Is there any way to repair a vinyl record that skips parts of some songs?

Not sure this is the right place to ask that but I was unable to find the right section no matter how much I searched.

Today I received a used copy of Stay On These Roads by A-Ha. It skips the bests tracks and I was so disappointed when I found out. It's pretty useless to me unless I find a way to repair it. Is that possible?

 

If you bought it, first you need to decide if you want to return it for a refund. You can't do that after the repair attempts.

Inspect the record under a bright light, see if it's just dirty or if there are scratches. Sometimes a thorough cleaning is all you need.

If the skips are caused by scratches, it depends on what kind of scratches there are. If the scratch is parallel to the grooves, it's a lost case. If not, there are some tricks you can try. The trick is to "open" the groove so that the stylus follows the groove rather than the scratch. Some people use a pencil eraser or a toothpick. One trick is to gently hold the headshell with your hand while the scratched part is playing, but this may be hazardous to the stylus or the cantilever, so you may not want to do it with your good equipment.

 

Wow! Thanks a lot for that information. Unfortunately it doesn't worth it to send it back as I paid a lot more for the postage than the vinyl itself. It was that cheap..

Fortunately, the scratches are not parallel with the grooves so I might try what you suggested.

Also, I did not know the problem is that the needle follows the scratch. So interesting!

 

With a title like that, it must be an indication of some higher power sending a signal.

Seriously, I've only had this on one brand new album (that could not be returned) and fixed it in the eventually. The only thing that worked for me was putting the needle ahead of the problem area and manually reversing it passed the problem area several times.

But I'm sure someone far more experienced will say that is totally wrong.

 

I kept my old midi system to do this and to dig the dirt and any residue out of very dirty records after cleaning. It's salvaged many records over the years, including ones with evil parallel spiral scratches.

A few years ago I got a very cheap original Get The Picture by The Pretty Things. A great and rare album. When I took it home it jumped a lot. Deep parallel spiral scratches on the first track on each side. I was gutted! It saved this and now it plays through. There is a hiss where the scratches are but not for long and it was never going to be perfect. It took ages though!

 

Agree.

A wet-vacuum cleaner is an essential item for those with large vinyl collections, IMO.

I've tried the toothpick (and sometimes the sharp end of a Bic Pen cover-thing) approach if a cleaning won't do it...

.

 

Good advise no doubt.
Always good to clean a record and I've used the toothpick method succesfully, tho it was only the one time I tried.
Tho in my case it concerned part of a song that had terible clicks and pops but it didn't skip.
But isn't this something that could be helped by adjusting the counterweight on the turntable?

I had records old or new skip on my old sony and Lenco turntables I once had.
I couldn't adjust anything on those.
But now on my new turntable I have no problems with these same albums.
But I am somewhat new to this, only upgraded to my current system a few years ago.
It just something I noticed myself.

Great record btw.
Big A-ha fan myself.

 

And now, looking at your profile and setup,
I think that you already tried that and have everything set up the way it should.

 

I've fixed many scratches on records by pressing down on the stylus and moving the record back and forth until the needle stays in the proper groove.

You need to have a turntable that allows the platter to be rotated in both directions.

 

In addition to the above, be sure to see if the scratched groove does not contain "stuff", which might be the actual cause of the skip. There are probably super-duper magnifiers out there. This is essential for the ones who do vinyl. I use something quite cheap and efficient for this purpose: an old spare 50 mm camera lens, with a 20 W halogen lamp. That lens is just the right size and mass to hold steady, and given the right angle you can see everything down there! Almost microscopic. Great for checking the stylus condition too.

Also, make sure you don't track too heavy. It took me years to realize that some hot-cut records tracked better, with some cartridges, with a lighter force applied. Even though, as a general rule, heavier tracking is indeed better than too light...

 

If it was me I'd probably just smash it into bits and get a fresh copy.

 

I've saved many an lp with a Diamond brand toothpick!

 

In the bin it goes if it's a common album and it jumps badly, but a lot of records are too rare to find decent copies at an affordable price. I'll spend ages trying to salvage those! But they too can end up in the bin if they are badly damaged. I'll frame the sleeve if it's a good one.

 

I don't recommend this idea for all turntables, but since my SL1200 is considered a DJ table and if a concentrated cleaning doesn't work, I swap out my cartridge for an older 'workhorse' that I keep for this purpose and I rotate the platter back and forth over the skip spot to see if I can blast through it.

 

I would not recommend running the TT backwards through the skip unless you have a stylus that you can throw away. Plus, it takes me a few hours mount and dial in a cartridge. A lighted jeweler's loop and a toothpick sound like they would take less time, and potentially less damage.

 

What's the record overall condition? There's been cases where a Crosley and its equivalent can permanently etch a skip in the grooves during loud passages in the grooves, which there really is nothing can be done to fix it if the grooves are irreversibly damaged.

 

I like to idea of a toothpick or eraser. Did not think of using those and will try that next time. I just last week fixed a skip using a straight pin from my wife's sewing room. I felt the scratch on the backwards motion.

Does the toothpick or eraser work for removing tick sounds?

 

I've been using toothpicks for decades and have never damaged a record. In most cases the toothpick solved the problem totally and in some it greatly diminished it. On rare occasion it did not solve anything. On a few occasions I've let a drop of RCM fluid sit on the spot before working on it. I have used pins and needles as well.

 

i am a believer of the humble toothpick

 

i have removed or diminished many a tick with a toothpick

 

Bin It. It's a copy of A Ha and was inexpensive (not a rarity). Apart from a thorough clean with an RCM to remove dirt I doubt anything worthwhile can be done. Also if Ebay/Discogs inform seller. He might refund without need to return.

 

I have "fixed" dozens of records with the toothpick method, however it does not always work if the scratch is too deep or there is something embedded deep enough in the groove that it can't be removed. But more times than not, it works.

There is another method that I would never recommend to anyone, but I have "saved" some severely beaten up $1 records using a method that involves (gulp) sandpaper.

 

Do you have a "Disco Antistat ?"
If you do then the following advice
Will help. No guarantees.
Place record on an old towel, using a piece of cotton wool and dishwasher or even hair shampoo( milder than dishwasher ) and with record wet wash in direction of grooves. Pay attention
To the areas thst jump use reasonable pressure. Then wash further with soap and warm water( not too hot) under the tsp. rinse. I use a label protector from EBay, but if you have the d. Antistat the Label protector can be used.
Leave to dry in rack of D.A.
Now, when dry examine. A lot of little scratches which now appear show the true state of the record.
Use a lint free cloth and polish gently in direction of grooves. Using fingertip
Examine surface for lumps minute ones. These are often the cause. Remove by careful use of finger nail bearing in mind its easy to mark it. Or remove it by futher use of cotton wool/water/soap.
When finished surface should be. Clean.
Masking tape can also be used to remove the aforementioned "Bits"
DO Not use Sellotape. It can leave s residue that's worse than the cause of your woes.
Finally use50% isopropyl alcohol and deionised water in Disco A. And wash for 10 minutes.
This or Dusco Antistat own liquid.
Reason for this final stage is that the water /soap can cause Vinyl roar
( noise! ) and the alcohol/ water silences it.
I finally use "Winyl" ( its similisr to wood glue but better and can be found on EBay

I Clean so much thst i make my own .
As I say the Winyl is an extra.
With alcohol/water the record will now be silent. But may still skip!

 

I may need to start doing this. I always notice there is a little noise on the first one or two plays right after I clean my records. Though I have found that alcohol cleaner just by itself, without washing and rinsing, is pointless because it just dries and builds up gunk in the groove.