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Years ago a person could purchase a new phonograph record and when that record is played a skip is detected that destroys your enjoyment of the song recorded on that part of the record. If your record player does play all of your other records without any problem, more than likely you purchased a defective phonograph record.

In most cases, if you saved the receipt, you can return the record or exchange that defective record for another copy of the music that you want to hear. Back then, it was a manufacturers' defect that caused the record to skip. It is also possible that your record player might not be level or the arm balance was set too light in pressure to properly play that particular record.

You can determine the location of the skip and inspect that part of the record where the playing problem occurred. These days the correction problem is more complicated and harder to fix. That is, if you are able to fix the playing quality of a used record that doesn't have a manufacturers' defect.

When I play a recently acquired phonograph record and discover that it has a skip, more often than not, there is a foreign substance, dust and/or dirt on the record's surface. You must first inspect the needle to determine if a dust build-up is the cause of the skip. Most likely, such an inspection will reveal that fact and it is a simple matter to remove the accumulated dust.

Then again, if there is a whole lot of noise when playing such a record you most certainly have to safely clean the playing surface of that record. For doing so there are a number of cleaning products that will remove the dust and/or dirt on the record. Never use soap and water or a solvent that will destroy the material in which the record is made of. You see, no matter how careful you are you will never completely rinse soap off the surface.

Then again, I discovered a way to completely remove all of the dust and/or dirt from the surface of a phonograph record without causing damage. So now the playing quality is restored to the point where there is little or no noise, but if the record still has a skip, more often than not that is a manufacturers' defect and it is now not so easy to return such a defective record.

Maybe that's why phonograph records can be purchased for almost nothing from a private party. Keep in mind that a scratch on the surface of the record can also cause a skip, if it is a deep scratch that causes your needle to jump from the track.

Like it or not, some phonograph records are beyond repair and that is the chance you take by buying used phonograph records. Your only safeguard is to inspect the surface of the record before you decide to buy or not buy that record. If the surface if free of scratches and is within the jacket that was provided by the manufacturer, most likely it will be a playable record that you and your family will enjoy for many years to come.

Learn more about this author, Joseph Malek.
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