Immediately, 2 things come to mind. Is audio hiss there all the time, or, only when needle is on your recording playing it?? There could be one of 2 things wrong. 1 an amplifier problem causing the hiss. May be a noisy tube. or, 2 your weight of recording cutter is too heavy. This is usually adjustable via a screw near front of top of recording arm. You also don't want "holes" in your recording. These are spots where groove cutting stopped, and started. Usually caused by combination of too much weight, and worn recording needle. I assume you also know that the flat spot on recording needle was intended to be where screw on front of arm held it in.
Glad to see someone else is interested in recording. This can be fun, and the results are rewarding. The last disc recording that I did as an experiment 21 years ago I reccorded a favorite 2 min. cylinder recording of mine. Still have that disc. Can you tell me where I can pick up more cutting needles, and good aluminum shelac blanks? 10", and 12". Magic eye tubes, by the way, are not terribly accurate at telling volume.
