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Is It Possible to Fix Vinyl?


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I was curious if it is possible to fix some records that I have that are a little wonky. First up: I have two albums that have the center hole cut too small. Does anyone have any suggestions of a way to fix that? And I cannot return them, I bought them a while ago and my window for that has lapsed. Also, I have a couple that I bought from touring bands that are pretty warped. They play okay, but is there anything I can do about those, like leave a book on them, or would that make it worse? Sorry if these are silly questions, but I didn't know where else to ask. Thank you for your time.

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I was curious if it is possible to fix some records that I have that are a little wonky. First up: I have two albums that have the center hole cut too small. Does anyone have any suggestions of a way to fix that? And I cannot return them, I bought them a while ago and my window for that has lapsed. Also, I have a couple that I bought from touring bands that are pretty warped. They play okay, but is there anything I can do about those, like leave a book on them, or would that make it worse? Sorry if these are silly questions, but I didn't know where else to ask. Thank you for your time.

These are both pretty common problems. the easier one to fix is the center hole problem. Usually you can get a little x-acto knife in there and just scrape a little off. Keep trying a little at a time and rechecking until it fits on your turntable okay.

Next problem...there are a bunch of suggestions out there. For it to change any shape at all, it has to be as warm as when it warped to begin with. You have to be careful when messing around with this...I suggest trying the technique on a record you don't care about until you feel comfortable with it.

Two pieces of glass - put the record between them and put in the sun for a couple minutes, keep your eye on it...really, a couple minutes should be plenty.

Good luck!

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I've flattened warped vinyl with books before. One 7" in particular played amazing after taking it out from under the books, but a few weeks went by and it sounded even worse than it did before I flattened it. I don't think I've listened to it since then. Anyone know what my problem could have been?

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Next problem...there are a bunch of suggestions out there. For it to change any shape at all, it has to be as warm as when it warped to begin with. You have to be careful when messing around with this...I suggest trying the technique on a record you don't care about until you feel comfortable with it.

Two pieces of glass - put the record between them and put in the sun for a couple minutes, keep your eye on it...really, a couple minutes should be plenty.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tips. I'll try that last one when Chicago stops being Hoth.

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Holy shit, someone help ME. I got that Cocksparrer 7 inch flexi disc from Maximum RnR and I have a superbox so naturally the mailman rolls up the package with magazine in it. Unbeknown to guy it contained my precious vinyl. So the fucker sits there for two days. I get it, pop it open, go OH "WOW, didn't know they were doing this!" then get bummed because the thing has a permanent bend to it. Not creased just fucking bent. Picture a bell curve. That's what it looks like.

Is there anything I can do to flatten this. Ive had it under books for ages and it never takes its original shape.

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For warping I've had success with two pieces of glass (from LP frames) with a heating pad under them set to medium. Then a few large books distributing weight evenly on top of them.

I can't say a set time limit as I've just kept checking until they weren't warped. But I'd usually just set it and forget it (heating pad has an auto shutoff) and by the time they've completely cooled they were fixed with no damage (that I've noticed).

If it doesn't completely straiten them out, I've always gotten them to where they're at least able to be played. But as with all of these, do it at your own risk.

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