Your Thoughts And Experience With Last Record Preservative.

No.

No.

It's not a coating. If you believe the chemist that created LAST, it goes into the vinyl and changes its chemical make-up. It is highly volatile so any excess evaporates almost immediately. It's odorless, colorless and leaves little if any residue.

I have a box of the original packaging of LAST. There is a blub in there. It reads like a sales pitch so accept it with the suspicion it deserves:

Once your record is clean it will sound better. But each time you play it the record is subject to microscopic "shock-wave fracturing" unless you have treated it with LAST Record Preservative, the only product of its kind on the market. Without getting too technical, LAST Record Preservative is absorbed into the surface itself and stabilizes the vinyl to prevent gouging and fracturing of the groove wall which may be heard as "pops" or "clicks." This wear will become worse the more the record is played unless treated. Simply stated, records treated with LAST Record Preservative do not wear out, and one application is all that is necessary to keep records sounding brand new for 200 plays or more.
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After noticing an increase in clicks and pops on new pressings I looked into this. It works. I use it and just make a small L on the inner sleeve to remind me which albums have been treated.

 

Can you eloborate on 'it works'? Less noise?

 

I put my LAST sticker on the top/right of a new inner sleeve> I find that too many people put this type of sticker on the labels of LPs.

sean

 

Hey Sean,
Yep, I would do the same. Certainly I'd be disappointed to find Led Zep II RL copy with the sicker applied to the label (disappointed as a collector, but as a hifi enthusiast happy to see it) I think for the more common records, and in pristine condition, the LAST sticker does not affect its value (maybe increases it slightly) In my record hunting adventures, I sometimes run across LAST treated records with the sticker applied the label. I do not think it's too distracting, and always happy to find the LAST treated records. Maybe I've been lucky, every LAST record I have found from various collections play beautifully, every one!

 

Yes, certainly. For whatever reason, after 8-10 plays of a few new pressings I would start to pick up some pretty definite pops. Upon some research into this the best I could come up with is the fracturing off some of the surface and depositing it after accumulation further down the groove. I do wash my new purchases with Audio Intelligent products to remove production mould release agent. The more recent purchases were washed then treated with Last. Probably at least 25 albums. The albums have remained quiet, certainly enough so to warrant the trouble and expense.

Wish I still had my "Better Living through Chemistry" t shirt. I have a chemistry degree but am woefully deficient in retention of the particulars. I do however understand to some degree the change in the layers of the record treated with Last, the freon type chemical's ability to alter a few molecules deep the vinyl's physical makeup. If I read correctly the surface is teflon-like after treatment.

I really like the opening of a new LP and getting it onto to table, hate having to delay my gratification going through this ritual but it has made a difference, at least to these ears. YMMV

 

I have been using LAST#2 for over 20 years. It works and improves the sound to my ears (extents the lows/highs), so its a win/win. I treat records after a 3 step cleaning process, really brings the vinyl back to a luster/shine.

sean

 

Just got a bottle of LAST. Wasn't expecting too much, but I was a bit shocked at the reduction of surface noise including small pops etc. while not drastic, it's certainly a significant effect of more silent playback. Very surprised. That's just one record , further ones to follow we will see if the results continue. I wasn't expecting to wipe something onto a record and get maybe 20-30 per cent noise reduction!

 

Where I find the greatest reduction in surface noise is over time. Don't ask me how it seems to keep a record quieter but it does. It's those 30 year old records on which I used LAST that are still quiet that keeps me buying the stuff.

 

Do you apply LAST to a record on a spinning table, or stationery one?

 

I usually use the platter of my VPI record cleaner (obviously no vacuum) but the answer is a spinning 'table. You only need a light touch with the brush. As stated upthread, I buff the rotating record afterward with a dry brush. I don't know where I got that idea but I'm not changing now.

 

I did it stationery first up and made bit or meal of it I think. Had to pause to swap hands. Would it hurt to apply it again ,or is that a bad idea?

 

A little LAST goes a long way. I'd say that record is done.

 

Wow, I didn't know they still sold Last. I used it in the 1980s and still have quite a few LPs that are treated with the preservative. One thing I can say for sure is that they are all static free. I can usually tell a treated disc as soon as I take it out of the paper sleeve and everything doesn't try and stick to it. In a few cases, I have noticed noisy LPs are a bit quieter after using Last too. Now their CLEANING fluid I found made discs crackle and pop if you applied it with every play, so I eventually stopped using it.

 

I've been contemplating this product for ages. Every used LP I've ever bought with a Last sticker attached has sounded fantastic. Well, today I took the plunge, because ... well, there may be only 10 reviews on the Amazon product page, but EVERY one is a 5-star review. I've never run into that before. So what the hell, I'm in. I want to see what this does to reduce crackles on LPs that are otherwise clean.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004N8FRO4/

 

Let us know what you think.
For those experienced ....
Is it normal that when applying it you can't even see any liquid on the record?

 

From my experience after cleaning an LP. Appling LAST#2 will bring back the black/rainbow colours back to the vinyl. If you over do the application you can tell in the run/out groove beside the label. Use the applicator/eye dropper supplied to get the right amound on the vinyl surface.

sean

 

It evaporates so fast that no, you don't. You can see it as it makes the surface of the record look a little more shiny although I'm not sure that lasts, no pun intended.

 

How strange. Looking back at this thread, I see I posted in April 2014 that I'd be picking up some Last.

Shortly after that, I almost died from blood poisoning, had a section of intestine removed, and spent months in the hospital and then a care facility recovering.

I guess buying a bottle of Last kind of got lost in the shuffle at that point.

Anyway, the last couple of weeks I've found myself finishing projects that I started right before I got sick ... processing old needledrops and such. And I found myself ordering that bottle of Last without even remembering I'd mentioned it 15 months ago.

 

Good grief. I am happy you survived all that and haven't lost your interest in music and audio. Welcome back.

 

Thanks! I can honestly say music helped me recover. Even while I was laying in my bed with IV's stuck in me, I was reading this forum. It was just funny to me to see posts I made 15 months ago saying "I'm going to get this stuff!" before my post yesterday saying "Hey, I ordered it!"

 

Yeah I forget posts myself until somehow the thread gets resurrected. I am surprised how long this Last 2 thread has lasted no pun intended.

Don't be a stranger on Listening To on Vinyl either.

 

OK, I also bit the bullet and ordered a 2oz. bottle. I remember this stuff from the 70s/80s, but never tried it myself. I've got a lot of vinyl from my early years that have seen better days, but are good pressings, so I'll give a few of them a good cleaning and a treatment of Last and see what happens. Why not?

If Last makes my fairly noisy double RL pressing of Moving Pictures a quieter listening experience, then it'll be worth the money with that album alone.

 

I have done 3 albums now with a significant reduction in surface noise/pops and clicks. Its not a cure all this stuff, but it most definately works as far as I can tell. One caveat is that this is on records that have been well cleaned, to within a inch of their life.

 

I'm thinking the Last treatment probably has the most value if it is applied to new vinyl, to keep it thereafter in better condition as time goes by?