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Could used LP be coated with something to disguise wear?

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Posted on July 15, 2016 at 14:32:15
Salectric
Audiophile

Posts: 1358
Location: East Coast
Joined: February 23, 2003
 I buy used LPs on EBay fairly often and most of the time records are fairly close to the claimed grading quality. (Well, maybe one grade lower than claimed.). A few times, however, the LP sides are nice and shiny looking almost brand new, yet the sound is quite distorted with lots of crunching noises. It makes me wonder if the seller applied some kind of polish to the record surface which makes the record look nice but wrecks the sound.

Has anyone else run into this problem or heard of people doing this?

 

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RE: Could used LP be coated with something to disguise wear?, posted on July 15, 2016 at 16:03:49
bcowen
Audiophile

Posts: 1076
Location: North Carolina
Joined: December 19, 2015
 WD-40.

I used it on an old, chewed up LP that I was putting in a wall frame for decoration. Made it nice and shiny -- looked brand new, and stayed that way for a long time. I never tried to play it though, so can't comment on what it did to the sound...

 

Armor All?, posted on July 15, 2016 at 16:07:00
genungo
 Meguiar's?

 

RE: Could used LP be coated with something to disguise wear?, posted on July 15, 2016 at 17:46:39
PAR
 I used to know a guy who traded in used discs and he would "polish" them with lighter fuel to give them a shiny and unused appearance.

There can be other reasons for shiny LPs that sound poor. Take a used LP and clean it properly using, say, an RCM with one of the good well known cleaning solutions. Perhaps an acceptable thing for a trader to do. The record will then look good and some types of dirt induced noise will be diminished. However if it has been played with a chipped stylus then it will sound much as you say, at least in terms of distortion despite looking as if N/M. Nothing can remedy this.

 

RCM, posted on July 15, 2016 at 18:06:11
Salectric
Audiophile

Posts: 1358
Location: East Coast
Joined: February 23, 2003
 I plan on setting up the RCM over the weekend and giving this latest LP a thorough cleaning. From past experience I don't think that will make much difference but it's certainly worth trying.

Thanks for the replies so far. It appears that some sellers do attempt to disguise a damaged record with some kind of oil or polish. If something was used on the record I received today, the material doesn't have any smell nor is there any gunk on my stylus after a few minutes of play. (I couldn't stand to listen to it longer than that.)

 

Yup. My thought exactly. Any cheap automobile shine up stuff.. nt, posted on July 15, 2016 at 18:08:03
Smelly_Socks
 .

 

Last LP preservative leaves a very shiny siurface. /nt\, posted on July 16, 2016 at 03:50:56
Opus 33 1/3
Audiophile

Posts: 4184
Location: D.C. Area
Joined: February 19, 2014




Opus 33 1/3

 

but most Last LP preservative users add the sticker to the label... At least those I have seen nt, posted on July 16, 2016 at 08:27:49
Smelly_Socks
 .

 

Seen many with no label. Used Last and not the label myself. /nt\, posted on July 17, 2016 at 04:48:31
Opus 33 1/3
Audiophile

Posts: 4184
Location: D.C. Area
Joined: February 19, 2014




Opus 33 1/3

 

+1 , posted on July 17, 2016 at 09:47:56
richardl
Audiophile

Posts: 3555
Joined: September 5, 2002
 my experience of buying used classical is that people do this. I have given away records that I did not want that I washed and they still were not good. Chipped stylus or ground in dirt annihilates records.

 

RE: Could used LP be coated with something to disguise wear?, posted on July 18, 2016 at 07:27:48
Kindablue
Audiophile

Posts: 1072
Joined: August 7, 2003
 Yea that is why I value those guys who sell LPs that are real and are clean no tricks so far after all these years I have 3 of those type guys I deal with the rest not going to throw my money at them I got a good collection and between those few guys and my limited funds I get by.

 

RE: Could used LP be coated with something to disguise wear?, posted on July 18, 2016 at 12:11:29
bill_stevenson@bellsouth.net
Audiophile

Posts: 418
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Joined: January 6, 2015
 In addition to all the dirty tricks that have been mentioned already there is also the possibility of a poor pressing. This was a plague back in the heyday of the Long Play Record. Almost all records made in the 1960s through the remainder of the 20th Century contained a percentage of regrind in the vinyl. I can only remember one company, Phillips of Holland, that only had 100% virgin vinyl at all times in all their records. It was normal to return noisy records to the store as defective. This occurred in ~30% or more of all new records. Also, a lot of records were played on crap record players that frequently had a worn out saphire stylus. So even if the record was OK to start with, it only took a play or two to wreck havoc on the vinyl. Buying vinyl is fraught with peril and old records of unknown origin and history are an occupational hazard. Caveat Emptor!

 

RE: Yup. My thought exactly. Any cheap automobile shine up stuff.. nt, posted on July 18, 2016 at 12:21:39
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 Armour All leaves a RESIDUE in the groove.

Ask me how I know.


Too much is never enough

 

I doubt a scammer is going to use LAST. WD-40. (nt), posted on July 18, 2016 at 13:48:21
MannyE
Audiophile

Posts: 2088
Location: Miami Beach
Joined: March 4, 2001
 I said NT.

 

Concrete would do the job, posted on July 18, 2016 at 14:25:27
theophile
Audiophile

Posts: 1264
Location: australia
Joined: July 16, 2003
 8 ^)

 

Here is a humorous story about 78s and olive oil., posted on July 18, 2016 at 16:10:39
alaskahiatt
Audiophile

Posts: 7508
Joined: December 9, 2000
Contributor
  Since: November 1, 2005
 nt

 

Armorall, posted on July 19, 2016 at 08:42:17
Lew
Audiophile

Posts: 10912
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Joined: December 11, 2000
 It makes vinyl shiny.

 

RE: Kiwi, posted on July 19, 2016 at 21:53:51
bean
 I once saw a guy at an antique mall carefully polishing old trashed Elvis LP's with a tin of Kiwi polish and a shoe brush. They actually looked pretty good.

Fortunately, he sold them as "display only".

 

RE: Could used LP be coated with something to disguise wear?, posted on July 20, 2016 at 06:05:33
Salectric
Audiophile

Posts: 1358
Location: East Coast
Joined: February 23, 2003
 Thanks for the replies. It appears that some sellers at least do apply some coating to their LPs to make them look better even though this probably messes up the sound. In my case, the seller agreed to a refund so I sent the record back. I am fairly confident the seller did not apply the polish or know of it.

In general, however, a refund is not a full remedy in the case of inaccurate quality grading. A refund still leaves the buyer with the cost and hassle of the return plus the wasted time. I try to be realistic about this. I know a seller is going to grade things on the high side. So for example if a record is described as VG+, I am not surprised if it is more like VG- in my own subjective rating. However, if a record has obvious visual problems such as major scratches and is described as Mint, I will give the seller negative or neutral feedback despite the offer of a refund. It's important to alert other potential buyers that the seller's description may not be accurate. I have only done this 2 or 3 times when I felt the grading was particularly offensive.

Despite the negative tone of the above, I really love the diversity of LP offerings on Ebay. Compared to the old days where my record buying was limited to whatever the local store decided to carry, now I can search out early pressings from the 1950s and 1960s and have them delivered to my door within a couple days. And for the most part the quality is quite acceptable and the prices are reasonable.

 

RE: Kiwi, posted on July 20, 2016 at 13:53:19
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 Can you imagine what your stylus would look like after playing that!

Dave

 

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