The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

emorritt · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 55 Location: Louisiana

Does anyone have any information on the RCA MI-11850C cutter? I came across one that's NOS, but without literature. It has a plug with 4 pins so I'm assuming mono with feedback, but not sure. Haven't disassembled it to look at the coils or wiring yet since I have no lit on it. This is the long, gray head that was sold with the lathe attachment for the 70-D (and other) turntables. Can anyone shed any light? Thanks.

flozki · Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 38 Location: switzerland

i have the same headd. it is a non feedback, moving iron head with internal rc-network for electrical matching. about the 4pin plug. 2 are for the drive coil, 2 are for the heating wires....

JayDC · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:30 am Post subject:

I'm looking at one of these, do they sound better, or are they more durable then presto heads? Do you know what styli fits this head.

emorritt · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 55 Location: Louisiana

I've used one of these heads and they're OK, but not as good as a Grampian feedback head. They were primarily for radio transcriptions. The head takes a short shank sapphire like Transco's 362 (or a 462 cut off). I usually order their 462's and cut them for short shank heads.

grooveguy · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 40

The RCA MI-11850-C cutterhead has passing mention in the 1952 book, The Recording and Reproduction of Sound by Oliver Read. This was my 'bible' and wish book when I was in Jr. Hi school in the '50s. The cutterhead illustrated seems to be a horizontally-mounted head to fit the RCA 73-B lathe, although it may also have been made available in a more standard vertical format to fit other lathes. The head has a built-in heater and thermostat to keep the damping material at a uniform temperature and consistency (the other two wires). Response is claimed to be ±2dB, 30Hz-10kHz.