Nitty Gritty Record Cleaning Machines going away.....

Nolaholic - Sorry to hear about your luck. I had mine for over a decade and cleaned about 4,000 LPs before mine went bad. Email Kevin at the info email at KAB ELECTRO ACOUSTICS - Kevin is very helpful and knows the product very well. Unless someone has taken over NG (and I don't think so), the warranty probably doesn't mean anything.

 

Get the VPI Cyclone.... I just love mine after having the 16.5 for 24 years.

sean

 

Sad news indeed. I own two of these one that I have done a lot of my own work to bring back to life. If you are handy at all you should be able to keep them running for many years to come.

 

Thanks. I took the bottom off and tooled around with capstand and turning mechanism. It appears it was a placement issue. Was able to MoviePass e it around and it is working again. Stopped two more times but after slightly pulling on capatand it Sartre working again.

Now does anyone have tips on a better way to get cleaning solution in just th velour tios for me? When I try and add from the spout in top of the bottle of cleaner it seems to shoot out and get more solution on top of the machine than in the tios. I have tried to have spout directly touching the strips to catch more of the solution as it first comes out but this has only marginally improved things.

 

If your machine is like my 1.5FI, you can find two holes on top of the unit, just to the right of the capstan. There will be two plastic bung plugs in them. If you take the bungs out, you can stick a screw driver in there and adjust the weight/tension that the capstan puts on the record. I'd suggest tightening it all the way (not too far), then backing off one revolution. Then tweak it from there, using a record you don't care about. Don't loosen the screws all the way, or else the whole part could drop!

 

So these are as good as the strips on my nitty gritty 1.5 Fi? I bought my unit literally days before news broke that they were closing shop. I have cleaned about 150-200 Records so far and am assuming the strips should be changed soon? I do a “pre clean” with an old disc washer brush so I am hoping the strips last a bit longer. Any advice would be much appreciated

 

The only way these would work with a fi model is if the adhesive strip comes separately. Then you could perforate the 2 sided tape to allow your pump to push fluid through the velvet lips.

 

Thanks for the info...can u recommend anything else if I can’t get my hands on actual nitty gritty strips? How often do u suggest they be changed

 

I haven't had the need to look yet as I still have a couple of spares. I run them pretty long..until the nap is practically flattened. My experience is that will always happen close to the capstan/record lip side first so that's your indicator. If I dont have time to replace the velvet and get lazy, and man, I get lazy, I'll wet the record on the NG and pull it of and work on it at my cork/rubber mat workstation with a MoFi brush and return it to the NG to dry.

 

Thanks for the info man. What retailers in Toronto sell the MoFi brush? I am there pretty frequently and probably should pick up a new brush for my “pre cleans”

 

Cosmo Music should be selling the Mofi brush and Planet of Sound also carries Nitty Gritty replacement strips.

 

Thanks for the info! I called Planet of Sound and they are all out of Nitty Gritty replacement parts unfortuneately (I called all 3 stores). It was worth a try though!

 

That was unexpecting! Anyways, try Elemental Acoustics as they sell the replacement strips on their website and is still in-stock as of today. They're located in British Columbia and can be purchased online very easily.

 

Sold out too.

 

Elemental Sold out as well. BUT...I was able to find some capstans luckily at Soundstage Fine audio here in Waterloo. The owner seems to think when I need replacement strips I can use Okki Nokki strips that are used on the wands of their cleaning machines....I may have to just make holes in the adhesive strip to allow fluid to pump through. Man what a b**ch it is to find proper replacement strips ☹️

 

I read the same from a seller on ebay.

 

Dear Valued Nitty Gritty Dealers,

We hope you've enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and are off to a bright new year!

It is with much happiness that we wish to inform you that Nitty Gritty Record Care Products will be continuing operations under New Management in 2018!

Kevin Berg, of Audiophile Import Specialists, and consultant for the highly respected Audiophile Company, Elusive Disc, Inc. will be continuing the Nitty Gritty Record Care Products business and all current product lines in early 2018.

Under our watchful eye and helpful direction & support, we will help Kevin prepare Nitty Gritty for business for 2018 and beyond.

Starting today you can reach Kevin at our previous Nitty Gritty phone numbers:
(888) 4-GRITTY (888-447-4889) USA only
(909) 625-5525

You can also reach Kevin at his email address: [email protected]"

 

Wow...great news. I was sure it would continue in some form but it sure took a while!

 

Now the OP can change the tilte of the thread to Nitty Gritty not going away! Makes me want to dance and be happy.

 

Great news, indeed. I've only had my unit for a couple of years, and one of the reasons I went with Nitty Gritty in the first place was because it was a long-established company. I would have been really bummed if they had gone out of business for good.

 

Wonderful! Thanks to all involved! And the very best of luck in this undertaking!

 

Whew! I'm very happy to know that Nitty Gritty won't go away any time soon!

 

Hope it was Gayle who sent this out.
Hope she's recovering well.

 

There is a thread on AK for cheaper solutions than Disc Doctor felt strips to use with the VPI armwands. If I recall they are made by 3M and you cut it to fit your application. I haven't tried them, figured I would mention it.

A Nitty Gritty was the first cleaning machine I bought and it was truly eye opening how much of an upgrade clean vinyl was with regard to surface noise and transparency; far better than any turntable related upgrade (including cartridge, phono, etc). I moved on to VPI since I found it difficult to not make a mess/get fluid on labels when flipping over the record to vacuum. Still, I was damn pleased about how much quieter vinyl could be (even reissues) with a proper cleaning.

 

I don't have a Nitty Gritty but I am extremely happy to read this news, we need quality cleaning systems like Nitty Gritty to survive.