Static attack! Time to get the humidifiers going

@pindac , I tried it and it does not work. But, my wife loves it for lighting candles!

@ghdprentice , I have been saying that FOR YEARS on this sight and I always got screamed at. I have been using devices like the Hudson sweep arm for decades and they do work wonderfully well. One comment, you want to make sure the central carbon fiber thread touches the record. I took a very sharp scissors and lightly trimmed the white hairs to make a hemisphere with the carbon thread in the center. I crazy glue the sliding weight all the way forward. It is a PITA sliding all around anyway. If you need to adjust the tracking weight for some reason you can use the threaded weight in the back but you will need to put a dab of thread locker on it. 

Anyway, because life is never simple, everything changed when I got a turntable with vacuum clamping. Vacuum clamping creates a huge static charge on the bottom of the record. Using the Hudson brush discharges the top but not the bottom. Static electricity does not like turning corners. Remember, it is a surface phenomenon. The charge was so great that sparks would jump to the cartridge when removing the record. Yes, the platter is grounded and the record will discharge through the spindle if I leave it on for 20 minutes. Who wants to wait 20 minutes to flip a record?  After I got my record cleaning machine I stumbled into a cleaning formulation that totally mitigates the formation of static. Treated records will not allow static charge for up to 6 months and counting. I expect it will wear off eventually but that is not the problem. It does leave a slight residue on the record which you can see on the stylus after about 10 sides. I am in the process of lowering the concentration of ingredients to see if I can find a formula that will control static but not leave a noticeable residue. It does seem that records that are cleaned with the formula are quieter than records cleaned with distilled water. I will make digital recording of this to prove it and share the files along with the formula.

@ghdprentice , come on ghd! I'm much better looking the @mikelavigne :-)

Yes, when the spark jumps to the cartridge it makes quite a "pop" if you have the volume up. When I had a Linn I used carpet tape to keep the mat in place. It is very thin and you won't notice it under the mat. 

@mikelavigne 😂

@rsf507 , there is no need to resort to that type of trickery. You can take any conductive carbon brush like the one made by Ortofon drill and tap hole through the handle and wire it to turntable ground. It will instantly discharge the side of the record that is up. I think the Hudson conductive sweep arm is a better solution because it tracks with the stylus sweeping any incidental dust out of the way. This is particularly important if you play records without a dust cover. 

@ghdprentice , you mean somebody still lives in Portland?  Here in the Northeast we were led to believe it had been turned into rubble by peaceful rioters.  

@ghdprentice , There will be a political price to pay.

As far as Humidifiers go, steam generators are handily the best. They can be put in a room but are best mounted on an air handler with high efficiency filters. They have replaceable steam canisters which have to be replaced every year or two depending on the hardness of your water. The down side is that they not only need a water supply but they also need a drain as they rinse the canister every 24 hours or so. They also use a lot of power, as much as an air conditioner. They will however pump 12 gallons of water into the air daily, enough to totally flood your windows. Windows are always the limiting factor. Few people can get up to 40% relative humidity without forming big puddles under the windows.