Welcome to 45 Record Adapters, home of those mysterious pieces of plastic (and metal) that somehow found their way into our old stash of 45 records. Depending on where you live, adapters are often referred to by various names like spindle adapters, record inserts, spiders, 7″ adapters, adaptors (with an “O”) and others. Nowadays you can see that familiar Recoton adapter shape on everything from t-shirts to jewelry. In real life, they are normally a small plastic or metal insert that fit into the middle of a 45 rpm record so it will play on a turntable. The adapter could also be a small solid circle that fits onto the spindle of the turntable (meaning only one 45 could be played at a time) or a larger adapter that fits over the spindle, permitting a stack of 45s to be played. On this site though, we’ll just be talking about the ones that are inserted into the center of the 45 record and the ones that fit onto the turntable (the one-at-a-timers).
Think of this site as my simple curiosity that somehow got completely out of control. I started collecting adapters after realizing that there were so many different varieties and colors available. I HAD to know what was out there. Well, one thing led to another and now I’m obsessed. I’ve made it a personal mission to find as many different styles and color variations of these things as possible.
If there are others out there with this same obsession, well then this site is for you. And just to keep things interesting, I’ve also included other music or record related items and tidbits that I’ve been able to gather during my research. I also LOVE feedback, so if you have any suggestions, comments, or even corrections, please feel free to post here or even email me via our Contact Us page. Finding information on this stuff is a bit challenging at times, so I can’t guarantee that everything I post here is 100% accurate, but I’m doing my best to be as close to “perfect” as I can. I really hope you enjoy this site and find at least “some” of this stuff interesting!
Bob