Turntable noobie...what advice do you have?

I won’t participate in the endless and sometimes pointless debate about which cleaning method is best or especially about which static charge removal method is best, but I will say again that eliminating static charge and cleaning an LP are two entirely different subjects. Cleaning machines do not necessarily remove static charge. In fact in certain designs cleaning can enhance the static charge on the surface of an LP, although that is not usual. Mijo is correct in pointing out that removing or reducing the charge on the surface of the LP you happen to be playing does not necessarily remove charge from the entire LP. It has been shown that the charge simply migrates to the downside of the LP, enhancing the charge on that side. And I also agree with the most recent sentiment. If you are new to this part of the hobby, just go ahead and play records. You can worry about the rest of the stuff anytime later and forever more.

+1 @mijostyn For experimentation I took a few of my older audiophile records to my dealer who recommended a record cleaning machine and we tested them on a system about at the level of mine to see if cleaning actually made them sound better. I handle records very carefully, keep them in rice paper sleeves and the jackets in polyvinyl sleeves, keep them vertical, etc. So they are clean. I use a micro fiber anti static brush - Audioquest just improved theirs a bit - its $30 and I swipe before each playing.

I could not hear any difference between the pre and post cleaned records, nor could the dealer. That is what is important after all. The sales pitch stopped. I rarely buy used records - only when there is something I really want that is not available. If you are buying used records and the place doesn't clean them on a good machine, I guess you should get one. Most really good records become available at some point, you just have to be on the look out since they can sell out pretty quickly. Rumors just became available on a 45 and it sounds great. Blew away my Nautilius Recording of it. With use record prices rising so quickly, many times new ones are well worth it. Especially Blue Notes for $25.

Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct and Elusive disc are all very good sellers (AS & MD are also manufacturers), although AS is selling so much it takes them up to a week (or more if a blockbuster just came out) to ship stuff out these days. Amazon recently improved their packaging, just be careful that you are getting the pressing you want.

@lewm is SO right about record cleaning machines not necessarily being anti-static devices. In fact, I have found that more than two revolutions of the drying function on a VPI vacuum machine will CREATE static on an LP. Fortunately, two revolutions leaves the LP completely dry, and static free.

I myself never felt "silly" using the Zerostat, but that’s moot now that I have the superior Furutech DeStat III, a fantastic, highly effective, easy to use, anti-static device. Too bad about the price :-(. Lots of brand new/factory-sealed LP’s exhibit a considerable static charge when removed from their sleeve, often emitting a "cracking" sound when leaving the sleeve. Speaking of sleeves, after cleaning a used LP replace the original inner sleeve with a poly sleeve from someone like Vinyl Storage Solutions in Canada, half the price of the identical MoFi sleeve. And replace new paper sleeves too.

@mijostyn: Good point about the Dust Bug not being conductive; that had not occurred to me. It's been a long time, but I seem to recall the Bug traversing an LP side at about the same rate as the arm on my AR turntable (this was in 1969, before some of you were born ;-).

One thing that makes such a device irrelevant to me is the fact that imo the most important time to neutralize any static charge on an LP is before you clean it. If, like mijostyn, you don't "believe" in cleaning an LP before playing (other than with a dusting brush, of which I have the Hunt, Decca, and new Audioquest), I guess you disagree. We all find our own preferences in LP care; whatever works for you is cool.

Consumer alert: A while back I instigated a thread dedicated to disclosing the used LP's I had recently obtained, which has laid dormant for quite some time. For the benefit of my Portland neighbors, I will now go to it and list the LP's I brought home this week.