Showing 6 responses by bdp24

 

Further thoughts: Considering it’s extremely low price, the Hudson Arm/Brush is certainly worth a try. As I thought about it more, a couple of things occurred to me.

 

1- If the Hudson Arm/Brush is used alone (with no other anti-static device), playing a disc with a static charge would mean as the LP is playing, the area not yet having come into contact with the Arm’s bristles will still have a charge, and therefore be attracting dust. That is especially true if records are played with no dust cover in place.

2- I never play an LP until I have deep cleaned it, whether new or used. And I don’t necessarily immediately listen to every LP I have just cleaned If only the Hudson arm is used to address static, and deep cleaning has created a static charge on the disc (or it already had one, which the cleaning did not remove), that would mean the disc would be put into an inner sleeve clean but with a static charge. Not a good idea.

 

But there is no reason the Hudson arm cannot be used in conjunction with any other anti-static device. So treat the disc with a, say, Destat III, then play it with the Hudson arm in place. In the late-60’s/early-70’s I used the Cecil E. Watts Dust Bug, which differed from the Hudson Arm in that it had a round barrel of bristles in place of the goat’s hair/carbon fiber bristles, and had no grounding wire. I was amazed by how the Dust Bug tracked the LP at the same speed as did the cartridge. I assume the same is true of the Hudson arm.

 

 

@harpo75: There is a way to use the VSS Double Pocket sleeves on a triple gatefold jacket, I’ve done it.

 

You put a Double Pocket sleeve on both the two outer gatefolds, with the tape strips on the flaps on the back of the jacket (you MUST use the version with the tape on the flap, rather than the body). But before you put them on, take a Multifunction sleeve, cut off both flaps (I lay a sleeve down on cardboard, place a straight edge across the sleeve right where the flap meets the pocket, and slice with an Exacto knife), then slide the sleeve past either of the gatefolds until the sleeve covers the middle section of the jacket. Then secure the two Double Pocket sleeves to the Multifunction sleeve with the tape strips on the flaps. If you don't want to cut off the two flaps on the Multifunction sleeve you don't have to, but in that case the sleeve must be used with the flaps on the inside of the gatefold jacket.

You then have a pocket on the inside of the front gatefold for one LP, and a pocket on the inside of the rear gatefold for the second and third LP’s. That might sound confusing, but once you have the Double Pocket sleeves in hand it will become obvious.

 

 

Hudson Hi-Fi provides no proof that the goats hair bristles of their anti-static arm "discharges" the negative charge on the surface of the LP (or even a technical explanation of how that discharging is accomplished), transfers "something" into the arm, and then into a ground wire, and that signal in the wire is then sent to ground. Color me dubious.

The static charge is a very well understood phenomenon, as is the means required to neutralize it. Anti-static brushes have been in use in film labs for decades. I see no technology in the Hudson Arm that seriously addresses the static charge. The Arm looks like a toy to me.

 

 

There ya go @harpo75!

 

VSS offers the double sleeve in a variety of different configurations. I recommend getting one packet (25 sleeves)---or even just a single sleeve---of each model that looks interesting, to learn what works best for you (there is also a $5 sample pack). For instance, the Double Pocket sleeve has a flap that encloses the outer cover, and you have a choice of a flap with no tape (just tuck in the flap), a flap with a strip of tape on it, and also a version with the strip of tape on the body of the sleeve rather than the flap.

For single-LP gatefold jackets, VSS offers a "Multifunctional" model, which you use in conjunction with the Double Pocket model (for reasons which will become apparent when you put them on, it must be the Double Pocket with the tape strip on the body, not the flap). There is also a double-LP gatefold model, or you can do what I have done and just use two regular Double Pocket sleeves.

The standard sized sleeve is about 12-5/8" (+ or - a coupla millimeters) tall and deep, but there are also 12-3/4" and 13" versions available (for MoFi and Analogue Productions-sized covers). VSS also offers plain old single pocket outer sleeves (with or without a flap), and inner sleeves as well. At least as good as the MoFi sleeves (VSS offers a thicker version), and cheaper.

Orders of $55 or greater (U.S.A. dollars) ship free. And I may as well get this out of the way: No, I am not on the VSS payroll. smiley

 

 

@lalitk: Oh sure, the platter one uses with the Orbit need not be the one on which you play your LP’s. I’ve never seen the term "transit platter" before. What’s that mean?

 

@lewm: My mention of using a static removal device directly after cleaning and drying with a vacuum-style record cleaner was not made to imply that the device should not also be used directly before each play, but merely as an example of one way in which a hand-held static removal device has the advantage over the Orbit. But if only one side of the LP is played (not unusual for me), perhaps the unplayed side should also be "sprayed" with the Orbit before returning the LP into it’s inner sleeve.

 

Speaking of sleeves, but this time of outer ones: Has anyone else tried the "double" sleeves from Vinyl Storage Solutions of Canada? All too often I find myself struggling to return the LP into the outer jacket, the inner sleeve and LP being only barely smaller than the interior of the jacket. A clever Canadian came up with an ingenious idea: an outer plastic sleeve with two pockets, one for the outer jacket, a second for the LP/inner sleeve. I’ve double-sleeved all my LP’s, and love it!

 

 

I was an early adopter of the original Zerostat (I’ve had models with white, red, and blue plastic bodies), and suffered with it’s idiosyncracies for years (the pistol needs to be squeezed and released verrrrry slowly. Irritating!).

 

It was a relief when the Kilavolt No.103 by Nagaoka was introduced, as it is operated with a simple on/off button (3-5 seconds is all it takes). By the way @lewm, the Kilavolt emits only positive ions. Also worth noting is that for maximum effectiveness, Nagaoka advises "spraying" the LP with the disc held in one’s free hand, rather than on the turntable platter. One YouTube hi-fi reviewer (I don’t remember his name, but he is bald, bearded, and tattooed) verified that claim in his review of the Destat III (which I also own. I waited to buy until I found one at a very reduced price).

 

Which brings me to the HumminGuru Orbit. It emits both positive and negative ions, and must be used with the LP on the platter. It therefore treats only the play side of the LP, rather than both sides. Handheld guns may be used on both sides of the LP, for instance immediately after cleaning and drying on a vacuum machine. As they say on The Shark Tank, for those reasons I won’t be adding an Orbit to my LP maintenance kit.

 

As for the Hudson "Antistatic" Arm/Brush, it may have some value as a dust remover on LP’s being played, but is obviously incapable of negating a static charge.

 

As the Kilavolt had been out of production for many years, the Destat III would be my first choice for static removal from LP’s. Too bad it’s price is so unattractive to many.