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Scuffing (?) on record causes muffled sound. Help!!!


Aoifnm
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https://ibb.co/pR5twmJ

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(links are for pics)

Hi, 

I recently bought The Beatles 'Hey Jude' single, which I was very pleased about. 

It looked great. 

But when I played it, there was this terrible muffled noise through the track at a certain point.

Examining the single further, there seemed to be a light, almost clouded, ring on the track. 

Is there any way of fixing this?? 

I'm kinda disappointed! 

 

Thanks

Edited by Aoifnm
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What are you using to play it?

 

The rings on a record vary from light to dark based on how loud that section is. On quieter parts the rings will be noticeably darker and vice versa. I don't see any visible issue in your pics so I'm going to assume either you're using substandard equipment or the single itself is just worn out and old. No vinyl record will last forever, some of it is worn off every time you listen.

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1 minute ago, Sh100by said:

What are you using to play it?

 

The rings on a record vary from light to dark based on how loud that section is. On quieter parts the rings will be noticeably darker and vice versa. I don't see any visible issue in your pics so I'm going to assume either you're using substandard equipment or the single itself is just worn out and old. No vinyl record will last forever, some of it is worn off every time you listen.

My record player is fine, but I can't get a good picture to show you the damaged bit really! 

The rest of the track is fine, then there's just this light ring that almost looks like it's all scuffed, and when the needle reaches it you can still her the music and the voices, but it's covered over by this muffled sound! 

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5 minutes ago, Aoifnm said:

My record player is fine, but I can't get a good picture to show you the damaged bit really! 

The rest of the track is fine, then there's just this light ring that almost looks like it's all scuffed, and when the needle reaches it you can still her the music and the voices, but it's covered over by this muffled sound! 

Could be some sort of outgassing issue, was it stored in something plastic? That's all I can think of that would leave a light film on the surface to make it unplayable besides being old. Unfortunately it isn't a fixable issue either.

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3 minutes ago, Sh100by said:

Could be some sort of outgassing issue, was it stored in something plastic? That's all I can think of that would leave a light film on the surface to make it unplayable besides being old. Unfortunately it isn't a fixable issue either.

That's a real shame. 

No no plastic! 

Just a normal paper cover. 

I'll just have to get another one :(

Thanks anyway! 

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That looks like the record was worn away over that section with the rings.

 

Was this in a jukebox?

 

The problem with this single is a seven minute song is squeezed on a single side of a 45rpm record.

 

Buy this instead. It will sound better:

 

Beatles - Hey Jude (The Beatles Again) LP

 

 

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Yeah pictures aren't really good enough to tell.

But surface wear or any sort of abrasion or residue could have a big impact on the sound.
If you havent already, try wet-cleaning the record.

But like others here have mentioned, you could get another copy for quite cheap as well.

 

Good luck!

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1 hour ago, V3XED said:

Yeah pictures aren't really good enough to tell.

But surface wear or any sort of abrasion or residue could have a big impact on the sound.
If you havent already, try wet-cleaning the record.

But like others here have mentioned, you could get another copy for quite cheap as well.

 

Good luck!

Yeah I did wet clean it! Several times so I think it's time to give up 🤣

You can't get em cheaply here sadly :(

Thanks anyway 

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that's groove wear nothing can be done, seen it many times. A jukebox or a console/cheap turntable played it out. I have a few in my collection like that that are just hard to find in any shape and it's muffled and unlistenable.  Copies of this are plentiful I'm sure with some digging another copy will surface. Otherwise they are all over the internet for sale 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/15/2019 at 10:11 AM, Aoifnm said:

My record player is fine, but I can't get a good picture to show you the damaged bit really! 

The rest of the track is fine, then there's just this light ring that almost looks like it's all scuffed, and when the needle reaches it you can still her the music and the voices, but it's covered over by this muffled sound! 

 40 yrs ago after a heavy duty party ,you would have to wash some records off with  mild detergent , used to be sunlight soap  rince them well with warm water and shamy , takes care of a lot of bad sound from crud building up , or someone washed the record with  soap that had too much bite  and it damaged the lands above the grooves (flutes), where the music is  a brand new stylus tip will sometimes recover the groove width so the needle sits fully in the groove , anyway that's what an old crawfish used to do.  Oh ya , If you just want to get a recording from the record you can also try this  ,, … put a layer of distilled water on the album with a turkey baster or what ever you have to slowly feed water onto the record     as   it is playing, the needle will skate on a micro film  of water , getting rid of many crackle pops and muffled sections , this does no damage to anything ,unless you flood your turntable, , you use enough water to see a wake ripple on either side of the stylus/cartridge I used to use a    sure m95ed   for this.   ..  used this trick a lot with old rare party records  just to get a final saved copy on   reel to reel or cassette, still even have an old 8 track recorder back in the day 60's 70's early 80's  we would try anything .    LONG LONG ago    .   rick

Edited by purpleneckrick
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