How to repair gouge in record to make it playable?

Hi folks.

I recently purchased an old used record by a musician I like. The LP is in excellent condition except for a gouge in the vinyl on a key track.

Not a little scratch, but a gouge that sounds pretty jarring for a minute or so during playback.

Any ideas on how to fix this gouge to make playback sound less awful?

Thanks!

 

Only one way, buy a better copy of the LP, a gouge is permanent damage.

 

yep, close the thread. Topic is now thoroughly covered.

 

If it creates a popping or clicking sound, the only way would be to use Clickrepair RT by routing the audio through a computer and back to your amp, a rather drastic solution for a single LP.

Probably a whole lot cheaper just to buy another LP.

 

Yep; give up early. Way better that way.
-Bill

 

Any attempt at repair would make it worse than it already is.

 

There's a bunch of how to fix videos out there.

 

As seen above, y'all are giving up too easily.

Of course, it's a little bigger on a 45 than LP, but with a steady hand and the right tools a lot can be done.

I used to make plastic cocktail sticks to the right groove angle. Most 'scratches', like those in the video, aren't that deep and are actually deformations of the top of the groove wall that can be pushed smooth. It's a lot of work.

 

I would at least try running (pushing) a wooden toothpick thru the grooves where the gouge runs. Break the toothpick in half. Wet or dampen the broken end with clean water. Push the toothpick firmly but gently thru the grooves until you've gone over the gouged area. This can flatten or push vinyl 'burrs' in the groove aside - cause by the gouge - so that clicks or noise goes away or is lessened. Remember though this does not always work. If the clicks remain then the damage is too serious and you'll have to live with it or look for a better copy.

 

Thanks folks.

I will give some of these ideas a try.

 

Maybe there's another copy out there, maybe even sub-par, which won't have the same gouge. What if you made a wav file of it, and replaced the short section gouged on the first disc? Even just a few seconds. Splice that in, and bobs yer uncle.
You don't know where or when you'll find it, but there's gotta be more than one copy out there?

 

Actually I’ve got one that’s been smashed into a thousand pieces....anyone know how to fix that?

 

Last year I found in a thrift store an original stereo pressing of a 1958 LP by Sarah Vaughan (one of her jazz sessions, not a pop session), and it was a beautiful-sounding mastering: tube-y, great imaging, very vivid, everything you would expect from an LP cut from a then-new master tape 60 years ago. However, the record was in poor condition and very crackly, rendering the LP pretty much unlistenable even after a vacuum cleaning.

I did a 24/96 needledrop and gave it two passes through ClickRepair (one in reverse, one forward), and the results sound great, with barely any noise audible.

Not as good a pure analog experience perhaps, but darned close, and definitely better than a noisy record!

 

One of these days I gotta try this method... I do have a couple of "important" records that have skips.

 

By all means do try a toothpick! I've been using one on records for decades and even leave one next to my turntable. In this hobby a toothpick is your friend and had worked for me most of the time. I find that the squarish natural wood color type made by Diamond to be the best.

 

a) Melt it into an ashtray.
b) Buy another copy.

 

Seriously, is it worth it? Do you really want to run a $1,000 cart over a damaged groove that you “repaired”?

If the album in question is so rare that you can’t find another one, I doubt you you play it more than once.

 

I had the same issue come up on monday. got a MFSL Burt Bachrach/Elvis Costello album for $5! thrilled! and music direct specifically said there was a skip on track one, side 2, so they were up front, thus the price. Well, it ain't no skip, a gouge. I was going to try and play through it but even though I'm only using a 2M blue, figured I didn't want to risk even damaging that stylus. pretty deep gouge I think. guess I'm skipping track one from now on!