Dansette?

[buddy1]

I have a large collection of 45"s and am thinking of buying an old Dansette record player of 60!s vintage.

I am aware that they have a very heavy tone arm( compared to modern decks) and wondered if this would cause excess wear to my records. Most of them are fairly hard to get rock n roll originals and I would not like to damage them.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[nopiano]

Not only will it grind them away, that was when it was new and working as intended. After this time, it is anybodys guess. I would only consider it if the 45s came as a job lot and were already knackered - e.g. ex juke box.

Better to leave the Dansette in the room as decoration, and listen to a proper turntable!

 

[noogle]

How about ripping all the 45s to your laptop and playing them from that? - would preserve their condition.

 

[gregory]

The Dansette, there is nothing wrong with these old players, lovely old things and the valve amp versions command serious money now and what was played on em, 45's and various Beatles, Stones, Cream and Presley LP's, to many to mention really and what do vinyl buyers nowadays collect, yes you guessed 45's that was played on old Dansettes. You can get needles for these old players but make sure the player is in tip top condition, i know many folk who still use this type of player and are more than happy with what they have, the record player never damaged records, people's handling did.

 

[Anonymous]

These old arms and mono cartridges will damage new LP's and your singles, they track at 6 - 10 grammes some of them. You can replace the cartridge with one known as 'compatible', which allows for the 45 degree vertical component in a stereo groove, but they still wear out records prematurely. When I started out at 8 yrs old my Dansette valve record player (1967)definitely harmed the singles - I still have them today and they sound dreadful because of the groove damage. Better to buy a relatively low cost modern deck which will be much kinder to the singles, say a Rega P1, unless you want to hear them as they would have sounded through a small mono speaker.

 

[chebby]

http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-2713-project-jukebox-turntable-with-integrated-amplifier.aspx

...just add some cheap bookshelf speakers.

 

[The_Lhc]

http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-2713-project-jukebox-turntable-with-integrated-amplifier.aspx

...just add some cheap bookshelf speakers.

It's not exactly cheap itself though is it, given the likely SQ from whatever you stick on the 20w amp.

 

[chebby]

I don't know. How much is a perfectly restored and recently serviced Dansette?

Couple of nice looking ones from someone who specialises in these things...

Clicky

Clicky

Not exactly cheap either (and let's face it, no-one is going to play cherished records on anything less than a properly restored/serviced one.)

Anyway. I have no experience of them (too young) and those who do have experience say they still chew up records even if in good nick.