Should I Brush My Cartridge After Each Use?

Hi folks,

So the Magic "Green" Linn paper has always bothered me (I know it works - I don't dispute that in the slightest; I've used it for years in an emergency capacity, and have seen the before and after results under a scope).

How can the relatively flat surface profile of a piece of 2000-grit sandpaper possibly clean a chisel-shaped sliver of diamond? While I can see this working well on a spherical or elliptical stylus profile, I have a much harder time wrapping my head around how any of the thin, tapering profiles (line-contact et al) can be so well-cleaned by the green paper - after all, aren't we merely grazing the very tip of the stylus? It is not as if we were wrapping the sandpaper around the diamond itself, ala a good shoe-shine. While I tend to believe the surface of the abrasive material deforms slightly under pressure, I don't think it does so enough to catch the "sides" of the diamond itself (maybe I'm wrong). Yet, the diamond comes out looking all spiffy and new, with the baked-on gunk that accumulates at the cantelever/stylus bonding point completely expunged....Any thoughts on this?

Personally, I drink the single malt then lick the cartridge but I'm into piercings too.

I use stylast and the little brush that comes with it. I use it when I can see grunge (or "gradois" pronounced Grah-Doo -- it's a New Orleans word) on the stylus. I also sometimes hear a dirty stylus -- but I can only tell the difference on records I'm very familiar with.

I'd say this happens about every ten records.

As for the parts of this thread about vinyl being work/worth the work -- it's fine to be all anal about each dust speck if that floats your boat, and there are times when I do the whole wet-dry-vacuum-sweep-blowdry-fluff-and-fold, and then there are times when the prospect pushes me toward cd's. When that latter event happens, I recall my blissful teen years of loving music and not caring about every snap, crackle and pop (and also taking dust gobs off my old Dual with my fingers) and I play the record all dirty and nasty. Embrace your inner schizophrenic and do what feels right at the moment. If you have to scrub up like a surgeon every time you want to hear a record, and it takes longer to prepare to listen that to listen, my guess is that you will spend an awful lot of your listening time alone and listening only to a record vacuum.

The author of this thread notes regularly seeing dust on the cartridge brush. Records seem to attract dirt. Heck, on a dry winter day, a record will pull a cat hair from three rooms away.

A 20X loupe mounted on a small stand sits next to my tonearm. When the arm is at rest the loupe is at stylus level. It takes just a quick peek to check the stylus *after every side*. I'll see some dollop of gunk on the cantilever or stylus about half the time. (And yes I use an RCM.)

If the gunk is not removed its gonna be stylus baggage through the next groove and either attract more gunk or drop off on the record somewhere. Plus, crud on your cartridge is more likely to make worse sound not better. If I see stuff on the stylus with the loupe, I remove it before play.

If not brushing, dipping, scraping or lathering, at least try *checking* your stylus after every side.

Tim

One unattentive customer called me in for a house call regarding a turtable that wasn't tracking at all only to find that there was a massive dustball lodged on the cartridge. I had given him a brush which he hadn't bothered to use, being your basic slob.

Brushing after each side is the least you can do. Beyond that, Last stylus cleaner, which, incidentally, is different from Stylast (Last's stylus preservative to be used after the cleaner) is one traditional next step. I tend to think that each technique/product has its benefits and limitations.