Re: [ARSCLIST] Playing Records Backward

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don Tait wrote:

>   Regarding Mike Csontos's message about "cue burn" from back-spinning to cue
> up LPs at radio stations, I have a comment since I have worked at stations
> since 1967. First, that Mike is correct that such back-spinning is usually done
> very fast and that heavy tone-arm pressure can cause serious damage. However,
> in my experience  how often the record is played and the material from which
> it was made is another big factor. WFMT, where I have worked since 1972, has
> always used top-of-the-line tone-arms and Shure cartridges (V-15-V for some
> years), so the tracking pressure has been very light and the rest of it good.
> Nevertheless, some medium-priced LPs of the past, such as Nonesuch, display "cue
> burn" after just a few uses whereas so-called top-of-the-line LPs do not, even
> after many more uses. The quality and resilience of the vinyl may therefore
> play a role.
>
>   Don Tait

I don't remember what kind of cartridge and stylus we were using at the Oshawa FM
station in 1970 when I started there, but records often had a WHISTLE after being
back-cued a few times. This is the only instance I've run across of cue scratch
taking this form.

Of course anything pressed on styrene, including all Decca product from the mid 50s
to some time in the 60s, would pick up cue scratch the first time you played it.
Columbia and Mercury 45s (US pressings) were even worse.

dl