On cleaning old pressings
October 2026
A soft brush, distilled water and patience will do more for a crackly second-hand record than any gadget. Wash, rinse, let it dry standing up, and only then judge the surface noise.
Records worth keeping
A small notebook about second-hand pressings, careful cleaning and slow listening.
Late-night quartet, 1961
Jazz · original pressing
Found in a box of scratched dance records. Two washes later the ride cymbal finally sounds like brass.
Blue Notes from the Delta
Blues · 1970s reissue
A thin, quiet reissue that beats the noisy original. Proof that the oldest copy is not always the best.
Sunday soul compilation
Soul · compilation
Every side a single. The kind of record you put on when guests arrive and forget to change.
Live, spring 1972
Rock · double LP
Crowd noise, a missed cue on side C, and the best guitar tone on the shelf.
Field Songs
Folk · field recordings
Recorded on porches and in kitchens. Surface noise is part of the room here.
Nocturnes, complete
Classical · box set
Quiet passages are the real test of a record. This one passes on every side but the last.
Why the inner sleeve matters
September 2026
Paper sleeves scratch, cheap plastic ones leave a haze. Anti-static rice-paper sleeves cost little and outlive the records themselves.
Setting tracking force without special tools
August 2026
A cheap digital scale gets you within a tenth of a gram. Start at the middle of the cartridge range, listen to the loudest passage on the record, and adjust in small steps.