LRW Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 So, because I had been going on about getting into vinyl for ages, my wife kindly purchased me a record player. A cheap one at that (she doesnt understand the concept of you get what you pay for). Therefore I'm sure the obvious answer to my question is "get a decent player my friend" - but currently I need to make do with this one for the sake of a happy home. Upgrades will come. For those that want to mock : Oh how we laugh To my question - I went to play a brand new record today and have experienced what I would describe as record slippage. The turntable is turning, but the record itself is not. This is at 33rpm. The turntable was supplied with a very thin material mat for the player - and I suspect this is the issue. If I place a cleaning cloth under it, the record turns and plays - but that isn't a solution, as the record wobbles and im sure isnt healthy for the vinyl. should I upgrade this to a cork mat? Would that improve grip? Or would I be better off getting a record weight to hold it down and maybe that will improve the situation? When I google either of these options they all talk about sound improvements and skipping etc etc - but I cant find anything about slipping records, as I would described it. This is about the 4th record I have played on it, and the first record it had happened on - and all of them were new. Hopefully one of you kind souls will be able to give me a temporary solution until I can justify an upgrade to my wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannibal Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Your best option may be a record weight. It will certainly hold the record down to the platter, even with the felt mat. The issue would that it would put undue wear on the motor, and it be so severe that the platter would spin slow. There is a clamp device that is plastic which wouldn’t add much weight. I think it’s called the Clever Clamp. the other option would be to get another slip mat. But I don’t know if that would have better grip on the smooth plastic platter. I could imagine a silicone mat might grip better, but again it can’t be too heavy, as you don’t want it impacting the platter spinning or motor operation. Obviously it’s a nice gift. Just be careful buying “upgrades” to these turntables as they may not work well, and in some cases, make things worse, or hurt things more. Good news is a clamp/weight or mat can be transferred to a better table down the road. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblivions Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Does the spindle in the center of the platter stay static while the platter spins? And the record center hole is “tight” and “clinging” on the spindle, making it “stuck” while the platter spins below it? If so, the center hole might be cut too tight...and, with some discretion, you can fix that with an xacto blade by carefully and evenly shaving a very small amount of the vinyl from the center hole perimeter. If the spindle spins with the platter and the record is stuck some other way, I’d be curious how that works. Does the needle provide enough pressure/resistance to stop the record from spinning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRW Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 Thank you guys. I appreciate the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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