Cleaning tools

You only need two brushes to get started.

• Anti static Carbon Fibre Brush
  

  Buy a quality brush and it will serve you a lifetime. WARNING: there are many cheap ones that are not ANTISTATIC and/or the bristles fall out. I purchased a quality brush back in 1974 and I still use the same one.

  
  
• Stylus brush
  

  Only this type of brush will do the job well. It has short very tightly packed bristles. It can be used dry or wet with cleaning fluid sold by Disc Doctor. To use place one drop of fluid on brush. Lightly drag brush from BACK to FRONT of underside of cartridge so that entire cantilever and stylus go through bristles. Repeat a couple of times. Do this every few months. NEVER use gel cleaners, Blutac, magic eraser or other stupid things.

  
  
  
• Spinclean wet record washer (mainly needed for washing used records). Ensure you use it according to the directions and ALWAYS use distilled or demineralised water with it.

Using Carbon Fibre Brush

The purpose of using this brush is to remove static from the record so it is less inclined to attract dust and to remove surface dust so it does not collect on your stylus.

Place record on turntable ready to play, engage turntable so platter spins record. Lightly place the brush across the record. Bristles should remain straight, if they are bending you are pressing too hard. Hold brush there for at least one revolution, then move the brush towards you until the brush is clear of the record.

To remove the collected dust from brush, flick the bristles back and forth over the handle away from the record. NEVER touch the bristles with your hands, otherwise you will contaminate the bristles with oils.

Cleaning records

Generally new records from reputable record pressing plants are clean and so do not require the use of cleaning fluid or sprays. So if you purchased one of those cleaning kits with fluid/spray and brush/cloth then chuck it out now.

These sort of kits are ineffective and usually cause trouble like gunk build up on the record. Trust me I have had over 50 years of keeping records and know from experience.

Where is all this dirt coming from that needs cleaning so often? You don’t need to be cleaning records with fluids or sprays. If you do buy used records, then wet wash them with a Spinclean ONCE and that is it. Take care of your records by only having them out for playing, and do not touch the playing surface with your fingers. Put back in jacket immediately after play. If you do this, how are they going to get dirty? Sure they may get a little surface dust, but that is easily removed before play with a Carbon Fibre Brush. There is normally no need to be doing anything else. My simple approach has served me well for over 50 years. However if you buy lots of used records and have the money, then by all means invest in an RCM (Record Cleaning Machine) but they are not essential for a beginner.

What NOT to buy

Avoid all Crosley, Victrola and other brands of "all in one" players. These have a very cheap mechanism which is unreliable and performs poorly. Plus having speakers in the same enclosure as the turntable is problematic.

If a player has this tone arm and distinctive long red stylus & head shell you can be certain it will perform very badly. Speakers need to be separate from the turntable.

These cheap 3 piece systems with separate speakers costing a few hundred $ are not recommended. But if you have a limited budget this type of thing is still better than an "all in one". Just ensure it has a tone arm with an adjustable counter weight.

Buying first record player

What do you need? First off, don’t think you can get into this hobby with only $200USD to spend on new gear and expect it to be reliable and perform well. Anything in that price range is a waste of money. Do not buy anything that has the speakers built into the turntable. At a minimum you will need a separate turntable and a pair of powered (active) speakers , plus one of those items must have a built in PHONO PRE AMPLIFIER. If you are serious then you should consider these as typical suggestions of the minimum sort of gear to start with.

Turntable: audio-technica AT-LP120XBT-USB or AT-LPW40WN depending on which style you prefer. Turntable needs to have adjustable counter weight, adjustable anti-skate and interchangeable head shell and cartridge.

Powered Speakers: Klipsch R-50PM

These speakers have a main amplifier & PHONO pre amplifier built into so you can connect any turntable directly to them.