I'm sure I can't be the first to have discovered this, but I'd like to
mention it here anyway. I found a way to play warped records or records
where a crack(s) causes the needle to jump out of its groove.

A 78 RPM has a crack running from the edge of the record to
almost the middle. The needle always bounces off the record
when it hits the crack. I'm afraid to apply more weight to
the tone arm because it might damage the needle.

So what I did was I played the broken record at the slower speed of 33
1/3. (For the first time in a long time, this record was played without a
record players' needle bouncing out of it!) The needle never came close
to leaving the record's groove at all. I copied the record at 33 1/3 on
to a tape deck with a speed control. Once recorded, I only needed to play
it back by increase the speed so to match the original 78 RPM
recording. I did the speed tuning by ear (maybe not 100% perfect) but it
did work! The records played.
(I had to open up a tape recorder, find the speed control and
play around with it - very risky since speed controls inside
these machine weren't meant to be changed back and forth).

I came across a 33 1/3 RPM record that had been warp on the outer edge by
a cigarette or match. The warp portion is so very short and sharp and it
causes a needle to bounce out easily even at 33 1/3 RPM. The solution was
to play it at slower speed. Finding a record player with 16 RPM speed
wasn't easy. But once we did, the needle had no trouble playing the
record then. Another LP record that had been warp by the sun on the outer
edge was, Walt Disney's' The Haunted Mansion staring Ron Howard and Robie
Lester who play a two kids who stumbled on the old mansion and went
inside. Very scary!

Anyway, whenever the tone harm hit the vwarp area, it would rise and then
suddenly dropped on the other side of the "hill". And you'd hear a bump
or womp noise. Played at 16 RPM the noise isn't as pronounced. The tone
arm as more time to react to sudden changes to up and down movements.

I wonder if there are other advantages to playing at slower
speeds. Since friction increases with speed, would a needle or record
last longer if played slower?


==
Tony