[silence] Cartridge Music question

[john david]

Matt

As far as I know, the Astatic 12U was the only cartrige ever used by
John and David. They were hard to find in the ´70s when I bought
the remainder of Astatic's stock for John.
They had an enormous piezo element and generated a lot of signal
compared to anything else we tried.
Consumer alert: The element corroded in storage (maybe due to moisture?)
and became useless. You can see it as white fuzz around the crystal
element inside. (you have to open the metal case)
If you find the Astatic cases, you can probably replace the element
with a suitably-shaped piezo element from somewhere else.

I don't think that J&D would be concerned if you used another type
as long as it had a similar screw attachment scheme. It would be better
to play the pieces than not.  I vaguely recall being around when John
observed other groups performing Cartridge Music with non-Astatic
instruments and he had no comment on their technology.

-john fullemann

Matt Rogalsky wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> A question about Cartridge Music "original instruments": can anyone 
> provide a list of the types (specific manufacturers and model numbers) 
> of phonograph cartridges used for the piece in its early days (circa 
> 1960-61)?
> 
> I found on ebay a couple of Astatic cartridges (models 12 and 12U) 
> which have the slot and set-screw to insert a stylus (or object) and 
> are similar to ones I remember David Tudor had in his collection, but I 
> wondered if there were other models I could look for as well.
> 
> Thanks for any assistance,
> Matt R
> 
> 
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