER to remove a used needle and re-install it again to play other records, since doing so would destroy the next disc! ... Graham Newton -- Audio Restoration by Graham Newton, http://www.audio-restoration.com World class professional services applied to tape or phonograph records for consumers and re-releases, featuring CEDAR's CAMBRIDGE processes.