Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Are Your Ears Up for an AMAZING AUDIO REVIVAL?

Technophiles, audiophiles and all like minded people are realizing that old records have never sounded better!

Many changes have occured in the music industry over the years.  From the types of music that are being generated, and to the way we listen to it.

Music in my heyday was listened to on a small, possibly portable turntable.  We were not allowed to use the big "STEREO" in the living room.  That was our parent's domain.  Mine was all in one and had a couple of small speakers attached on either side.  I spent many hours listening to my favorite records on that turntable.  When I grew up I had a similar stereo like the one below, with really good speakers mounted on the walls.

I have seen the advent of many different portable listening devices and the changes in the way things are recorded.  I went from records with  speeds of 78 , 33 and 1/3 or 45's, to cassette tapes, 8 tracks and CD's.  Now you don't have to admit that you fully understand all of this.  ( You'll be giving away one of your best kept secrets if you do!)  Portable turntables all looked something like this:
vinyl record players, audio lovers, record revival

Now I have to tell you that in my house music is very important.  My husband is constantly playing something and I'm never sure what is going to come out of his music room.  One thing is certain, when the music is playing, the memories are also filling my mind of days long ago.  Every song brings a smile to my face and sometimes one or the other will bring a tear or two as well. 

Right now, we are busy cleaning records that we haven't listened to in a long time.  Most of the music we really love has been repurchased on CD's.  After all, we were lead to believe that this was the ultimate sound for any recordings.  I think we were wrong! It was a great marketing ploy.   After all everyone now was rebuying all their favorites in a new format.  The one truth about CD's is that they are much more portable than record players ever were.  So there is room for both formats in most people's homes.

Now this is where this review is going to get right down into the nitty gritty grooves!  One word of caution,  start doing this on a record that you really don't care too much about.  I don't want you to ruin your prized and priceless favorite record right from the start.

But, did you know that you could clean your old records in an easy and inexpensive way?  They will sound so much better than they ever did.  It's easy, doesn't require any special tools or talent and everyone can do it.  

The secret?   Carpenter's glue!  There are many different name brands that you can try, but make sure it's carpenters wood glue and not some "super glue".   There are many different brands of "wood glue", and the favorite seems to be the Titebond, but all of them work and none have been found to have an adverse effect on the records. 



Super glue will get you into all kinds of trouble. So let's not do that! In the pictures below you will see how easy it is to clean your old vinyl records, so that the sound coming out of the speakers is just the way it was recorded.  Full sounds that some CD's just can't match.

removing dust from record albums, glue removal of dirt from LP's,  new uses for carpenters glue
1. Glue spread out over record album.

carpenters glue, dust free records, new uses for carpenters glue, audio revival
2. My other half using his fingers to spread the glue over the record.

audio revival, record cleaning, carpenters glue new uses
3.  Records that have been treated, now drying!


new uses for carpenters glue, audio revival, LP's
4.  Dried glue being peeled off the record face.

Glue on vinyl record
5.  The negative "glue" of the album in its entirety.




That's how easy the process is. It takes about 8 hours to dry completely.  You can use a toothpick to carefully lift the glue at the edge and then slowly peel the rest of the dried glue away from the face of the record.


Now why would you do this? Old records get dusty. It was one of the reasons that records sometimes sounded so scratchy. When you do the glue treatment on your albums, the glue gets right down into the grooves of the records and lifts out any impurities (dust and dirt)  that may be lurking there. You don't have to do this everytime that you want to listen to a record! Get your favorites out (after a test run on another record you don't really care about) and give them a good cleaning. Then after listening to the difference, carefully place the record back in its dust cover. Store your records where they won't be affected by dust, dampness, sunlight and heat. Ours are in a rack, almost like the ones they had in the record stores at the time, and inside a closet. It's a nice cosy place for our favorites and every weekend you can hear the likes of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Melanie and a few more playing in our wonderfully music filled home.  We love the scores from old musicals so have many of them on LP's as well.  So you know you'd be in for a treat musically, our records have never sounded better!



Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


10 comments:

  1. I can honestly say I have never heard of anyone cleaning their vinyls with wood glue. I can't imagine how that was ever discovered. I would have been scared to death to even try such a thing, even if logically I thought it would work. Of course, now that you have told me it works, I wouldn't hesitate to use this cleaning method. How very cool!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would still try it on something that really doesn't matter to you. Having said that, we have gone ahead and done it on many of our favorite records without any problems. My other half still has turntables and the sound is amazing.

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  2. Never would have imagined that wood glue would clean vinyl records. I have heard that LPs are coming back and becoming popular once again, which pleases me. I have a box of LPs of folk music that I love and have saved, even though currently I do not have a regular record player or stereo. But I cannot give them up as some were never transferred to CD so my LPs are my only record of long ago favorites. We used to listen to music ALL the time and glad to know there is a viable way to clean up my old records once I'm player-ready again. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, LP's are coming back! I think that people are realizing that there was much more sound recorded on those old LP's than first heard on old phonographs. We are enjoying all the records that have been cleaned so far. What a difference it has made to clean them up.

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  3. Fascinating! I did not know that ! I cleaned out the record stash awhile backs - but kept the ones we absolutely loved including some family ones from the 40's.

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    Replies
    1. Oh I hope you try this method, but please try it on something "not too special" first. It has worked for all the ones my husband has cleaned without any problems, but I would not want to be responsible for the loss of something extraordinary in your collection.

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  4. WOW, I've never heard of this. This is an excellent tip. Several of us still have vinyl records. One of my sons has a huge vinyl collection, I'll be passing along this tip to him!

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    Replies
    1. I guess you'll be ordering the most giant size of carpenter glue available. The good thing is that you don't need too much to do the job. Glad I could give you a great tip!

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  5. What a fascinating technique! I can’t imagine how someone came up with the idea. I think I reluctantly may have given up my old vinyl albums and turntable years ago, but I’m going to check!

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  6. Oh Margaret I do hope you have a couple of them kicking around. You will be surprised at the difference before and after!

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