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Scratches are part of owning and using records. It's why other technologies have superseded records in the past 30 years.

When you get a major scratch, there's simply nothing you can do. But for minor scratches, I found that cleaning a record can make a significant difference. Often what seems like a scratch is actually dirt in the grooves, which can be cleaned with a little bit of effort and inexpensive equipment.

The other technique I used occasionally was to put a penny or even a quarter on top of the record needle, and then played the scratched part a few times. Sometimes, the weight would be able to force its way through the scratched part and basically re-carve the groove to lessen the scratch. Obviously, this isn't great for the record or the turntable, so I used a spare turntable of inferior quality for these repairs.

The more important lesson is that if you really want to listen to music - rather than have a record because you like having vinyl - then online music has basically come to your rescue. Not only is the sound better than a worn-out record, but it's instantly available because old catalogs have been reissued digitally. This is the real boon to music lovers, especially if you are keeping records because they are out-of-print and you despaired ever having another copy through any other means.

Now you are freed from the drugery of maintaining those old records, and you can spend your time listening to music...which is the point in the first place.

Learn more about this author, B. B. James.
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