Repair for a record broken in two?

[Rastus10]

Several months ago, I had the inevitable experience of receiving a 100+ year-old Victor record that was not adequately padded, and it arrived, in two pieces. To the seller's credit, I received a refund, no hassle.

I have kept the record (since I wasn't asked to return it), and have hopes, since the break was rather clean, of perhaps trying to have it "fixed," per se.

I've read of Vitaphone discs (most notably, the disc for Al Jolson's 1926 "Plantation Act") that have been made playable again. It's not something that I personally want to attempt, but are there collectors/specialists who might be able to repair it, and at least made playable by a light-weight 78/LP needle on more modern equipment?

[CarlosV]

I did that once, on a working bench and applying lateral pressure to both sides at 90 degree angles while trying to level the two sides so they stayed in the same plane through curing. Result was that I can play it, with loud clicking twice per turn. Never did that since, when my discs crack I throw them away. Keeping both sides apart for a long time does not help, each side will naturally distort and even with careful alignment when gluing the grooves will not match in height through the fracture.

[Cody K]

I've never heard of anyone who offers such repairs as a service, but I've done it myself with decent results. It needs a very quick application of a minimal amount of good old crazy glue to each side of the break; quick because it dries so fast and loses its power. Working on the heavy, perfectly flat glass surface that I use to flatten warped records, I line up the two sides of the disc, applying some pressure toward the break until it's reliably set, then let it sit an hour or two until completely dry. You do end up with two audible clicks per revolution; in the case of restoring something uniquely rare such as the Vitaphone disc, I'm pretty sure that once the halves are joined the sound of the crack would be removed digitally once the disc is playable at all.

One thing that I've found can spoil the project is that if the repair is offset even by half the width of a single groove, the record will fail to track properly, especially toward the middle of the disc, and become an audio train wreck. So the joining must be absolutely precise. Even when the repair is perfectly well done, the record will never be perfect again, so I've only bothered with this a few times, when the record that was broken is one that would be especially difficult or costly to replace. It's worth a try though, in a case like that, where the only alternative is the trash can.

If a small amount of glue is squeezed out through the rejoined crack, it usually will disappear after a few plays with a steel needle; but it's best to use as little as is necessary to do the job in the first place. It's worth practicing a few times on broken records that you don't care much about, first.

[emerson]

Received an Emerson record last week---after telling the Ebay seller, it had to be shipped in a good size box with a cushioning material surrounding it for protection. It arrived in a record mailer and in two pieces---yes, there was a refund BUT it really annoys me to see a record that survived for approximately 100 years destroyed by arrogance and or ignorance---if not both. While record mailers are good for vinyl 33's, shellac 78's are prone to break even more in colder weather when they become a little more brittle. As luck would have it, another seller had the same record---not in as nice as shape and $10 more----explained how to pack and am waiting for the arrival. Another thing that bothers me is sellers that cut up magazines for the ads, to see a Saturday Evening Post cut up for the Norman Rockwell cover and then sell the phonograph, record, and other ads to make their fortune ----yes I purchased Emerson and Nash automobile ads, but only after I knew the magazines were already lost to the razor.

[epigramophone]

Several months ago, I had the inevitable experience of receiving a 100+ year-old Victor record that was not adequately padded, and it arrived, in two pieces. To the seller's credit, I received a refund, no hassle.

I have kept the record (since I wasn't asked to return it), and have hopes, since the break was rather clean, of perhaps trying to have it "fixed," per se.

I've read of Vitaphone discs (most notably, the disc for Al Jolson's 1926 "Plantation Act") that have been made playable again. It's not something that I personally want to attempt, but are there collectors/specialists who might be able to repair it, and at least made playable by a light-weight 78/LP needle on more modern equipment?

In the UK www.poppyrecords.co.uk offers a transcription service which can sometimes deal successfully with broken records, and the "clicks" can then be electronically removed from the transcribed recording. Their website is well worth a look.

Perhaps there are people offering a similar service in the USA.

[Wolfe]

^ Or use a program like Brian Davies' ClickRepair if you don't want to manually edit the waveform yourself.

I wouldn't want to edit several hundred clicks by hand unless it was something very unique, like a home recording. But ClickRepair can do a good job mitigating the clicks in a matter of seconds.

[Cody K]

Wolfe, thanks for the tip about Click Repair. Sure looks useful, since (from the link below): "ClickRepair is not a noise filter; it searches for, and repairs, localized damage. For records in reasonable condition, this means that 99.5% or more of the audio is unchanged." A good tool to know about.

http://www.440audio.com/en/software/v32 ... ickRepair/


While I'm at it, I'd like to add to my previous comment that the crazy-glue repairs I've done have proven to be extremely sturdy, which is great because that means the records are playable and durable; but not so hot because it means that once the repair's been made, the record can't be snapped apart again to reset it if the first attempt doesn't go well.

[Wolfe]

If my post prompts anyone to try ClickRepair, I'd download it directly from the ClickRepair site : http://www.clickrepair.net/ - as I've had no problems with malware / junkware that way.

There's also some other 78 rpm restoration tools to download as well. The 78 equalizer program is free. The others have a trial period before you have to buy.

I've only tried gluing a record once, long ago, and I got glue in the grooves, ruining it forever. Haven't tried since.

[howardpgh]

I think records have many internal stresses that would cause them to have uneven surfaces, especially when the original shape is compromised.