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How do you spot an overplayed used lp without obvious scratches etc

I'm pretty good at spotting record defects and scratches that will or won't affect sound quality.
Even with a well done cleaning, you play what looks like a good album and it has simbilence, a rough thick surface noise etc.

how do you spot these from a gem pressing?, 
128x128audiotomb
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa
4,867 posts
 
When I'm selecting records to buy at thrift stores or garage/estate sales, I always insist upon taking the records outside and looking at them in the sun. The fluorescent lights in record stores and thrift stores will not reveal defects in the records ... but the sun is like putting them under an X Ray.  Also, a good thing to have at home is a good LED lamp. They let you see what's on the record too. 
davide256's avatar
davide256
395 posts
 
Bottom line is that the naked eye can't see microscopic groove damage from worn out stylii, only dirt and surface scratches. Even then, if your stylus geometry is different (van den hul vs elliptical) you may play a different height on the groove then where the wear is from the prior bad stylus used so that the record sounds fine on your machine and bad on your friends.
inna
7,132 posts
 
Good LED flashlight is excellent for seeing even very small hairlines. 120 lumens is enough. As for the OP's question, I agree with the others, you just have to clean and play it unless perhaps you have a powerful magnification device.
davide256, excellent point about stylus geometry, now I know it, thank you.
larryi
3,737 posts
 
While you cannot tell for sure with a visual inspection, there are a few clues that help to weed out some candidates.  First, look for a lot of use of the record, such as a lot of marks on the label near the spindle hole (caused by someone sliding the record around to find the hole.  Another sometimes helpful visual clue is that the playing surface on a well-worn record will sometimes appear grey and not as shiny as a newer record. 

Of course avoiding scratches is the obvious way to avoid bad records.  However, if it is a title I really want, I will accept records with a lot of scratches as long as the scratches are not deep.  I have plenty of used records that sound like they are new even though they have a lot of light scratches; the line-contact profile of my stylus tends to play deeper down in the groove and often avoids surface problems.
audiotomb's avatar
audiotomb OP
1,112 posts
 

op here


very good discussion, thank you all

My biggest problem is being able to tell if a record has groove damage from a mistracking or poor stylus


I own a very extensive collection of mint US, UK, Japanese, etc pressing that I have meticulously cared for over the years. Most of the time I am able to find the gem used records even if they have some issues. I have a ZYX cartridge which tracks very low in the groove which is good, a KL Audio Ultrasonic cleaner which really makes a huge difference in the noise floor and subtle dynamics and try to buy the best looking records. In jazz you sometimes have to lower your standards for old stuff, in classical you get pristine copies for nothing. For music in general and especially rock, I mostly favor old original issues as they typically have more open natural sound. There are exceptions where the reissue is the way to go and the Steve Hoffman music forum is a great place to figure out which to buy. Some labels like Sundazed - every lp is bright and unlistenable. I ate Booker T and the MG albums until I went back to a few slightly noisy originals - can never find totally clean ones. The KL Audio ultrasonic cleaner is a huge investment but worth it for me. It works fantastic and can get the gunk out even on new pressings, but it can’t do anything about record wear from a stylus, etc.

I am a stickler, check for warps, depth of scratches, in New Orleans mold can be an issue, and always hold the discs up to outside light. My local store puts new slip covers on everything and generally doesn’t take anything that doesn’t look good (unless it’s a dollar bin).

Still as others of you have mentioned, figuring out if there is noise from stylus wear is tough, especially from visual inspection. Thanks for the spindle / label tips, I do look at hole wear. I am not one to play test a record on a cheap table and destroy it.


thanks

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