Most important thing you can do is to try and keep your set-up as dust free as possible.

Also maintaining the health of your needles is very important as well. I use the small brush that came with my Ortofons to gently brush the stylii after I'm done mixing.

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Dust is definitely your enemy, especially since the negative charge your equipment emits attracks the positively charged dust particles in the air (this is how ionic air purifiers work). There are really only three things that you need to maintain your equipment:

1. A can of compressed air
2. A bottle of IPA (isopropyl alcohol/isopropanol/rubbing alcohol)
3. A lint free cloth (linen is renouned for being lint free)

With these three things, you can not only keep the dust off the top of your system and get it out of the pitch fader and volume sliders, but you can clean your records with the IPA. You will find 70% IPA (the other 30% is water) in any grocery store. The nice thing is that the water that they use is purified, so that it will not leave any salt residue like most tap water will. Use the air gun once a week to "dust" off your system and clean each record at LEAST before the first time you play it. Wet the cloth by sticking the cloth around your finger, sticking it into the mouth of the IPA bottle and inverting it to wet just the cloth around your finger. Then put the record on 78 RPMs and gently drag your IPA cloth soaked finger from the label to the outer edge of the record. Give it a second to dry off and then flip it and do the other side. These two things will keep your electronics, records and needles from getting gunked up with dust, animal hair and whatever else you have floating around in your place!

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When you dance, the DJ takes you on a journey, but he or she is usually not the focus of your experience at a club or festival or wherever you hear the music. Dancing is. Music is.

I keep a can of compressed air and a swiffer cloth thing next to my stuff. Blow out the dust on the sliders, etc every few days, clean the vinyl with the swiffer almost every time I play it.

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Flesch Wet the cloth by sticking the cloth around your finger, sticking it into the mouth of the IPA bottle and inverting it to wet just the cloth around your finger. Then put the record on 78 RPMs and gently drag your IPA cloth soaked finger from the label to the outer edge of the record.

good advice. but who has tables that go 78RPM? techs only go to 45.. i just spin the recod by hand really quickly.

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Where can I find compressed air ?? any brand names ... etc??

A question about cleaning... has anybody ever tried to clean the dots on the technics platter? Now that I use the pitch slider for correcting my mixes I'd really like for my dots to be clean again and not covered in finger grease Any ideas?

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Originally posted by Endo A question about cleaning... has anybody ever tried to clean the dots on the technics platter? Now that I use the pitch slider for correcting my mixes I'd really like for my dots to be clean again and not covered in finger grease Any ideas?

If they are really gunked up, then it will take you a long time to do a good job of cleaning them, but use toothpicks and q-tips along with IPA.





Also, as far as not having 78RPM, you can use 45 too, it's just a bit easier and quicker with 45--especially with those really light records.

Compressed air can be found at pretty much any hardware store and probably in a lot of automotive sections of stores like walmart etc. You can probably ask around computer stores like compUSA too.

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When you dance, the DJ takes you on a journey, but he or she is usually not the focus of your experience at a club or festival or wherever you hear the music. Dancing is. Music is.

quote:

Originally posted by rafale Where can I find compressed air ?? any brand names ... etc??

i think he's refering to the cans of "Dusters"......like the ones u use for Computer/Electronic Equipment

u can almost find them anywhere

in my bags i always carry a couple of multi tools, a torch, a calgotherm cleaning cloth, bottle of vinyl spray cleaner and various other stuff....
Normally the light jock will have some contact cleaner and some compressed air etc

quite annoyuing when things go wrong- as they often do.

flesch, what kind of TTs do you have, im just curious, ive never heard of 78rpm