Record brush

[FOUNTAIN]

I'm curious, what kind of brushes do you guys use when cleaning your vinyl? Today I ordered a Mobile Fidelity brush just to see if it is better than the one that came with my VPI 16.5(bristle type) and the Nitty Gritty version. Have any of you experimented with different brushes and felt that one was superior to another? The brushes that I'm more concerned with are in the wet cleaning phase just before vacumming, but if there are dry cleaning brushes you feel offer a superior performance please share. Or could it be that a variety of brushes are needed depending on how dirty the vinyl is? Thanks for you thoughts.

Glen

 

[Tube60]

I've found that a makeup brush works very well due to their very fine bristles.

 

[TrumpetDoug]

The Hunt E.D.A. Mark 6 dry brush is one of the best you can buy (IMHO)

Doug - out

 

[engtaz]

I use the same Doug.

 

[risabet]

For wet brushes I like the Disc Doctor brushes and for dry brushes I like the Audioquest CF brush.

 

[FOUNTAIN]

The Hunt E.D.A. Mark 6 dry brush is one of the best you can buy (IMHO)

Doug - out

I have one of these too, but just the other day I bought one similar to the Audioquest carbon fiber brush. Not sure if there is much of a difference accept I do not like the holder for the Hunt. One time when the lights were low I picked up the brush and went to dry clean the record and this terrible noise of grinding appeared. The base stuck to the brush and was now scratching up a new record. Another time I picked up the Hunt and again the base stuck, of course now being a little wiser, I went to lower it back down only for the metal holder to drop onto my turntable. No damage occured this time but it was very frustrating. After that I decided to get another brush next time I went analog shopping. The new brush, I forget the name but it's very similar to the audioquest brush with two rows of carbon fiber bristles, has an attached base that you flip and locks into place. So far no accidents.

Glen

 

[FOUNTAIN]

For wet brushes I like the Disc Doctor brushes and for dry brushes I like the Audioquest CF brush.

This is a very popular wet cleaning brush that many love to use. If I'm not mistaken, the Mobile Fidelity brush that I ordered is the same thing. Many seem to prefer these to all the others, but it sure does seem that the bristle type that came with the VPI machine would be better at getting in the grooves. However, I would gladly welcome being wrong on this since it would be nice to have a brush that would do an even better job!:rocker:

Glen

 

[twich54]

Gents, hands down the best brush I have evere used (and now no longer made, go figure !) is the "CA 2+2", it's a combination carbon fibere w/metal handle for static electricity conduction along with a chamois / fabric sweeper section. Note pics attached.......

I have searched far and wide for anybody still having any of these left in stock, no luck, if anybody finds them don't hesitate for a minute in picking them up, I'll gladly buy them from you if you're not interested.

yes I've used discwasher (totall crap), hunt, audioquest, etc. This is just the best dry brush ever !

this item no longer being produced is akin to the best manual record cleaning device no longer in production.......that neat little Alsop 'Orbitrack'. I still use mine for pre-cleaning used records, etc.

 

[FOUNTAIN]

I've found that a makeup brush works very well due to their very fine bristles.

Now that's interesting. Is there a certain one that you feel does a better job? Also, do you use this only for dry cleaning or for wet?

Glen

 

[FOUNTAIN]

Gents, hands down the best brush I have evere used (and now no longer made, go figure !) is the "CA 2+2", it's a combination carbon fibere w/metal handle for static electricity conduction along with a chamois / fabric sweeper section. Note pics attached.......

I have searched far and wide for anybody still having any of these left in stock, no luck, if anybody finds them don't hesitate for a minute in picking them up, I'll gladly buy them from you if you're not interested.

yes I've used discwasher (totall crap), hunt, audioquest, etc. This is just the best dry brush ever !

this item no longer being produced is akin to the best manual record cleaning device no longer in production.......that neat little Alsop 'Orbitrack'. I still use mine for pre-cleaning used records, etc.

Thanks Dave!! The pictures really help. I will keep an eye out for two of those. If I find it, I'll send it to you. Michael Fremer really believes in the Orbitrack. I decided to watch his video again yesterday and saw him using it, it really does look like a great idea. Too bad they don't make that anymore either.

Just out of curiosity, what did you not like about the discwasher compared to the others(Hunt, audioquest, etc)? Or did you think that none of them were any good? Since the CA 2+2 is no longer being made do you have a second choice that you would recommend?

Glen

 

[twich54]

Just out of curiosity, what did you not like about the discwasher compared to the others(Hunt, audioquest, etc)?

Glen quite simply the discwasher brush is a hoax....here's why.......

The handle is made out of wood....dosen't conduct static electricity worth a hoot !.....so guess who was the first to market the 'anti-static' gun ? you guessed it ! The use of their horrible brush actually builds up static thus making the gun seem even more effective !!, and the thought of using their brush 'wet' with their god awfull fluid is not a good idea !

keep in mind ANY dry brush that does not facilitate static electricity discharge is JUNK !

 

[Tube60]

Is there a certain one that you feel does a better job? Also, do you use this only for dry cleaning or for wet?

I use one that my ex or my sister left at the house. It's one of those soft, poofy natural bristle types. I use it wet, with a very dilute dish soap solution, or Endust For Electronics shot from the can onto the brush wetted first with warm water. I haven't tried something more specific from the record cleaning companies yet.

 

[risabet]

This is a very popular wet cleaning brush that many love to use. If I'm not mistaken, the Mobile Fidelity brush that I ordered is the same thing. Many seem to prefer these to all the others, but it sure does seem that the bristle type that came with the VPI machine would be better at getting in the grooves. However, I would gladly welcome being wrong on this since it would be nice to have a brush that would do an even better job!:rocker:

Glen

I have a 16.5 and the bristle brush is good for spreading the fluid around but I doubt the bristles are actually small enough to get in to the groove proper, whereas the fibers of the DD brush may be able to get in there. That said, I think the DD brushes actually get the record cleaner in terms of removing fingerprints and other used vinyl schmutz. On new vinyl, in general, the cleaning is done by the fluid and not by mechanical scrubbing per se. For really foul used records I use a dilute (40:1) solution of Spray & Wash that I follow-up with a regular cleaning after a rinse with the sink sprayer.

 

[FOUNTAIN]

I have a 16.5 and the bristle brush is good for spreading the fluid around but I doubt the bristles are actually small enough to get in to the groove proper, whereas the fibers of the DD brush may be able to get in there. That said, I think the DD brushes actually get the record cleaner in terms of removing fingerprints and other used vinyl schmutz. On new vinyl, in general, the cleaning is done by the fluid and not by mechanical scrubbing per se. For really foul used records I use a dilute (40:1) solution of Spray & Wash that I follow-up with a regular cleaning after a rinse with the sink sprayer.

Thanks Risabet. After cleaning quite a bit of vinyl lately with my new 16.5 I am in agreement that the bristle brush can only get so deep in the grooves. Yesterday I received in the mail the Mobile Fidelity brush, which is like the DD, and it seemed to work much better. Of course it was late last night that I used it and only cleaned a couple of LP's, but my initial thought was that it lowered the noise floor considerably. I will check out some of my more problem LP's and report back. As for the solution that I use it is the Audio Intelligent one step formula. This really is a good fluid especially if you let it soak for a few minutes. Thanks again.

Glen

 

[FOUNTAIN]

I just wanted to follow back up about the mobile fidelity brush. If you don't have one or the disc doctor brush I highly recommend it for wet cleaning. I still use the bristle brush on dirty records and then move to the mobile fidelity brush to get deep into the grooves. There are a few LP's that it still did not improve but there are others where I have scrubbed several times with other brushes but to no avail. When I used the mobile fidelity brush on them the noise floor dropped considerably. On the others that will not seem to improve no matter what I do, I will give one more effort by steam cleaning them before I give up and just buy another copy. When I was on the phone with music direct yesterday the sells guy said to do the steam cleaning and I will be surprised at the results. He even stated that I would call him back up to thank him. Now all I have to do is find one of these little guys and give it a go. Has anyone else ever given this a serious try and if so what were your results? There seems to be a long discussion about this on the audiogon forum in the analog section. I haven't read through it yet, but hopefully sometime today I will get a chance to skim it.

Glen

 

[FOUNTAIN]

Here is a link for the steam cleaning method on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6OjtKUZ048 . This looks like a good idea to me. What do you guys think?

Glen