Shellac or Vinyl? How to Tell the Difference
Not every old record is made of shellac. From the late 1940s onwards, some 78s were also made of vinyl. These features help you tell them apart:
|
Feature |
Shellac record |
Vinyl record |
|---|---|---|
|
Speed |
usually 78 rpm |
usually 33 or 45 rpm |
|
Weight (10 in / 25 cm) |
about 170–230 g, noticeably heavy |
light |
|
Flexibility |
rigid, breaks rather than bends |
bends slightly |
|
Sound when tapped |
bright, almost ceramic |
dull |
|
Grooves |
wide, easy to see with the naked eye |
very fine |
Be careful with so-called lacquer discs or instantaneous recordings. These were often recorded privately and have a thin lacquer coating on metal, glass or cardboard. They are extremely fragile and should only be wet-cleaned by experts.