"Acetates had to be oiled before playing"

[Acetates had to be oiled before playing]

Culled from a website dedicated to the BBC's studio managers [sound engineers] past and present I found the following, concerning the use - until the mid-60's -  of acetate discs for recording and playback:

"'The original groove locating units as shown were very robust - they had to be because of the huge needle-armature pickups we used. The needle had to be changed for each new disc, which held things up a bit, but we were allowed to play two discs if they were acetates. These needles came from a firm called Golden Pyramid, and every one was individually inspected on a shadowgraph at the factory. Acetates had to be oiled before playing.' "

It goes on to say:

"Prior to 1934 the only way the BBC could make recordings for immediate playback was the Blattnerphone - steel magnetic tape, expensive and poor quality. Pressed gramophone records were used, but took time to be processed and were also expensive. With the invention of the direct-cut laquer disc by Cecil Watts it became possible to cut a record and play it back immediately, and this method, both at 78 and 33-1/3 rpm, was standard for many years. At Bush [House, home of the BBC World Service,] it was still in use until about 1964 for recording short inserts to be played in studios - talks, actualities, and so on. The quality was surprisingly good - actually better than 15ips tape on the first play, though as the laquer was quite soft the discs wore quickly and were often fairly noisy by the time they reached the studio."

All very interesting, and you can read the rest here, but it's the quote highlighted above which intrigues me. An alternate spin on wet-playing, I suppose, but having heard a good number of bad acetates I wondered if anyone knew more and whether this is in any way advisable?

(And yes, if you look hard enough on that site you'll find a photo of me on my original training course in 1990 - but frankly I'm sure you've got better things to do! )

I'm by no means an expert, but I've played a few very old American (Audiodisc brand) lacquers, and they did indeed sound better played through a film of castor oil, which is, I believe, traditional.  Certain petroleum products will dissolve the disc, of course, and water is bad, too.

I think you're supposed to wash it off with mild soap after play, then dry quickly in towelling.  The theory is that a short exposure to castor oil restores flexibility.

You'll need 4-10g of stylus force to get through the oil, and the usual selection of 2, 2.5 and 3 mil spherical styli for the old stuff.

[TROGDOR!!!]

(And yes, if you look hard enough on that site you'll find a photo of me on my original training course in 1990 - but frankly I'm sure you've got better things to do! )

Oh, yep!  There you are...  Nice jean jacket!

And no, it's Sunday afternoon, I haven't even showered yet, SWMBO is at work, and, frankly, I have absolutely nothing better to do...

Maybe I'll head up to the office in a few to work on that logo some more...

Josh

I found it (Intro to Radio Ops 90/3 - 13/08/1990).  Kewl jacket!!  

If you look carefully on the old SM's site, you'll find my sister! They spelt her name wrong - she's Marian, not Marion.  And yes, Andrew, that really is Catriona Young sitting next to her...

(For everybody else, Catriona has gone on to become rather a well-known BBC presenter...)

Very cool site! Thanks for sharing!

kylen

I should've kept quiet!

Actually it's not a jacket but a shirt over a t-shirt I think. But hey, it's a suitably blurred photo so what do I care!

SteveG - as I worked with many of your sister's colleagues I guess it's possible our paths crossed if she was still around in the early 90s...

But what about the oil???

I thought it was the SM's who were (after hours of course) well oiled.  OK seriously, in penance for that remark I have searched google in a number of ways for anything else relevant to the oiling of acetates, but nothing comes up.  Not even on the Madonnacatalog site which did have quite a comprehensive article on acetates, would you believe.

SteveG - as I worked with many of your sister's colleagues I guess it's possible our paths crossed if she was still around in the early 90s...

But what about the oil???

I must admit that the oil's a new one on me...

I'm not sure when Marian left - she didn't stay that long, as it happened - after all that coaching I had to do to get her through the board, and all those phone calls I got from Wood Norton... and you probably wouldn't have come across my bro-in-law either, because he got an attachment to BBC1 pres. and stayed.

And to what should be his everlasting shame, (but I don't think it was!), he was Gordon the Gopher for a while... (to anybody not in the UK this, hopefully, won't mean anything). But I think it's embarrassing, so I'm not going to tell you who he is! Anyway, he left as well, and is currently doing alarming things to the Independent Network Switching Centre.

Marian got fed up, and went into horticulture, after quite a long child-rearing break and an interesting deviation into film archiving for the Imperial War Museum. I'm not really sure that she was cut out for a career in sound - she just had the right background, and managed to come up with the right answers at the time. But she seems to be happier now, so that's all right...

Look at a course photo in early 1969 and you'll find me too; I've got less hair now, and glasses most of the time.  Somewhere else in the photo is Jenny Abramsky who's certainly better known than me now!

Paul

One day I'll look through enough of these to find the precise date when the men stopped wearing suits and ties for these group - I'm sure there's a sociological study to be done there. More impressive is the chap at the back on the left noncholantly holding a cigarette whilst scowling meaningfully at the camera...

(...well it's a minor diversion from the legs on the front row! )


((Mind you I've just spotted a bloke cradling a pipe here - now there's something to date the photos...))

If you look carefully on the old SM's site, you'll find my sister!

And Stephen, just as we'd hope, she is far better-looking than you!    

And Stephen, just as we'd hope, she is far better-looking than you!    

Ah, that was then. She's had two kids since that photo was taken! Since then, she's been roughing it in the great outdoors. She still has more hair than me though.

SteveG Posted:
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She still has more hair than me though.

Well SteveG... my 11 day old has more hair than you (and me) for that matter!