How would you go about trying to get rid of a scratch on vinyl LP?

How would you go about trying to get rid of a scratch on a vinyl LP?
I tried cleaning with a dry brush (Hunt EDA Mark 6).
Would anything else help?
Gruv-Glide? (never tried that), or anything else?
I have a Y&B Parlophone With The Beatles that skips in 3 spots. Other than that it sounds beautiful!
Any suggestions?

 

In my experience, anything that you try will have an adverse effect on the grooves. That being said it depends on how deep and how long the scratches are. A skip is essentially a groove bypass, where the needle is forced onto the next groove by a lateral scratch that is wider than the grooves. So fixing a scratch is quite difficult because it involves making the scratch smaller (impossible) or making the groove bigger (almost impossible). What I used to do in the old days was to try to force the needle to stay on the groove by applying pressure. One time out of 3 or 4 times it would work, but I WOULD NOT under any circumstances recommend you do that. You will damage your stylus and your record in most cases.....

 

Cancer and AIDS will be cured before there is a cure for scratches on vinyl.

If scratches could be fixed, the prices of vinyl on eBay would be reduced by 75% overnight. Clean the vinyl but don't otherwise deform the grooves. If the scratch is affecting your enjoyment of the music -- and a click every revolution of the record can certainly be distracting (unlike random static and pops, a fine turntable will not materially reduce this problem) -- you should consider replacing the record.

 

Yeah, I guess I was hoping for a miracle. I certainly don't want to make it worse. But then again, if I'm gonna replace it anyway...hmmm

 

Although not a cure, giving a vinyl record a mild soapy bath with a soft or worn out toothbrush followed by a gentle rinse and gentle soft towel dry, will not eliminate the scratch but in some cases lessen the severity - sometimes sounds better when played - less sharp, maybe less pronounced.

 

I have never tried this (although I have done the needle thing a few times and actually wrecked an expensive stylus in the process...), but a co-worker of mine is a DJ and has used a razor blade to fix skips in 12"s. I don't think it removed any clicking sound, but if I record simply doesn't play through, it might work. Obviously, I wouldn't experiment on a valuable record, and I certainly don't recommend it, but if it was a cheapy, it's worth a shot.

 

This may or may not help, but I once got a scratched record to track by backing off on the tracking force. I was really surprised.



Dan

 

I had a friend who did that with a exacto knife. He called it doing micro-surgery on the record. Basically you are just deepening the groove, so the needle doesn't go the wrong way (on the scratch) and stays on the groove.

 

Temporarily adjusting the anti-skate can help. In more serious cases, gently holding an artist's paintbrush against the cartridge body can work, but it takes a very steady hand.

 

That's exactly what I was gonna try next. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Also I have two cheap turntables in the garage I could fire up for the weight on the stylus trick. Like putting a penny on it (in the old days, right?)
And then "micro-surgery"!!! That is classic! That'll be a last resort though. Man, I never would have thought of that!

 

Stan Ricker has some advice:
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/rickerinterview/ricker10.htm
Search for "Raymond."

You could always email the man himself....

Cody

 

I do this with all my skipping records and it works fine most of the time. You still get a pop, but the record will track through (and if you're needle-dropping, you can fix the pops with software).

Think of it this way -- a record groove goes in one direction. The reason a record skips is because something has knocked the top of a groove wall so that it lays perpendicular to the groove itself. So your job as repairer is to remove this errant piece of vinyl from the path of the stylus.

Sometimes the hardest part is the first part, finding the skip. Often you'll find that it isn't vinyl blocking the groove but some other foreign crud. Those are the easy ones -- just gently pop the offending stuff out with something relatively small (I've even done these before with just a fingernail).

But let's say it's a garden variety skip caused by sloppy handling. Once you find the general are of the skip, inspect the grooves in that area closely with some type of magnifying device (jewlers loup works fine). You need a *sharp* exacto knife and you'll want to make sure you are relatively caffeine free at the time, if you get my drift -- you want steady hands for this work.

Gently trace the groove with the exacto knife. You won't need any measurable downward pressure -- you just want to move the blade through the groove. I usually do this in the opposite direction that the stylus will travel (so the knife goes right to left). You will find resistance in the skip areas and you have to go through them keeping the knife in the groove as straight as possible -- what you DON'T want to do is carve a new path to the next groove over.

Remember that a lot of skips will cover more than one rotation, so you may need to trace more than one groove.

Once you think you have cleared the skip, try playing the record again. Be sure to play it through the bad area more than once -- often the errant junk needs that last little push from the stylus to get out of the way. Don't be afraid to max out your recommended VTF when you're doing this (and don't use an expensive cart/stylus if you have the choice). If it's still skipping after playing it through a couple of times, inspect it again with your magnifying device and try tracing it again.

It takes patience, and gets easier with experience. My success rate on LPs is well above 90%. The most difficult ones to fix are where the gouge goes parallel to the grooves and has essentially wiped out a big chunk of groove wall. Just not much you can do for these.

On 78s, I have gone so far as to dab some epoxy on really big gouges and trace new grooves through the epoxy. Believe it or not, this actually works about half the time.

Remember -- you will still get a pop on playback. But it'll play thorough at least.

 

Have you tried sand paper?

(Don't).

 

I use a bamboo skewer...wittle the edge to a fine point and trace the groove GENTLY!!! In most cases I have fixed the skip and reduced the scratch noise. Had to do that VERY recently....

What I perceive happening is that there is a blockage from one side of the groove wall collapsing...(much like a tree that has fallen into a road. Your job is to gently trace the groove until the burr is gone (or mostly gone) and the needle can flow freely without colliding into the fallen side of the groove....

It works for me...and has for many years....

 

Ain't no cure...

A vinyl, styrene, or shellac record scratch is irreversible--hence the sky-high prices for rare items in "mint" condition. They can sometimes be fixed through digital editing if you are doing a transfer, but your original 'software' will still be damaged and problematic.

 

You can't get rid of a scratch because it's an area that's already been removed.

 

I guess we need to clarify the question on the thread.

Scratches (damage to the vinyl) can NOT be removed. Skips (damage to the vinyl which causes the stylus to jump out of the groove that it is in) CAN often be repaired so that the stylus no longer jumps the groove, albeit with a noisy artifact still present.

 

That's an interesting way of thinking about it. In other words, the scratch does not remove part of the vinyl, but it just reshapes it. That would be an argument for using something less harsh like bamboo instead of an exacto knife.

 

Really, I just want to punish the little b@stards getting in the way of my stylus.

Seriously, whatever works. The advantage that I've found with the exacto is that it is very thin (fits in the groove easily) and is quite effective. Never tried the bamboo, but maybe I will.

 

Bamboo is soft enough not to damage the actual groove information that's left too much...in other words...you aren't carving out another groove by using metal...just soft bamboo.

Remember you have to whittle the end down to pencil-lead-thin proportions then trace the groove...

Try this out on a couple of lousy cheap records first!

 

UPDATE!!!
Well I'll be darned. Micro-surgery worked!!! I guess I should have called them "SKIPs" not scratches, because it was skipping ahead into the next groove (caused by a scratch).
I tried it before I read the bamboo idea. Excellent suggestion!!!
I bought a 5X power magnifier from the hardware store (probably could have used even a stronger one, not weaker) and used the finest sewing needle my wife had.
The "POP" artifact it created is not bad at all. They're very low, bassy sounding pops that sound better than even some of the vinyl crackle in other spots!!!
I can't thank you guys enough. I thought it was a lost cause. Man, I'm happy about this.
Spread the word.
P.S. apply as little pressure as possible, almost zero pressure. Then brush or blow away debris, recheck, and do again if needed. I did 3 to 4 passes on each skip.
Under magnification they looked like this:

 

Yes, I just had that experience. As Dan suggested earlier in this thread, I decreased the tracking force on a particular record that skipped in one spot and and the skip was gone! There's still a loud click at the same point but it's better than a skip.

Thanks for the idea, Dan.

 

There's another method: determine whether the skip is inward or outward, then tilt your turntable very slightly slightly in the opposite direction. Let mother nature/gravity do the work by forcing the stylus to stay in the groove. You may want to transfer only that small section and then edit the pieces together. It worked for me the one time I needed it!

GM

 

Excellent!

Never give up on vinyl!