Wow from warps, off-center pressings and misplaced center holes has driven me nuts since I was twelve...which was perhaps about one or two years ago(!). Flutter and wow from Four Tracks, Eight Tracks, cassettes and reel-to-reals at anything slower than Seven and a Half IPS did the same. It's one of the reasons I looked so forward to the compact disc. And back then, when you traded in a defective LP for a new one, chances were only about fifty-fifty it'd be better. And oh yeah, don't attempt the exchange in the summer. The vinyl would warp while wending its way across the continent.
Affects of Badly Centered Hole
Recently I bought a new LP record and while listening to it I noticed that the speed seemed to waver, especially on the last two tracks of the record. The sound of the music sounded like the tape was slowing down. I remember this sensation with tape decks in the 80's when the motor would wear out or tension wasn't correct in the mechanism.
Anyway, I wasn't sure if this was part of the music or not so I kept listening until I realized that there was definitely something wrong. When I looked at the spinning LP I saw the cartridge undulating back and forth at least 1/4 of an inch. This is the worst out of center I have ever seen a record cut. I guess I had never realized how much this affects the pitch of the music. I've noticed that out of center holes are not uncommon, but I have never noticed the pitch affected by it.
Anyway, I wasn't sure if this was part of the music or not so I kept listening until I realized that there was definitely something wrong. When I looked at the spinning LP I saw the cartridge undulating back and forth at least 1/4 of an inch. This is the worst out of center I have ever seen a record cut. I guess I had never realized how much this affects the pitch of the music. I've noticed that out of center holes are not uncommon, but I have never noticed the pitch affected by it.