help with constantly dusty stylii

[djpager]

Hey. So I've been dj'ing for years and I've always had this problem - No matter what I do, my needles get dust buildup within 1-2 record plays. I dj hard house and trance.

I use Gruv Glide on all my records, and i clean them with stanton cleaning solution and one of those felt brushes. I clean the needles with a shure brush and alcohol.

My gear is 2 Numark TTX1s and I'm using Shure white label cartridges.

Any ideas on what is going wrong here? Do I have excess static charge buildup in my vinyl? I keep my vinyl in one of those Odyssey flight cases, so it's covered when it's not being played. Any thoughts are appreciated cuz I am getting super frustrated not being able to even record a mix.

[BrunoRepublic]

Something's not right here. Is it dust that's building up on the vinyl, crud from the cleaning solution, or particles of shredded vinyl from using a DJ cartridge?

Anyway, I use a nifty product called Zerodust, which is essentially a piece of gummyish material that you simply lower the stylus into, then quickly pull it back. It easily removes all the crud off the stylus if you've been playing dirty records. When it gets full of dust and crud, you just give it a quick wash, and it's as good as new. Truly a nifty device... it's too bad they weren't invented sooner.

[djpager]

thanks for the advice - i am definitely going to look into the zerodust. just read and article on it after you recommended it - looks amazing. I think maybe my cleaning solution sucks. I just don't know wtf I could be doing wrong. I know guys who go for weeks without cleaning their records.. So hopefully zerodust + new solution will be...a solution

[Cory Ander]

Originally Posted by djpager

Hey. So I've been dj'ing for years and I've always had this problem - No matter what I do, my needles get dust buildup within 1-2 record plays. I dj hard house and trance.

I use Gruv Glide on all my records, and i clean them with stanton cleaning solution and one of those felt brushes. I clean the needles with a shure brush and alcohol.

My gear is 2 Numark TTX1s and I'm using Shure white label cartridges.

Any ideas on what is going wrong here? Do I have excess static charge buildup in my vinyl? I keep my vinyl in one of those Odyssey flight cases, so it's covered when it's not being played. Any thoughts are appreciated cuz I am getting super frustrated not being able to even record a mix.

my guess would have been it's residue from the cleaning fluid.

[DannyBoy]

Hi All,

I'm not a D.J. but recently bought the zerodust for home use. Have to say it's been brilliant. I've not used any fluid based cleaner since I got it.

On the other issue, have you considered a cleaning machine. I've had a basic Nitty Gritty machine for the best part of twenty years now. The fluid is vacuumed off after cleaning, so no "crud" remains at the bottom of the groove. There are other machines on the market, some mega expensive. I reckon mine would be around £300 now, but it's still going twenty years on.

[canadiantire]

I've experienced this problem in two different cases:

When I used a worn stylus (radial stylus were worse) and I quit using them a long ago. I exclusively use elliptical.

Many years ago, when Circuit City was still "Radio Shack" here in Canada , I've tried to do a damp cleaning of a few Deutsche Gramophon expensive titles using the "famous" brush that was sold at the time.

It looked a lot like this one:



The records didn't really needed cleaning but I've figured that the static proof fluid would prevent dust from being sucked into the grooves.

I've ruined all the records that I had cleaned. The fluid left a greasy film. The result was a catastrophe.

Every subsequent plays were literally collecting balls of dust. I now own a Nitty Gritty machine and I never got to restore the sound back to what it was before.

For what it worth, my own theory is:

If anyone have to dampen a groove in order to clean it, they better off suckin' the dirt out before it dries, instead of pushing it in or makin' it travel the groove using a brush.

[djpager]

thanks for all the info. canadiantire, your story sounds suspiciously similar to mine...only difference was I have been using Gruv Glide for years. I wonder if the gruv glide is doing the opposite of the intended effect...i'm gonna quit using it and see what happens, and check out zerodust. I dropped nearly $250 on these shure white labels just a month ago - they're brand spankin new. so it has to be my fluids. that's what she said.