Cleaning The 'sound' On A Record

[Russ Vickers]

Hi Gang, help needed please...

 

Can you 'clean up' the sound on a record with heavy wear, say a G grade ?. There is the 'bacon frying' sound through out on the record in question, although it is not through being accesively dirty, more because of many fine scratches.

 

The music can be heard quite well thru out all of this & there are no skips or jumps, i assume there are some deeper scratches too, which I know nothing can be done about. For the grade it plays quite well, but just wondered if the bacon can be removed or improved in any way....maybe 'skimming' ?, I hasten to add this is for myself & not for re sale, if the record was sold later, I would obviously make it clear that the record had been 'skimmed'. I assume that you can only 'skim' vinyl not styrene...

 

Lastly, is there anyone in the UK that specializes in this kind of thing, I'm happy to pay for the service.

 

Thanks in advance kids, best Russ....

[Mal C]

GLUE.... does wonders for all sorts.. there are lots of examples of this on the net, this one is as good as any up there russ..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gyvipBs6Vs

 

Mal

[Russ Vickers]

Do you think it will improve the sound made by fine scratches ?....I'd assumed the glue method was for removing ingrained dirt ?...

 

Thanks

 

Russ 

[Pete S]

Skimming won't do anything except improve the look of the record Russ.

[Russ Vickers]

Thanks Pete, as I thought really....any ideas mate ?.

[Guest johnny hart]

HI russ ,have tried the lot from wood glue too 98% alcohol, conclusion ;  sniff the glue, drink the alcohol ,You cant polish aTurd!

[Pete S]

Thanks Pete, as I thought really....any ideas mate ?.

 

I use a electro-magnetic jewellery cleaner I go from Aldi!  You can see it getting the crap out of the grooves.  But thats best for ingrained dirt, for scratches etc, I don't know if anything helps really.

[Guest]

I had a record that was noisy so I cleaned it with furniture polish i made it a lot more quiet also i find it pulls a lot of dirt out too just set your counter weight to full.

[Steve S 60]

I had a record that was noisy so I cleaned it with furniture polish i made it a lot more quiet also i find it pulls a lot of dirt out too just set your counter weight to full.

 

Mr (Bobby) Sheen?

[Russ Vickers]

Thanks all....keep the ideas coming pse.

 

Russ

[Dazz]

Hi Russ

 

I'm assuning that this tune is  A) Really rare B) you want to play it out    in which case perhaps the best thing to do is sample

the tune in and get a carver done.  I sample them in at 96k 24bit and then use a program called Izotope to remove all scratches

and 'bacon frying' leaving you with a well listenable tune although if they are really shagged even this doesn't work sometimes

[Jim Elliott]

DO NOT USE ACETONE!

[Jazz]

A friend of mine says he t cut some of is records and it does improve the sound ?

[Bagasulph]

It's impossible to remove noise if it's scratches, but PVA glue gives it a good deep clean and can improve the sound because you'll probably find it's a combination of scuffs AND dirt. It won't be perfect but you may get a slight improvement.

 

Or find a record shop with a good record cleaning service if you're scared of the glue

[Guest john s]

If it's fucked, it's fucked.

 

Nothing you can do about that.

[Frankie Crocker]

Some thick spray on cleansers such as Mr Muscle and Mr Sheen supposedly help as they help the stylus gouge ingrained gunge out of the grooves AND theoretically fill the cracks giving a dampening effect. Never tried it but a metal polish abrasive wool like Duraglit might help lessen the worst scratches - used it to buff up surfboard dings fixed with fibreglass and it came up a treat. Ultimately, there's no quick fix for the problem other than to buy a better copy when the chance arises.

[Bagasulph]

DO NOT use abrasives! You're adding wear rather than removing it. Filling the scratches with gunk is also a bad idea. As John S said, it's fucked. Careful cleaning may get rid of dirt that adds to the problem, but absolutely nothing in this world will get rid of scratches. 

[Lovemusic]

I use an artists bristle brush as the record is playing. Any scratches are usually on the top of the surface and the swarf is pulled across the groove. By using the brush it can often remove the swarf from the path of the needle, which is what causes the clicks etc.

much less invasive than sandpapering the surface!

[Russ Vickers]

What is swarf please ?.

 

Yes, it is a rare record, with few copies known currently & plays through very well for the grade to be honest, it is deffo not f*cked !, even if I fail to get a better playing sound from it, I will still be happy. 

 

I think most of the scratches are fine surface scratches & nothing too deep, no clicks or pops, just some background 'fizz', was just curious whether it could be improved & if so how, i probably wouldnt risk many of the suggestions on here so far, altho wood glue & a few other suggestions sound like they would be worth a punt without risking further damage.

 

Thanks for all of the advise so far.

 

Best Russ

[Jkpnefc]

Didn't have any wood glue so used a tube of super glue......didn't work!!

[Andyd68]

With wood glue put it on thick and over the edges this will enable you to peel it off,I don't think it makes that much difference imho.

I wash mine using a paint pad which cost about 45p.

 

Andy D

[Lovemusic]

Swarf is a residue of cutting something, usually metal. When your stylus is dragged across the groove it displaces some of the vinyl, most of which is lost, but the edge of the groove has a cut across it that catches on the stylus as it goes round. This is what causes the click. The actual information in the groove is usually undamaged as it's lower down.  Your problem sounds more like static.

[Bagasulph]

My experience is that wood glue dries quite brittle and doesn't peel well.. kids PVA glue is perfect. 

[Mellorful]

Would the Ortofon Mk2 needle make a difference, it being elliptical instead of round it may drop deeper into the groove.

[Simon T]

If you want to reduce the hiss while playing the record out, get a small pump-action spray bottle, the finer the spray the better. Fill it with (only) isopropyl alcohol. Spay the grooves and play it. Usually by the time it's finished playing the isopropyl will have almost evaporated. You can also use it to clean vinyl & styrene records in general.

[Gerry H]

if you get trouble getting pva off keep coating it with thick coats eventually it will peel off

i clean my records damp a bit of tissue drop of washing up liquid put it on a kitchen worktop scrub it follow the groves put it on the deck wet maybe do it a couple of times get deep in to the groves  it always works for me 

just looking through my kitchen cubords i found flash magic eraser like a stiff sponge i will give it a try www.cleanright.eu

Edited December 6, 2014 by Gerry H

[Godzilla]

If you want to reduce the hiss while playing the record out, get a small pump-action spray bottle, the finer the spray the better. Fill it with (only) isopropyl alcohol. Spay the grooves and play it. Usually by the time it's finished playing the isopropyl will have almost evaporated. You can also use it to clean vinyl & styrene records in general.

 

This will work but will doing it repeatedly will probably reduce the life of the record to the extent where the only way you'll get a decent sound out of it is to play wet. The person who introduced me to this method aeons ago suggested it was an effective technique to get a decent recording of a record, but said that was the only thing he'd use it for. This was in the days before easily affordable vinyl recording software with filters etc.

Personally I'd clean the record as above but would wait until it's dry before playing. I'd also think a spare stylus and a good deal of care would be in order if you're going to use some of the "set weight to max and gouge away" tips previously mentioned.

[Guest Garry Huxley]

speak to glen bellamy he's on facebook he offers some kind of service for this type of thing

[Russ Vickers]

I think I'm now sorted kids, thank you for all of your advise...

 

Best Russ