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Anybody using the last record preservative

Back in the early '80s I started using last record preservative now here 40 whatever years later just picked up another bottle because I noticed all my new records have a lot of noise with the exception of a few analog Productions and some Rhino records are pretty quiet but the most have a lot of surface noise long story short picked up a new bottle of last record preservative put it on one of my records and OMG the difference is amazing my system nowadays is way more resolving than it used to be noise floor has dropped into the basement and the musical and the music has jumped to the foreground

pointtrucking
larryi
3,743 posts
 

There are three possible answers that I can think of: 1)  The act of scrubbing the records in the application process for LAST is quite rigorous and that can remove crap in the groove of new records.  I actually clean the records thoroughly before applying the LAST because I don't want to be rubbing hard with abrasive crap in the groove.

2) The second thing is that, after treatment, the records feel smoother (lower friction) when running any kind of brush against the groove, this less abrasive surface might reduce production of noise.

3) The lower friction means lower build up static electricity when the stylus tracks the groove reducing both attraction of dust and the noise generated by static discharge jostling the stylus.

rpeluso
1,016 posts
 

longest sentence ever

lewm
12,535 posts
 

Feeling the surface of an LP doesn’t tell you much about friction in its grooves.

secretguy
1,591 posts
 

Punctuation is your friend.

larryi
3,743 posts
 

Last is supposed to reduce friction between the vinyl and the stylus.  Several such record treatments are supposed to do the same. The old "Sound Guard" was a dry lubricant designed for the same purpose. 

Whether any of these products work to reduce wear is something I don't know if this has been demonstrated.  When i comes to long-term effect, it is probably even harder to tell.  How long does one wait in such a comparison?  Could the product ultimately reduce record life if it unfavorably alters the record surface in the very long term?  So far, records I have treated with LAST or Sound Guard are in good condition, but, so too are records that have not been treated.

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