 |
 |
Dear Margarida, I have used Keith Monks, Nitty Gritty, and VPI record cleaning machines going back to the ‘70s in the case of the KMAL. All are good for varying reasons. For lacquers, I prefer the Keith Monks because of its controlled area of suction. However, I find it too slow for vinyl or shellac discs. Then there is the thread feed. Perhaps that has been improved in recent years, but I cannot think of the Keith Monks without lamenting all the problems I’ve had with its thread feed. I have an old Nitty Gritty 3.5 which is still going after all these years. Since I actually enjoy scrubbing my LPs myself, it satisfies my needs. However, in an institutional setting, it’s not the machine I would choose to clean 10,000 discs. For archives, I prefer the VPI HW-17F. (I’m awaiting one of their new HW-27 Typhoons, so I can’t yet comment on it.) The HW-17F is a rugged, reliable, and fast machine. However, its suction is so strong, I hesitate to use it on lacquers. Unfortunately, I do not have a single recommendation that encompasses all your needs. I cannot comment upon Clearaudio, AcousTech, Loricraft, Hanni, or any other brand of record cleaning machine because I haven’t used them. My personal favorite record cleaning fluid for vinyl is Nitty Gritty Pure 2. Since I’m not a 78 collector, I won’t comment on fluids for shellac discs. The above are my personal opinions and do not reflect the views of any company or institution at which I’ve worked, past or present. Larry Miller >>> Margarida Ullate Estanyol <[log in to unmask]> 1/22/2009 7:31 AM >>> Dear Listmembers, The Biblioteca de Catalunya in Barcelona (Spain) has been using Nitty Gritty cleaning fluids Pure1 (78 rpm) and Pure2 (vinyls) and machines for many years, with pretty good results. In addition to our experience, our Preservation team is trying to gather all recommendations regarding the process of cleaning, and we'd very much appreciate yours. We are not quite satisfied with Nitty Gritty services in Spain, so we stopped buying them. Our cleaning machine is now Clearaudio SMART MATRIX, but we still used Nitty Gritty fluids, applied manually on the discs surface. We gathered many information from specialised bibliography. Nitty Gritty in the USA kindky sent to us the components of both fluids Pure 1 and 2. But we would like to ask ARSC members about their experience in cleaning old 78's, acetates, lacquer discs and vinyls. In orther not to bother the list with this, you could send the answers to the e-mail stated below. Many thanks in advance, Margarida Ullate i Estanyol Fonoteca Biblioteca de Catalunya Hospital, 56 08001 Barcelona +34 93270 2300 (2166) [log in to unmask]