Need Help Identifying and Cleaning an Old 78

[Charlie Hubbard]

Hello group,

My great uncle was in a swing band that was popular in the Northwest
in the late 30's. I've recently come into possession of a 78 recording
of two of their songs which I'd like to clean up and transfer to CDR.
The thing is positively filthy! I need to get it cleaned up before I
attempt to play it but I'm hesitant to do anything until I can
identify the recording medium. If this is something I can't get wet,
I don't know what I'm going to do.

The record itself is not something that was mass-produced. What I've
been told is, the outfit that recorded it hurded everyone into an
auditorium, set a microphone in front of them and recorded the songs
live direct to disc. Then the sound wizards took the master
recordings, scurried off to their lair and sometime later returned
with the duplicates.

The platter consists of an aluminum substrate, which I can see clearly
on the edge and through the center hole. It's coated with a dark,
red, slightly translucent material into which the recording groove is
cut. What is this thing? How can I clean it?

One recommendation given by Geoffrey Brown here...

http://home.earthlink.net/~gnordenstam/RecordCollection/Records.html

....for shellac discs is a dilute solution of Labtone detergent (a
laboratory cleaner from VWR Scientific) and distilled water. But I
wouldn't know "shellac" if it hit me in the face. Can anyone tell
what I've got here from the descripiton I gave above? This disc is
dirty beyond belief and something needs to be done before I set it on
my turntable. I need some advice before I start messing around
though.

All comments are greatly appreciated!


Regards,


Charlie Hubbard

[Martin Harrington]

Water and a little mild soap wont hurt and scrub gently with a soft brush.

--
Martin Harrington
www.lendanear-sound.com
"Charlie Hubbard" > wrote in message
...
> Hello group,
>
> My great uncle was in a swing band that was popular in the Northwest
> in the late 30's. I've recently come into possession of a 78 recording
> of two of their songs which I'd like to clean up and transfer to CDR.
> The thing is positively filthy! I need to get it cleaned up before I
> attempt to play it but I'm hesitant to do anything until I can
> identify the recording medium. If this is something I can't get wet,
> I don't know what I'm going to do.
>
> The record itself is not something that was mass-produced. What I've
> been told is, the outfit that recorded it hurded everyone into an
> auditorium, set a microphone in front of them and recorded the songs
> live direct to disc. Then the sound wizards took the master
> recordings, scurried off to their lair and sometime later returned
> with the duplicates.
>
> The platter consists of an aluminum substrate, which I can see clearly
> on the edge and through the center hole. It's coated with a dark,
> red, slightly translucent material into which the recording groove is
> cut. What is this thing? How can I clean it?
>
> One recommendation given by Geoffrey Brown here...
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~gnordenstam/RecordCollection/Records.html
>
> ...for shellac discs is a dilute solution of Labtone detergent (a
> laboratory cleaner from VWR Scientific) and distilled water. But I
> wouldn't know "shellac" if it hit me in the face. Can anyone tell
> what I've got here from the descripiton I gave above? This disc is
> dirty beyond belief and something needs to be done before I set it on
> my turntable. I need some advice before I start messing around
> though.
>
> All comments are greatly appreciated!
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Charlie Hubbard
>


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.500 / Virus Database: 298 - Release Date: 10/07/2003

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> The record itself is not something that was mass-produced. What I've
> been told is, the outfit that recorded it hurded everyone into an
> auditorium, set a microphone in front of them and recorded the songs
> live direct to disc. Then the sound wizards took the master
> recordings, scurried off to their lair and sometime later returned
> with the duplicates.
>
> The platter consists of an aluminum substrate, which I can see clearly
> on the edge and through the center hole. It's coated with a dark,
> red, slightly translucent material into which the recording groove is
> cut. What is this thing? How can I clean it?

You have an "acetate", sometimes called a "lacquer." How you clean it
depends on what the "dirt" consists of. Chances are it's got some mold
on it as well as accumulated dust, rocks, and dog hair.

The acetate material into which the grooves are cut sticks to the
aluminum pretty well if it's stored properly and not abraded, but it
has a tendency to come off in flakes when you try to do anything to
it. People who are into restoring old recordings have developed some
tools, techniques, and skills in cleaning these disks that's pretty
involved and is far from dunking it in a tub of water. If this is
truly valuable to you, I'd suggest that you find someone with
experience to do the job for you. Not only do you need to clean it,
but you need to spin and play it, and you may have only one shot at
that.

If you really want to learn this craft, don't experiment on your
priceless disk. Search thrift shops and flea markets for other
people's junk (which may turn out to be cool but not likely to be
personally valuable to you) and see what it takes to both clean it and
make it come apart.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )

[Charlie Hubbard]

On 26 Jul 2003 10:26:19 -0400, (Mike Rivers)
wrote:

>
>In article > writes:

>> The platter consists of an aluminum substrate, which I can see clearly
>> on the edge and through the center hole. It's coated with a dark,
>> red, slightly translucent material into which the recording groove is
>> cut. What is this thing? How can I clean it?
>
>You have an "acetate", sometimes called a "lacquer." How you clean it
>depends on what the "dirt" consists of. Chances are it's got some mold
>on it as well as accumulated dust, rocks, and dog hair.
[snip]
>If you really want to learn this craft, don't experiment on your
>priceless disk. Search thrift shops and flea markets for other
>people's junk (which may turn out to be cool but not likely to be
>personally valuable to you) and see what it takes to both clean it and
>make it come apart.

Thanks for the identification and the advice, Mike. After reading as
much as could find on the care and feeding of acetates, I've decided
this isn't something I'm comfortable taking on myself. I've contacted
Graham Newton to see if he'd be willing to give it a shot.

Regards,


Charlie Hubbard