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Cleaning vinyl records


Steve Temple

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Guest Jake Wifebeater

Depends on the needle, too. I bought my stereo 2nd-hand about 9 years ago and all my vinyl still plays like a dream.

One time years ago, my mate bought a Flux of Pink Indians LP and it was utterly caked in dust and shit. He poured a little bottle of the alcohol you get to keep new piercings clean with all over it, then played it again. There was a huge ball of dirt on the needle once it had finished, and the vinyl itself was as good as new! Marvellous. Give that a go.

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Hopefully thats sarcasm' date=' otherwise you're a fucking idiot o_O[/quote']

I find that vinyl has a strange crackle about it, inhibiting my enjoyment of the recording. Also when youre trying just to listen to your favourite song and sometimes you dont get the needle bang on the right spot that can be annoying too. Theyre also fairly cumbersome to transport. As far as albums go, who buys and listens to a whole album these days?! When its so easy to just buy the best tracks (most albums you hear have got some dodgy ones) Id rather do that and create playlists in my iPod so you can have like: The Monster Song (the automatic), I Predict a Riot (Kaisers), She moves in her own way (Kooks) etc without all the boring album fillers.

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I find that vinyl has a strange crackle about it' date=' inhibiting my enjoyment of the recording. Also when youre trying just to listen to your favourite song and sometimes you dont get the needle bang on the right spot that can be annoying too. Theyre also fairly cumbersome to transport. As far as albums go, who buys and listens to a whole album these days?! When its so easy to just buy the best tracks (most albums you hear have got some dodgy ones) Id rather do that and create playlists in my iPod so you can have like: The Monster Song (the automatic), I Predict a Riot (Kaisers), She moves in her own way (Kooks) etc without all the boring album fillers.[/quote']

You're wrong.

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I find that vinyl has a strange crackle about it' date=' inhibiting my enjoyment of the recording. Also when youre trying just to listen to your favourite song and sometimes you dont get the needle bang on the right spot that can be annoying too. Theyre also fairly cumbersome to transport. As far as albums go, who buys and listens to a whole album these days?! When its so easy to just buy the best tracks (most albums you hear have got some dodgy ones) Id rather do that and create playlists in my iPod so you can have like: The Monster Song (the automatic), I Predict a Riot (Kaisers), She moves in her own way (Kooks) etc without all the boring album fillers.[/quote']

..............oh...dear......

surely I'm not the only one who actually listens to a whole album when they first get it home?..

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You're wrong.

I wa just yankin yer chain min, fishing for some vitriolic criticism from vinyl lovers and genuine music fans!!

In all seriousness though, having never really owned any vinyl (other than a few 80s speed metal hand me down from my cousin - God bless her for my introduction to Helloween) I don't feel any nostalgia for vinyl. Everything I owned as a kid was on tape until CDs came along. Maybe I missed out! Maybe I'll be harping on about good old CDs when albums are distributed in pill form.....

As for the other point regarding "albums", I was reading a piece in Uncut by that slavic sounding bloke from Kasabian who was banging on about how no British bands makes great albums anymore (apart from Kasabian in his eyes of course - their forthcoming album "Empire" is going to be the greatest thing since "Definately Maybe"...make what you want of that statement!). He was taking great umbrage with the fact that so many people do now just download individual tracks onto playlists, the hit single is the be all and end all and that the concept of making a great album is now lost (he was also banging on about his love of vinyl!). Quite what distinguishes a proper album from a series of individual tracks i'm not quite sure. does anyone agree or disagree with this statement? Are there many British bands making great albums these days?

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I think it's dust that's the problem' date=' but since even the new vinyls I buy are skipping, maybe it's a problem with my needle, or maybe I'm being sold duff copies. This may be a stupid question, but is it possible to clean the needle, or is it too delicate?[/quote']

How old is the needle out of interest? If its a couple of years old and has had regular use then chances are it needs replacing. We can order a new one at Millers if you need one. An average price for a replacement styli is around 17-22 though it can be much higher. What we would need from you is the model number of the turntable and possibley to see the current styli.

If its a new turntable chances are its not the needle, your best bet in that scenario is to get a carbon fibre brush. These cost around 8 and can also be bought at Bruce Millers.

:up:

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In a sort of response to Shaki, I tend to the idea that cds, or rather cd players have put an end to the idea of an 'album'. Playing vinyl meant in most cases starting at the first track on the side and playing it through. To skip a track or to play one again meant getting off your backside, going over to the deck, picking up the arm and placing it where you wanted; tapes were even more hassle. Now a prod of a button skips, plays again, at random, or with MP3 players, starts another album entirely. I know I tend to skip my less favourite tracks now, whereas with lps they were left to play on.

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Slight digression; has anybody else replaced vinyl with a cd, yet still find yourself expecting a track to jump at the usual place, where it's jumped on the scratched lp for the last 35 years?

And those bits on 'We're Only In It For The Money' won't make anybody shit themselves like I did when playing the copy I borrowed from my (obsessive audiophile) mate for the first time...

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My record player is just a few months old, so Alkaline's right, it probably isn't the needle. I'll pay Millers a visit.

In response to the vinyl v.s CD debate, the reason I bought 1 is to play 12" singles, which have a better sound-quality than CD singles, I find, and allow for numerous, lengthy remixes. Also, if you've gone to the effort of putting on a record, you usually listen to it all the way through.

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