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Vinyl skipping...any way to fix?

Z

zirtico

Active Member
I FINALLY got my set up going in my little room here. Got an SL-1401 TT with a Technics SA-251 receiver and a pair of Realistic Nova 7B speakers. I threw on Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms" and when Why Worry was playing, right at the end of the song, there's a sharp click and it keeps skipping. The record is in excellent condition, no scratches at all, and looks very clean, but nonetheless, I tried increasing counterweight and cleaning that track again, and the skipping still was happening...no way to fix this?
 
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I don't know if this is what everyone else does but if I get one that's skipping I run my fingernail in the groove to see if there is something lodged in the groove. If there is then I remove it and then run it through my RCM.
 
Hmmm. Over the years I've had two records similarly do this, both from brand new. In both cases it turned out to be a tiny bit of "flash" left over from the pressing process which had got loose and attached itself to the playing surface, probably while the vinyl was still warm. I finally got out a magnifier and went hunting, found and gently removed the little bits. In one case I can't hear it was ever there, in the other there's just a tiny click to remind me. Funny how I still hear that skip in the first movement of the Beethoven Triple Concerto even though it isn't there any more. Come to think of it, I anticipate it even in a live performance.
 
I have all my stuff stored right now after a flood- otherwise I'd say mail it to me and I'd clean it on my VPI 16.5 to see if it helped.

Maybe a local AKer or someone with a VPI will give it a clean for you.

Check local record stores if they offer any cleaning services.
 
I have heard of guys keeping a heavy-tracking DJ needle around. They will carefully (note: carefully) manually run the needle backwards in the groove right at the skip point (and/or also in the next groove, if necessary) and that sometimes moves around the offending bit of whatever or cleans out the odd gunk.

Good luck ...
 
Where is 'Why Worry' on the side? Is it close to the end of the side (e.g. nearest to the label)? If so, your anti-skate could be out of adjustment. Does this happen with any other LPs?

Or you could just have a flaw in the groove.

-D
 
Yes they drive me crazy. In a previous post someone mentioned using a magnifier and a dentist pick which seems like a good idea. They can be stubborn and sometimes I would just like to do this.

badstylus.jpg
 
At the very least I'd run my finger along the groove to see if it's something you can feel. It might not be the record at all. Maybe something is blocking the arm from going that far in. That happened to me once. I had the arm rotated a little too far around in the ccw direction for the arm to reach the last bit.
 
Grab an led and shine it on the point where the skip is. You will be able to identify foriegn matter. From there you will have to decide how to remove whatever the offending material is. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Rick
 
I used to run an Ortofon cart/needle but broke the needle, $hit happens, got a new AT cart and now have 'pop-skip' problems like you do on only a few albums that I know are perfect. I too increased the tracking force without much success, but alittle.

I think it's the needle design cause nothing else makes any sense.

Shopping for a new Ortofon (or Naganoka) cart/needle now.
 
Occasionally that happens and when it does I watch the label position as it's skipping to note where it is in relation to the label, park the tonearm and stop the platter, and almost always I can pick off whatever it is with a toothpick. Brush the record with my Discwasher after, and normally that fixes it. That is, if the record is not damaged, or defective. I have one LP "Benson & Farrell" on CTI Rrecords, my second copy, and it skips in exactly the same place on both. Looking at it under magnification I can see the groove actually extends over into the adjacent groove where it skips. I guess the limiter missed a peak during the record mastering.

(Looks like the Benson&Farrell album along with another George Benson album from 1976 will be coming out in a month on a single CD.:music::thmbsp:)
 
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I have a habit of carefully going over my records before buying and then before playing them--I don't want to take the risk of chipping/breaking my stylus. Occasinally I see little white specks of, what I assume to be, the labels from recycled records. This is rare, though. I can't move it with the edge of a brush so I pass on that record. I don't want to risk it.
 
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