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I've been giving some thought to purchasing one of these beasties and wondered if anyone had any experience/recommendations.
VPI and Moth seem to be the most readily available in the UK. Thoughts? Regards Neil |
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Senior Member |
It is a great post, especialy when we buy used records.
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Senior Member |
quote: I have got a VPI 17F, which whilst being very expensive indeed (around 800 quid) seems very well built and does the job exceptionally well. I have heard rumours that the Nitty Gritty machines are a little unreliable after a few years - I believe Joe Petrik has experienced problems with his one. The VPI cleans one side at a time, and can spin in both directions. It really leaves records spotless, and dramatically reduces surface noise and grain. Perhaps the most surprising thing is its effect on a brand new album - the sound is very noticeably cleaner and clearer after a wash. I have not experimented with any weird solutions yet, I use the simple VPI detergent concentrate mixed with distilled water. Tony.
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Tony,
Can you write please the site of your machine manufacturer and please tell what chemicals you use to clean the records. Arie |
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Senior Member |
couple of years ago i put a 'wanted' ad for a record cleaner and got a basic nitty gritty 1.0, vinyl completely manual, all it gives you is the vacuum pump. and a couple of spare new suction lips.
all for £30-40, and it's cleaned every single one of the close to 200 mostly used records i've bought since then....satisfactorily so. are the durability 'problems' with the nitty gritty associated with the higher end auto-semi-auto models? i use a blend of distilled water with supermarket medical alcohol and some drops of LAST record cleaner. |
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Senior Member |
quote: I can not find an official VPI site, though there is information on www.audioadvisor.com about both the VPI and the Nitty Gritty machines. The 400 quid VPI machine is also meant to be very good, though I believe it can overheat if used for very long sessions. As for the solution, I just use the VPI detergent based concentrate as I said above. I don't know any further details of what it is chemically comprised of. It seems to work. Tony. |
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Member |
I have a VPI 16.5 - basic but extremely good. I got mine + spare parts from Vinyl demand/absolute analog in Fordingbridge, Hants, UK. Don't know whether they are still trading though.
Tim |
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Member |
For do-it-yourselfers, Issue 58 of UHF magazine had an article (with plans) on assembling your own record-cleaning machine.
http://www.uhfmag.com/Individualissue.html Cheers, John Schmidt |
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Administrator |
We have an old but working, I think, keith Monks machine, the Rolls Royce of sud making. Neil (Bribe) or anyone if you want it foc (you collect)its quite big.
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Member |
Paul,
What a very kind offer. I'm more than happy to come and pick it up sometime and would love to have it. I have a question. Just how big is it? I currently have a Cavalier hatch and am assuming it would fit in the back of this. Also when would be convenient to pick it up (weekday or weekend)? Regards Neil weekday, Neil, car should be fine! [This message was edited by Paul Stephenson on WEDNESDAY 08 November 2000 at 15:38.] |
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Senior Member |
I have used the same Nitty Gritty machine (semi-auto, at least it rotates the record) for over 15 years. No problems to date.
I use a mix of 80% distilled water, and 20%alcohol (the 99% variety) with a few drops of Kodak photoflow and another few drops of windex per gallon. Works as well or better than any commercial liquid selling at ridiculous prices that I have tried. Paul |
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Senior Member |
Tony wrote:
quote: Our leader of many FEPs is right. The Nitty Gritty machines are poorly made. The fluid reserviour/pump on mine sprung a leak after a few months of use. Fortunately, it was still under warranty, so I got a new one... which also leaked but this time after the warranty had expired. A few globs of silicone sealant stopped the leak, but you have to wonder about a product that's priced a bit lower than a Flat-Cap but has the build quality of a shithouse made of rotting balsa wood. But it works well. Whether new or used, records cleaned on the Nitty Gritty sound much better, and in a test I read the Nitties were every bit as good as the VPIs -- until they fall apart. Joe
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Paul,
Thanks for that. I will contact you by e-mail to arrange an actual day to come along. Just had a thought. If this is what I get after having insulted you so terribly (according to Greg Beatty) in one of the other threads, would I get an offer of a 500 as a bribe if I really went for it?  Regards Neil P.S. It will be fun to put a face to a Naim. |
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Senior Member |
...if anyone wants to give or sell me one (cheap!)
I've a heap of vinyl that would appreciate it! John |
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Senior Member |
I know this is sketchy at best, but IIRC there are self-build machines detailed on Enjoythemusic or TNT... take a look there if you're remotely DIY-inclined - could save you a bundle.
Rico - musichead |
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Member |
I have a nitty gritty but can't remember the model number. I bought it mail order from Audio Advisor and I have since bought replacement pads and additional liquid from them. It has always worked superbly and I have cleaned about 400 records with it.
Aside from it's being noisy in operation I would recommend it strongly, but only if you envisage cleaning progressively as records are used, rather than attempting a 'bulk job', for which it would be too slow. |
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New Member |
I agree with Joe P. the build quality of the Nitty Gritty sucks and it makes more noise than a vacuum cleaner!
On the positive side I must say that I'm very satisfied with the cleaning result even though I can't clean more than 5-6 records at a time (then the machine needs to cool off for 30 minutes). Regards, Per |
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Member |
I use my Nitty Gritty since 1983 with no problem yet. The model is a 1.5.
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Senior Member |
My dad has a Nitty Gritty sourced Record Doctor and it is good and cheap. But, better results are to be had using the completely manual Disc Doctor system. You get fluid and two brushes, and must supply your own distilled water. Basically, you wash with one brush, then rinse with the other(thi is actually more time consuming and important), air dry, and off you go. No noisy, space-eating machine, and it works better than isopropyl-based solutions (it is a surfactant). Also claimed to be safer.
Record cleaning is at least half a hicap's worth of improvement even on clean looking records in terms of cleaner, clearer sound, but I haven't found it to improve surface noise much (because most ticks are due to small scratches that can't be removed). --Eri |
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Senior Member |
sorry if this is a bit simple but I thought that the received wisdom (from Linn??) was that the best way to get the crud out of your grooves was simply to play your records and then clean your cartridge with the green sandpapery stuff. Also I recall a warning that cleaning your records with any fluid was likely to creat a 'mud' in th bottom of the grooves.
Obviously things have changed. Phil |
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