Re: [ARSCLIST] De-static question

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In 1967 I worked at a station in Montreal where we had a nightly classical
program, and used an aerosol spray (I'm sorry, I know the ozone layer is kaput
because of CJFM's folly) on all LPs before playing them. Don't know whose
brilliant idea that was, because you'd be playing the Tchaikovsky Piano
Concerto and by the middle of the side, the stylus would be well above the
groove and playing the cleaner gunk.

We often wet-played discs at CKFM if they got noisy on the air..shpritz
Lektrostat on them and then put the little cleaning pad on top of the head
shell to keep the stylus in the grooves. Once a week we'd take all the
gunked-up discs down the hall and clean them with good old Ivory bar soap and
dry them with paper towels. I tell you, it worked perfectly.

Move forward about 25 years and I'm doing the all-night show at CFRB, where by
this time the music universe is on carts and CDs but there's still a trolley
full of old LPs that are long out of print but suit the time period. And
they've been over-applied with Lektrostat. And there isn't any more of the
stuff around. My solution? Put a dime on the headshell and play the track I
want to use with the pot down, while running something else on the air, and the

stylus has chiseled the mud out of the grooves. It was easier to replace styli
than records by that time.

dl

"joe@xxxxxxxxxxx" wrote:

> I recall from my LP collecting days that Zerostat was supposed to remove
> static which attracts dust, which makes noise. The noise you are describing
> sounds like wear or an over application of vinyl protection chemical, I
> forget what it was called in those days. If you applied enough of it, it
> would leave a thick coating and add lotsa noise to the record
>
> js
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Peter Hirsch" <punto@xxxxxxxx>
> To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 10:34 PM
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] De-static question
>
> > Other than online advertisements for Zerostat, I am having trouble
> > finding information on the techniques for and necessity of removing
> > static charge from records. Lamentably, my background as collector,
> > cataloger, librarian and archivist does not include much in the way of
> > technical study of such issues. Lately, I have been going through a
> > particularly  troublesome batch of secondhand vinyl. After carefully
> > washing discs with a mid-level Nitty-Gritty machine, they look pretty
> > pristine, but generally produce tons of crackle and swish when played.
> > I'm not talking about the metronome click of a scratch, but a kind of
> > variable sonic cloud. To my ears, it is the equivalent of what one hears
> > while combing one's hair (at least what I remember from back when I had
> > hair) with a plastic comb in mid-winter.
> >
> > I'm sure I could be doing a somewhat better cleaning job, but I am
> > wondering if I might get more bang for my buck with a static discharging
> > device of some sort. I'd also be interested in knowing if the beneficial
> > effect is greater if you de-static before or after cleaning. Any
> > suggestions that for diagnosis and remedy would be welcome whatever they
> > involve, even if they are not cleaning or static charge related.
> >
> > I'm sure this is all Basic 101 audio and I should be ashamed of myself
> > for not just going out and empirically solving this question by plunking
> > down my $75 for a Zerostat, but isn't plundering other's knowledge and
> > experiences what listservs are for?
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any input,
> >
> > Peter Hirsch
> >
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