Vinyl pops and clicks: Can they be eliminated??

Sunnyjim,

In 2008 you inquired about record cleaning to eliminate "pops, clicks and noise" on this thread. Did you adopt any of the ideas offered there? You never responded to any of our suggestions.

Two years later your pops, clicks and noise have become actual skips. If you'd wet cleaned and vacuumed your LP's effectively that would not have happened. I have 4,000 LPs and most are 30+ years old. None of them has a skip. Only a few have any pops, clicks or noise worth mentioning.

One of the unavoidable downsides of vinyl as a music medium is that it requires effective maintenance, which requires some effort and expense. Without maintenance it can indeed be a frustrating medium, and Sid42's advice may be best.

Sunnyjim,
I'm sorry to hear about your health problems and sincerely hope you've fully recovered and are feeling well. That said, I don't see how it's relevant to the condition of this LP or your records in general.

You requested record care advice, ignored it as far as anyone can tell, and are now back asking for more record care advice because you're having a problem.

If you don't wish to be "taken to task for being negligent in record care" then please consider two suggestions:
1) try describing the methods you've adopted since receiving the previous guidance, none of us is a mind reader; and
2) don't post evidence of negligent record care! ;-)

OTOH, if having your questions read and answered seriously feels to you like being "taken to task", then perhaps you should indeed consider not asking questions. Peace.

Jim emailed me off-list and described his record care practices, pretty much what he posted in response to Dan_Ed plus a few more details.

As I suspected, those practices are inadequate and may indeed have allowed this record to develop a skip. In addition to cautiously seconding Palasr's suggestion, I gave Jim additional information and several suggestions that may help solve the problem.

Like it or not, a record which begins skipping is evidence of inadequate care. This is particularly likely when a person's previous posts suggest little or no experience with effective care. Stating this fact and seeking further information is neither "slapping" them nor "imagining" anything nor "rampaging". It's called problem solving.

Comments that offer no useable content while criticizing others which do are gratuitous. Feel-good chat will not stop record skipping. Concrete technical suggestions like those I sent Jim may.

Onhwy61,
Good question about the toothpick. Like you I'd guess the answer is "no". It's been decades since I tried that and I don't remember ever successfully removing a skip without causing collateral damage.

BTW, if "the question is so simple" then what's the answer? Why insult the OP by posting a condescending opinion of his question while providing no help? Surely someone with your experience could offer something useful.


Zargon,
Agree it could be a damaged record. Still, most record damage results from owner actions or inactions, which constitutes "inadequate care".