Hello Randy:

I use the Discwasher stylus cleaner, have used it for at least 20 years, and it works just fine. The 
one I have is not felt, it's a brush with maybe 1/3" high bristles and a mirror on the other side of 
the brush head.

As for groove lubes, I'd be careful on old disks, especially shellac or laquer. Best practice is to 
wash the disk before playing, and wash it well. Remember not to use anything with alcohol on 
shellac. One of my old-school friends showed me how to wash 78's and transcriptions (carefully) in a 
slop sink, using nothing more than Ivory liquid, warm water and a chammy cloth to dry it. He uses a 
super-soft car-washing sponge and works dilligently to keep water off the inner labels. I have a VPI 
machine and brushes to do either 78's or LPs. My experience is that 78's in particular benefit from 
a good cleaning. The grooves are big enough to collect all manner of filth and the surfaces seem to 
crackle/flake a bit over time. I've never come up empty when washing for crud on 78's. Then they 
play better.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RL C PayPal`" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 6:54 AM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Stylus cleaners + Counter weights


> Hey...I'm a bit of a lurker, but I haven't been around to keep up on
> things for a couple weeks, so forgive me if this is already covered.  I
> bought some new needles recently and ran into a couple small problems
> while I was replacing them and trying to recalibrate things.
>
> While changing the needles for my TT I noticed there was a fair amount of
> gunk build up and I figured I should probably get one of those stylus
> cleaning kits.  It seems there are a couple decent products, but I'm
> unsure on which would be more effective.  The Discwasher SC2 seems to
> have a small velvet or felt pad that you gently drag the stylus across
> the short nap after putting the cleaner on the needle and/or pad.  The
> Stanton SC4 has a longer brush that looks like toothbrush bristles, so I
> assume you put the cleaner on the stylus and then sweep the brush around
> the needle or poke at it.  Having never used either I can not really
> judge which would be most effective in cleaning without damaging the
> stylus and would appreciate any thoughts.
>
> While I'm asking questions, I'm also concerned about the counter weight
> on my tone arm.  I've got one of the Esoteric TT, which seems  to be a
> hot rodded version of the standard Technics/Gemini TT.  They sent me a
> "transcription" head shell with the TT instead of the standard Technics
> shell that it likely would have come with.  The Transcription HS is about
> 2 grams heavier  than the standard HS and I've never been able to get the
> arm to properly balance out at zero.  I rather like the HS and don't wish
> to have to replace it if I can avoid it.  I was looking into whether I
> can buy a new counter weight so it will have enough heft to balance
> properly.  The counter weight that it comes with is just a tad under 4oz
> and goes from 0-2.5 in .5 increments (with 0 actually being 3).  I found
> a place that sells the Technics counterweight that goes from 0-3.5.  Can
> I put this heavier counter weight onto the tone arm or is the weight of
> the counter weight specifically gauged by the weight of that particular
> tone arm.  Getting a new weight seems like the best solution, but on all
> the various TT cart set up/tweak pages I can find on the net don't seem
> to have info about this problem.
>
> Finally, does anyone have experience with "Gruv Glide" or other "groove
> lubricants".  You are supposed to rub the Gruv Glide into the groove
> which will instantly improve sound by reducing friction of stylus in
> groove and all while not damaging the record.  Is this legit or snakeoil.
> Thanx, it's a real help to listen to what the group has to say about
> many topics that end up here.  Randy
>