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Warped records in the mail, can I fix them?


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Here's a fun story:

I hadn't bought a record in over a decade.

I became nostalgic for the collection, asked my family to send some of it to me, to find out that the valuable records were missing, remaining LPs left stacked up and remaining 7" found in a garage in FL.. could have been there for over 3 years..

Over the past few weeks, I've tried to get back a Screeching Weasel and friends collection via ebay, gemm, and other online stores.

But half the records from my mailorders are coming in bent out of shape. I just can't believe that sellers don't take the time to put valuable records in protective boxes.

Some questions about bent/warp records.

Can playing them damage the stylus?

Is there away, outside of glass tables and heat, to set them back to shape?

Anybody get records like this in the mail?

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I actually got a really warped record in the post today. Probably not good for the stylus but if i have a record that is warped enough to affect the sound i just put a little extra weight over the needle, usually a penny. It works for me, but i'm sure there is someone on here that will disagree.

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I have gotten more warped records in the mail this summer than I ever have before. My two latest records from Fat have been warped. 3 of the 4 records I ordered from Epitaph have a slight warp. And there have been 3 other warped LPs I've gotten in the mail this summer. Luckily most of those records are still playable. It's been a frustrating couple of months though.

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If you have some warped 12"s they should flatten out after a while of being smooshed between other records on your shelf for a while. Unless you only have like twenty records... that might not work so well.

7"s are less likely to flatten in storage.

I don't recommend you using a penny to add weight to your tracking force. It could ruin your records and even your stylus.

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is it a bad idea to try to flatten them under a bookshelf?

Last time I had a record bent really bad I put it in between two pieces of cardboard and then put it in between my mattress and box spring.

I slept on top of it for a few weeks and it was playable.

I don't have a bed.. But I sleep on a futon that's on the floor, so that might just work! Thanks!

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I know someone makes this crazy expensive record flattening machine to fix warped records. I wish someone would buy one, and for a fee (say $5), you could mail them a record and they would flatten it, and mail it back in a sturdy box to prevent re-warping.

You want to go in halfsies on one of those?

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I know someone makes this crazy expensive record flattening machine to fix warped records. I wish someone would buy one, and for a fee (say $5), you could mail them a record and they would flatten it, and mail it back in a sturdy box to prevent re-warping.

I believe there's a record store in Boston that has one of these machines. I'm not sure what they charge people to use it, but I guess it works pretty well. The trick is the record can't be so warped that the grooves are affected, because they'll never be right once the record flattens.

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I know someone makes this crazy expensive record flattening machine to fix warped records. I wish someone would buy one, and for a fee (say $5), you could mail them a record and they would flatten it, and mail it back in a sturdy box to prevent re-warping.

You want to go in halfsies on one of those?

VC co-op? Co-op members get free straightening, non-members pay small fee? Get on it Virgil!

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I have gotten more warped records in the mail this summer than I ever have before. My two latest records from Fat have been warped. 3 of the 4 records I ordered from Epitaph have a slight warp. And there have been 3 other warped LPs I've gotten in the mail this summer. Luckily most of those records are still playable. It's been a frustrating couple of months though.

Yeah, the ones i got today were from Fat. I blame Global Warming!

If you have some warped 12"s they should flatten out after a while of being smooshed between other records on your shelf for a while. Unless you only have like twenty records... that might not work so well.

7"s are less likely to flatten in storage.

I don't recommend you using a penny to add weight to your tracking force. It could ruin your records and even your stylus.

Yeah, thought so. I didn't think it was a good thing to-do. I haven't needed to do it on my home set up just on a TT i used to have at work that i salvaged from a skip. Saying that, i will probably do it again. :$

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the store in boston does it for FREE

but the thing is it takesn a couple hours from start to finish and the process somtimes needs to be repeated

now depending on the warp this machine doesn't always work, i guess it's a 50/50 on if it will work

if it's a HEAT warp then it will have 1% chance of fixing it....

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