Shellac Or Vinyl?

[Sebastian]

Didn't really know where to put this question as it's slightly off-topic... I'm selling a couple of rare brazilian 78 RPMs on eBay at the moment by Chubby Checker and Elvis Presley and I just recieved a question about what material the discs are made of - vinyl or shellac... Does anyone of you know how to know for sure? I have limited knowledge about 78 RPMs and I honstely don't have a clue. Anyone?

[Rbman]

I think the use of shellac in the record business went out of use in the late 40s early 50s....very brittle.

[Rbman]

and it was used in the production of gramophone records until about 1950. just found this in wikkip

[Sebastian]

Thanks for the info! These three are from 1960/1961 or so, but seems to be very brittle. Do you know if the Wikipedia info applies worldwide? A lot of things about the brazilian record industry seems to be at ends with the rest of the world so you never know.

[Gene-r]

They would more likely be shellac. It was used in the production of 78s in certain countries right up until the late '60s.

78s were still being pressed through the late '60s in countries which weren't efficiently supplied by electric. I have a few Indian 78s from 1965 - 1966 which are pressed on shellac.

[Guest SteveSnow]

Thanks for the info! These three are from 1960/1961 or so, but seems to be very brittle. Do you know if the Wikipedia info applies worldwide? A lot of things about the brazilian record industry seems to be at ends with the rest of the world so you never know.

I'm pretty sure that some plants in South America and India carried on pressing 78s for quite a while after the rest of the world had moved on to 45s. Doesn't really help the shellac vs vinyl debate though I know.........

[Guest TONY ROUNCE]

They would more likely be shellac. It was used in the production of 78s in certain countries right up until the late '60s.

78s were still being pressed through the late '60s in countries which weren't efficiently supplied by electric. I have a few Indian 78s from 1965 - 1966 which are pressed on shellac.

I've actually got a couple of Brazilian 78s from 62-3, they're shellac and, I suspect, the ones you've posted up will also be shellac, just like the Indian and Filipino 78s I also have.

The only 'Late 78s' I have that are on vinyl (I'm talking non-US or UK here) are some South African ones - but I also have SA 78s from the same years that are shellac, so that's something to be considered on a 'case by case' basis.

[Guest TONY ROUNCE]

Didn't really know where to put this question as it's slightly off-topic... I'm selling a couple of rare brazilian 78 RPMs on eBay at the moment by Chubby Checker and Elvis Presley and I just recieved a question about what material the discs are made of - vinyl or shellac... Does anyone of you know how to know for sure? I have limited knowledge about 78 RPMs and I honstely don't have a clue. Anyone?

Hi Sebastian,

I'm tempted to say 'drop one, and if it doesn't break it's probably vinyl'!

But a far less costly way to check is to hold one of these in one hand and an older US or UK pressed 78 in the other. If they weigh about the same, they'll all be shellac. If, however, your Brazilan items are lighter, they'll most likely be vinyl. Although, per my note above, I've never yet found a Brazilian 78, of any kind of music, that hasn't been shellac...

Best,

TONY

[Tony Smith]

Weren't 78's made from crushed beetles?

[Sebastian]

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated.

Seems like they are made out of shellac because they all broke when I dropped them to the floor.

[Steve G]

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated.

Seems like they are made out of shellac because they all broke when I dropped them to the floor.

There are plenty of early / mid 60s US records that were made out of shellac compound - you can normally tell them because an oily type hue is visible on the vinyl - it comes off of course with a gentle clean up. The plant that pressed some of the Sue and related labels material I think used it quite late.