Hey DJ! Keep those records quiet!

[Ted O'Reilly]

In all the discussions about vinyl here, I've never noticed anyone speak of the method we used in radio stations to quiet down records on air. When records are played over and over, the sylus is scratching the disc, and you start hearing a 'frying bacon' sound.

Remember Dust Bugs? They are a simple device that looked sorta like a tone-arm, with a brush and a small velvet cylinder that tracked the disc, picking up and holding on to any dust on the disc. We'd place the Dust Bug on the track to be played, and add a small stream of distilled water. It worked like a lubricant, and the hushing of the crackling was amazing. When the track's done, remove the Dust Bug, and dry the disc with a soft flannelette cloth. No harm, no film, as it was distilled water.

There were some who said "Don't do that! You'll have to do it EVERY time you play the disc", ignoring the fact that you had to do it in the first place, so SHOULD do it next time. And it never affected the stylus or cartridge, believe it or not. Make sure they were gently blotted -- you might actually be cleaning the stylus while you're at it.

It really works, and I used to do it when transferring LPs to digital formats, eliminating a lot of electronic insult to the copy.

[sidewinder]

I used to have one of those Dust Bugs on my old Phillips music centre ( ) and I agree, it worked pretty well. These days I use a zerostat followed by a carbon fibre brush.

Never tried it with the distilled water though !

[Ted O'Reilly]

I used to have one of those Dust Bugs on my old Phillips music centre ( ) and I agree, it worked pretty well. These days I use a zerostat followed by a carbon fibre brush.

Never tried it with the distilled water though !

Dust bugs were good devices...especially if you were playing the entire side: a live performance or a complete concerto or such. I'd not bother with the distilled water unless the 'crackle' is offensive. Use it as a last resort, or if you're trying to save a record via transfer to digital.