Green Sandpaper Stylus Cleaner - Where in US?
Posted by: Jeb on 14 December 2000
I thought Linn made the stuff - does anyone know who makes it?
Is it readily available in the UK - if so, can I order it from somewhere?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Steven
The green sand paper is Lapping Film used for polishing fibre optic connectors if you search the internet you should find some, but I thought it went out of favour, it seems strange that a cartridge manufacture would recommend sanding your stylus although it might let them sell more cartridges to replace the ones worn down to the cantilever. ;-).
pete
There are many grades of lapping film - do you know or can you find out exactly what grade the green film is?
Steven
I did a Fibre Optic termination course years ago and from what I can remember (I haven't done any since) they all are different colours to denote the grade, so you might be able to ask for green and they should know what grade that is.
pete
Ron The Mon
You can use the part that you fire a match on a matches box. Cut out the strip of the box and it does exectly the same work as the green paper (only it is brown or black ....) .
Arie
Please edit your above message to read
match-"books" and not match-"boxes".
You can rip a stylus out of its cantilever
with the coarser "sandpaper" on boxes.
Thanks,
Ron The Mon
Why "book" ? you cut out of a "matchbox" the strip that used to fire the match, and you have a narrow 4 c"m long paper that does the same as the green one.
Arie
Ron is also correct about matchbook sandpaper vs. matchbox sandpaper. Much to coarse. Matchbook sandpaper is safe provided it's clean (never used to "strike" a match) and the cover's staple has been removed.
FWIW, many years ago Linn released (as a promo item) books of matches done up with the company logo and corporate colors (orange and white) with the phrase "Linn Stylus Cleaner" on the cover.
Contact your Linn dealer/distributer for the "green stuff".
regards,
dave
David
David
quote:
Maybe the matchboxes are different in Israel
I don't know what is a "matchbook" and I looked at the dictionary and the two words, matchbox and matchbook have the same translation, so i guess Ron is right with his correction to my post.
Anyway, using the strip of a matchbook is cheap and available and does a great job.
Years ago there was a mechanical rotating needle
cleaner made by Audio Technica. Somebody knows where I can purchase one of this now ?
Arie
Just use a fine squirrel hair brush to remove the dust and keep your records clean.
+
quote:
Years ago there was a mechanical rotating needle cleaner made by Audio Technica. Somebody knows where I can purchase one of this now ?
Unfortunately Audio Technica stopped manufacturing the AT637 vibrating stylus cleaner years ago (it was a vibrating cleaner, with a densely packed, short 'brush').
I'm fortunate enough to still have one, but if anyone found small supply of these I'm sure they would sell like hot cakes on the forum!
Goldring also made a similar unit, but I found it to be far less effective, as the brush bristles were too soft.
Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com
I did read your post concerning cleaning styli.
Unfortunately I disagree with you. Before I tell you why, I notice on this forum that no matter what, it seems impossible to convince record washers not to clean records and even harder to change peoples preferred needle cleaning method. With that in mind I don't expect you to agree with me, but here are some facts:
Check with your Linn dealer and ask if he'll warranty your Arkiv (or other Linn cartridge) for failing prematurly because of fluid being wicked up the cantelever and gumming the insides of the generator assembly. Mine won't!!
Check the current thread on the raves of extended lifespan on the Troika. Your Troika didn't last because of not using green stuff but because it is(was) a kick-ass robust cartridge! I used a Troika for FOUR YEARS cleaning it daily with the green stuff!! The only reason I traded it in was Linn were about to change their re-tip credit policy and it was a good deal and the right time. When my dealer inspected it under the 'scope it looked great and it still sounded great. I have yet to ruin a single record or cartridge and I've been using the green stuff for almost twenty years. I use the green stuff once per listening session and use a Discwasher brush after each side of a record as well as a Goldring Electronic Stylus Cleaner once or twice a month. And, like you I do the occasional vacuuming. I've let my son use my LP-12 since he was two years old and he's yet to destroy a cartridge either (though he has scratched many records) so I think not dropping the tone-arm is also overrated.
Years back Roy Gandy did actual long-term research on record and stylus cleaning. If I (or anyone else) find it, I'll post it.
BTW, I've been to many hi-fi seminars over the years and found the way Linn personnel (and Roy Gandy) clean styli is with their fingertips!!!
Ron The Mon
some records I've had sound dreadful before they're washed and pretty good after I've washed them. Simply playing them and brushing the needle makes no difference to this kind of dirt at all.
So
a) What's the downside?
b) Even if there is a downside, why shouldn't I wash them if they sound so much better afterwards?
I'd like to see the Ron Gandy article if you can find it.
All the best
David
quote:
I notice on this forum that no matter what, it seems impossible to convince record washers not to clean records and even harder to change peoples preferred needle cleaning method.
There are many ways to skin a cat, but there is no denying the cat must be skinned. For years, decades even, despite the most fastidious record handling routines I had to put up with the odd pops and clicks with LP replay. The notion that tracking a stylus through LP microgrooves actually cleans it doesn't add up in my experience. As a result, I have hundreds of LPs that I subconsciously don't play because of the surface noise, preferring the quietness of new vinyl or CDs.
Then I heard about vacuum cleaners and after much deliberation, took the plunge and bought one sight unseen. It turned out to be the best USD450 I'd ever spent. The difference between a (microscopically) contaminated record and a clean one is positively staggering. It's not just the reduction of surface noise either. Everything sounds cleaner and more articulate. I'm now going through the process of cleaning ALL my records, and listening to them again with renewed interest. It's almost as if I've doubled the size of my collection in one fell swoop.
If there are any doubters of vacuum record cleaning practices, try one for yourself and see if you can continue dry brushing and letting your stylus do the cleaning for long.
James
Resistance is Futile
It is obvious that a stylus cleans a record. How else can you explain the dustball on the end of a diamond after playing a disc? And the higher quality of diamond and cartridge, the more dust it picks-up. Compare what a Stanton picks-up to an Arkiv.
Now to the test:
Do not take my word for it, do this A-B comparison yourself or you won't sleep at night. First find a woman to listen with you. They tend to listen with their ears and not their eyes or engineering degree. Second, check the humidity of your listening room as record cleaners reduce static in records in dry environments. Most homes nowadays, especially fuel efficient ones, have too low a level of humidity. Use a gauge to check this as it is the only accurate way. If your humidity is off, you will skew the demo. Third, buy several copies of the EXACT SAME record. Fourth, play records in a blind A-B until you are sure you have two that sound identical. Fifth, have the person doing the A-B go to another room to clean one record. This is important as the loud noise of some cleaners causes the listeners "noise floor" to be effected. Get the demoer to do this as quickly as possible so your memory of the music is intact. Sixth, have both records again blindly A-Bed.
I have done this demo for friends (and customers while a hi-fi salesman) and not once did anyone find a record cleaner improved the quality of music.
Also have your dealer periodically inspect your stylus. People who brought their tables into my shop and had diamonds that looked like Mount Kilimanjaro under the microscope always were ones who applied fluid to their needles or records. And BTW the only way to get this grunge off the stylus tip is guess what? Yep, use the green stuff under the microscope to polish it off!
Ron The Mon
quote:
Now to the test.... I have done this demo for friends (and customers while a hi-fi salesman) and not once did anyone find a record cleaner improved the quality of music.
Are you talking about wussy Discwashers and other similar record brushes or a heman's record cleaner like the VPI?
Joe
My last go round I had my Klyde re-built by Expert Stylus. They clean up the cartridge and replaced the diamond with a new one. I believe they use glue to attach the new diamond and recommend not using the green paper. They believe it loosens up the bond of the glue, causes premature wear to the diamond and suspension of the cartridge. Instead they supplied me with a compound about the size of a eraser to clean the diamond. What you do is allow the diamond to penetrate the compound for a few seconds about every three sides of play.
I've used the compound soley now for about 6 months and it seems to work quite well.
I agree with Ron that the Linn cartridges are robust. I've never used a cueing device and they have held up well even after a few bad miscues.. :-O
Cheers,
John
Either my capacity to fool myself is far, far greater than I've ever imagined or the records you used for your blind listening test were nowhere near as dirty as some of mine. Were they dirty at all?
I was very suspicious of wet cleaning when I first tried the primitive non-vacuum ( and hence silent by the way) device I have now. But the results were too good to miss on most records. And my partner thought so too.
Also some records sound much, much quieter while other's don't. How would the 'placebo' effect account for this? Am I subconsciously selecting the ones for which cleaning 'works'? Or was the noise that's gone due to dirt while the noise that remains due to groove damage (or more 'stubborn stains')?
As for the stylus - it clearly picks up dust. I wish I could afford a better one that picked up more! But I haven't noticed any really crackly records getting quieter all by themselves. They might have. But I haven't noticed it.
I find it very hard to doubt my results, but I'll try to set up some kind of test like the one you describe.
In the meantime I'd be interested in your answers to these questions.
All the best,
David
The key benefit for my propensity and now ability to vacuum clean records with a "he-man" (Petrik endorsed) machine is that I can buy used vinyl with confidence that the previous owner(s) habits won't harm my stylus nor grate my nerves.
I don't have such a surplus of cash to buy multiple copy LPs but I have played some of my favourite LPs before and after a wash for my partner and both she and I hear a complete transformation, even with relatively clean records to begin with.
Also, I don't clean my stylus with fluids or sandpaper. I'm one of the fortunate few hoarders from the past who had the wisdom to retain his Audio Technica vibrating stylus cleaner.
James
Resistance is Futile
Although Ron doesn't wash his records, I suspect he's had his brains washed by Linn. 
Joe
quote:
Although Ron doesn't wash his records, I suspect he's had his brains washed by Linn.
I suspect they didn't do quite as good a job on his ears.
James
Resistance is Futile
It seems you've offended a few folks who like to wash their records. Myself, I've never felt the need. I'm not convinced they do any good. I had a Miles Davis record that looked visually fine but sounded very noisy and took it to a local VPI dealer to see if his cleaner did any good. I offered him some money to clean it and he said he would only clean one side for free. He wanted me to take the record home and compare the two sides. The side he cleaned still sounded noisy and the cleaner did no good. I've got over 3,000 records and buy alot of used vinyl. That one Miles Davis album is probably the only really noisy one I own. Big deal, I'll spend $10 and get another copy when I see it again.
Regards,
John
I honestly think you are missing out on the greatest improvement to your vinyl collection since you last upgraded your cartridge. I continue to be astonished by the effect every time I use my VPI machine. I cannot imagine listening to records without it, and I certainly wouldn't be buying second hand records. It is amazing to discover that a lot of the clicks and pops you thought were caused by scratches were actually just crap in the grooves. So many old records - even mould-covered used records - come up looking and sounding as if they were brand new!
Ross