Would you cheap bastards just buy a VPI 16.5 and get it over with already?

I had a 16.5 and sold it after trying the GD method. If you want to steam, the GD system works really well for that also because of the way the record is mounted. I would only bother with steam if it was a really old record that was super noisy as the spraying system will knock the gunk out of 99% of the records you buy.I used the 16.5 in conjunction with the disc doctor system and his brushes. I would scrub the vinyl in the VPI and then get the solution off and primarily use the VPI as a vacuum. Here's what I didn't like: the basic solution VPI provides where the 16.5 automatically does the work and you just flip it over doesn't get old dirty records very clean, so you have to supplement by using brushes which are a pain in the ass. Secondly the little wand with the pad on it wears out fairly quickly and needs to be cleaned a lot.Lastly, you continually place clean sides down on the cork mat (that also starts to disintegrate after awhile.) The thing I like about the GD system is that I can finally hear a difference after I clean a record with that system. The VPI would get rid of the dust and maybe some surface noise but I never could hear a discernible difference between the record when it was really dirty and after it was cleaned. Now, my records are really clean with no leftover soap or solution on the vinyl. I've actually been able to salvage some really old fucked up records that were almost unlistenable before the cleaning.

I tried the wood glue trick and it worked great. If you want to try it out but don't trust it, just get some nasty, ugly Barbara Streisand record from your local thrift store. Get the most gacky one you can find and smear wood glue all over it. When you peel it off it looks near new.

garthplinko wrote:Has anyone try compressed airshe has:

window cleaner, works a treattold so by my local record shop owner, he's been handling vinyl for 30 odd years, i trust him.

Jodi, I probably sound like a broken record (pun intended) but I would build the little Gem Dandy thing that I posted about. It retails for about $150.The next best thing for cheap in one of these. It will protect the center label while you wash the record. You can fill up the sink with some soapy Dawn detergent and also hold the record by the groovemaster and spray the record off with a kitchen sprayer, or go to home depot and get an adaptor to use a garden sprayer for some real water pressure.To me, the vacuum cleaners are way to expensive and have a lot of downsides. To get a really good one, you have to spend a few thousand.

Since after nearly two decades of not being in my home, my records are finally beginning to re-nest. I'm also getting, as a bonus, a lot of my mom's jazz records from the 50s and 60s.I'm toying with the idea of buying a record cleaner, because in terms of volume, I think I just have too many records to clean to borrow someone else's.I'm also on a budget.Do these things ever come up for sale used? Is there a good budget model? Help me, I'm becoming a vinyl nerd in my advancing age.

Jodi S. wrote:Do these things ever come up for sale used?Not sure what your budget is but here's a used VPI 16.5 (same one i have) on the new york craigslist: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/ele/2169078784.htmlKind of pricey though at $500 (normally you should be able to get a used one for like $350ish...). Used record cleaners occasionally come up on the audiogon website (search for "vpi", or "nitty gritty", or "record cleaner":http://www.audiogon.com/