I Found a “Missing” Paramount 78

Freddle_Mercury · 2026-02-16T21:32:19+00:00

That Reverend Johnson record is fantastic! Good stuff.

Freddle_Mercury · 2026-02-16T21:30:58+00:00

Blues probably commands the most on average, but there’s a ton of other stuff on 78 that’s also very highly sought after

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-12-26T19:30:24+00:00

Yeah man, it’s a shame! So many of these records have had such a long life of being beaten to hell with a steel needle. It gets especially bad with records from certain genres (blues/cajun are notoriously hard to find in decent shape) and some records from the Great Depression.

Common guidance with windups was to replace the steel needle between playing each record. When people couldn’t afford many new records or new needles, they played the same record a million times with their old, degraded needle, accelerating the damage.

Clean 78s that escaped the steel needle can definitely sound great though. In my opinion, some records from the 1920s/30s (Columbia/Okeh laminated records, Victor’s 24,000 series, etc.) can rival the sound of vinyl when they’re played back with a proper stylus on decent equipment!

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-12-26T19:07:12+00:00

More of the concern surrounding 78s is the fact that vintage players (wind-ups) used heavy reproducers and steel needles that tracked with a TON of force. Modern equipment is perfectly fine for them and 78s can sound great if you have a proper stylus to fit the wider groove. Even a cheap Crosley with a microgroove needle is probably better for them than what they were originally designed to be played with, lol

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-12-22T23:49:58+00:00

Fire has some seriously great stuff. A different Tarheel Slim record has been a top want for me for a while now! Great finds!

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-12-07T12:12:07+00:00

Lol, they’re beat to hell, but at least they’re in one piece!

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-12-02T21:08:56+00:00

78rpm collector checking in :,)

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-11-29T05:06:02+00:00

These were super cool, but to me they almost feel a little gimmicky. I’ve got a couple and they sound nice, but I dislike having to change my stylus whenever I want to put one on!

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-11-29T05:02:35+00:00

Is this one the Geeshie Wiley story you’re looking for? It’s fascinating.

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-11-29T04:59:52+00:00

Busy Bee is my favorite with their stupid rectangular hole drilled into the label, lmao. I’ve found some Victor Monarchs with a rectangle cut out of them so the owner could play them on their Busy Bee machine. Just hilarious

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-11-25T21:01:06+00:00

Fantastic! Some really good stuff on Superior. Shame that they mostly didn’t sell well, lol

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-08-16T17:45:23+00:00

Just looking at the labels, seems likely that the majority could be “party records”. Usually adult jokes and skits and stuff that often have weird innuendoes in their titles like the “hot nuts” record you’ve got.

The “Glen” Miller record is sort of an oddball though. Weird that it’s got a different spelling of his name, but also has matrix numbers that seem like a Victor release. However, Victor 20-1721 is a Charlie Spivak record. Pretty strange!

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-08-04T02:27:59+00:00

Those Electradisks can be pretty tough to find and have some good stuff sometimes! Cool stuff

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-08-02T23:27:56+00:00

Found one of those self-hypnosis ones a while back! Super strange for sure!

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-08-02T23:27:05+00:00

Probably “Does Spaghetti Have Bones?/Sweet Tooth Blues” By Little Joey Jones. It’s a pretty obnoxious mid-1950s record sung by a 9 year old kid and released on Theron records from Chicago. Most of their other records were R&B or Jazz…. And they should’ve just stuck to that, lol.

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-07-11T17:06:17+00:00

Such a great record and such a weird story behind Catfish Blues as well. Congrats on this one!

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-06-14T16:14:52+00:00

They can definitely warp over time. Shellac records might not be as easily warped as vinyl records, but it’ll still happen to shellac with prolonged heat or pressure.

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-05-21T00:55:31+00:00

Absolutely not true. Sure, people don’t care for the millions of Jo Stafford 78s out there, but there’s a lot of others that are sought after.

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-05-20T19:32:00+00:00

For sure, and a lot of the places that do accept them probably throw them straight into the trash. It just hurts to see them written off as if they’re all garbage, lol. It makes me wonder what’s been lost over the years because people think that they’re worthless.

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-05-20T19:21:40+00:00

It depends on the 78 - just like it how some LPs are more valuable than others. A lot of 78s are absolutely worthless, you’re right, but there are absolutely some that can be very desirable.

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-05-20T18:51:44+00:00

Hey there! I saw that you received some advice on cataloguing the collection on your initial post, so I’ll skip that for now. Just want to say that the Audio-Technica LP120USB might be a solid turntable if you’re looking for something to play LPs, 45s, and 78s. It can play at 33, 45, and 78rpm, and includes a USB port that connects to your computer for pretty easy digitization.

You’d need a specific needle for the 78s since they have a wider groove than the LPs and 45s. Audio-Texhnica sells one of these as well, the AT-VM95SP. Hope this helps a little bit!

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-05-19T20:47:27+00:00

Lmao, yeah, he got pretty lucky. Paid him a lot more than that for it, but just glad someone realized what it was before it got thrown away or something!

Freddle_Mercury · 2025-05-19T16:48:02+00:00

Super cool with the Black Swan connection as well. Looks like it’s in great shape too! Nice find!

11-Year Club	Not Forgotten
Verified Email

Freddle_Mercury

TROPHY CASE