gotten a huge peice of shit dust in their needles at a gig and, as a result, have the sound quality of the music just drop from perfect to barely audible shit static?

what does one do!

blow at it before it gets that big.

oh yah, and have clean records to prevent that prob in the first place

Yes I always clean off my records before they go on the table...the way I see it, worst case scenario - needle hits piece of dust/dirt/crumb/whatever. Needle moves object through groove. Object warps groove. You cry.

That's why I always clean my records before I put them on. Just a wipe with a felt cloth (as close to dust-free of course) or, if necessary, the underside of my outer shirt.

I've had it make the record skip.

Now, anytime I pull a record off I automatically brush on the needle to make sure there's nothing stuck on there.

___________________
OUTER BASS
Subterranian

and no...it doesn't hurt the needle in any way. you just have to be careful.

___________________
OUTER BASS
Subterranian

Just clean the record before hand and always check the needle to make sure that no dust is hiding behind it. I use a small brush for cleaning needles which I always use, so I never have any problems like that.

when you go to a gig, throw a record brush, gruv glide pad, or the similar. when you put a plate on the deck, spin it by hand over the brush or pad.. and poof, the dust goes byebye.

it's best to get the dust off the record before it gets to the needle