The Article
STREAMING CHAT ON DEGRITTER (YOUTUBE)
4th August 2023
As I write this, yesterday I did a bit (well, almost two hours!) of streaming with Nadine from the YouTube channel, Souldisco
Nadine kindly invited me to chat about the Degritter vinyl cleaning system but we ended up chatting about cleaning in general terms and then vinyl in general terms – tangents, the bane of my life.
Hence the nearly two hours. It was supposed to be an hour.
Anyway, if you’d like to have a look, check out the link below and, on a broader level, check out Nadine’s channel which is rather excellent. Well worth supporting.
Thank you so much Paul. I enjoyed it very much and looking forward to our next stream.
Nadine! 🙂 I enjoyed it very much – and thank you for your kind invitation. 🙂
Thoroughly enjoyed this video with a couple of well deserved German Augestiners (ask Nadine) here in Berlin.
It‘s a funny old world when I clean my 55 year old records on my HummingGuru in 2023 which I was perfectly happy with in 1973. The HG is worthy of your attention I believe and I would like someday to see a comparison between it and the DeGritter. A typical English expression is ‚fit for purpose‘ and it would seem that the record industry has bypassed this caveat by supplying contaminated vinyl which requires additional attention in order to achieve the best results. I buy an awful lot of music and much of it on vinyl; sadly, there is a quality drop-off recently in the haste to get new product in a different colour on the market. I‘ve sent more LPs back in the last couple of years than I have since I was a teenager. I have fully embraced your cleaning techniques with a few modifications which I thank you for. I have waffled on…..time for another Augustiner.
Thanks for this Dave and yes, must try and grab a HummingGuru to test. I think the max capacity experienced by all of the world’s pressing plants is putting unfortunate pressure on plant staff and that might be causing mistakes. Pressing vinyl is not a science, it’s an art. You have to concentrate and know what you’re doing. You can cock up if your staff is tired or inexperienced, for example. It takes one experienced guy to be off work that day and his role to be filled by a young kid and bingo!
Back in the 60s/70s, for example, there was greater capacity to cater for demand (so I hear) but even so, there could be catastrophic events even then. I remember returning Queen’s Jazz to the shop 5-6 times before I found a good copy and that was in the hey day of vinyl production. The solution? More investment. More plants. More capacity. Less pressure (on the staff – not the vinyl, of course 🙂 )
Thanks both Nadine and Paul! I use a combination of VPI 16.5( with A-1 One Step followed by Distilled rinse) > Humminguru with their “Small Bottle Product. Now I think I at least need to add a DI rinse in the Hummingguru! Also can you point me to links for your specific solutions / techniques you’ve found best so far? Many thanks
Sure – here’s my links for the manual cleaning (Part 1) and RCM (Part 2) Vinyl Cleaning Guides. The vinyl prep section can be used for ultrasonic cleaning, though: https://theaudiophileman.com/vinyl-cleaning-guide-part-1-manual-cleaning/ & https://theaudiophileman.com/vinyl-cleaning-guide-pt-2-rcms/
Hello Jefferson,
Can you elaborate on your method please? I decided to keep my Okki-Nokki after purchasing the HumminGuru and I now use both in combination when cleaning ‚dirty‘ records (‚new‘ records generally only get cleaned on the HG). I employ the Small Bottle too and when I ordered the machine I also requested a second tank which I intend to use as a rinse tank. Is this the method you employ? Thanx for any feedback. Regards
Dave – RTR
Hi Dave— I’m sure my method will change after I review Paul’s techniques. For now:
1) if necessary use a light brush to remove and obvious dust.
2) VPI 16.5 РUse “A1 One-Step” solution. Apply a thin coat, use a goats hair bush to gently scrub until I get a nice foam.
3) let sit 2-3 minutes.
4) scrub again.
5) vacuum (2 complete rotations)
6) rinse with DI and 2 drops photoflo/ gallon
7) repeat for side 2
8) Humminguru tank with 3 drops from small bottle.
That was it until now, but Paul has convinced me I need a rinse! So I’m dumping and using a fresh tank of Distilled for the final rinse. I should probably buy a new reservoir for the second rinse.
At this time I’m not using any IPA, but I’ll be reviewing Paul’s techniques and will probably add it along with Tegitol / makeup brush. Love your RR Rambler page Dave!!
Paul, Exceptional video. You should consider participating in more of these with Nadine or the 45 RPM Audiophile. The nuance in your responses were magical. I’d love to see one where you provide an overview of your personal 2-channel setup.
Thanks Joseph – very nice of you. I need to improve the sound from my end though. I’ve even grabbed a new podcast-type mic! 🙂 You can see my HiFi on Patreon, incidentally. I’m going through my system over there.