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Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 9:13 pm
by Ethan
I recently bought a Victor Scroll record that turned out to have a hard, clear coating smeared on one side; I tried washing it with soap and water, but that didn’t seem to have any effect. I was able to scrap some of the residue off the blank space near the label, and when I “played” the record—just the blank space before and after the music—with a soft tone steel needle or BCN, it left little white crumbs on top of the grooves, although after running the needle repeatedly through the locked final groove, there seemed to be fewer.
Has anyone else ever come across a record like this, and if so, what seems to work for removing the residue? When I was rinsing the record after washing, the water beaded up more on the coated side, and it is rather worn, so I wondered if someone wanted to protect it or play it with fiber needles and tried rubbing it with wax, which then hardened with age.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
- Ethan
- Residue smear near label--the residue is the set of parallel lines above and to the right of the label number pressed in the shellac.
- The white specks along the first blank groove, near the bottom of the photo, are the residue crumbs.
Re: Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 9:35 pm
by Curt A
Who knows what gunk spilled on this in the last 100+ years? Maybe white paint...
Re: Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:13 pm
by gramophone-georg
Curt A wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 9:35 pm
Who knows what gunk spilled on this in the last 100+ years? Maybe white paint...
I'm thinking WD-40.
Re: Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 6:34 pm
by Curt A
gramophone-georg wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:13 pm
Curt A wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 9:35 pm
Who knows what gunk spilled on this in the last 100+ years? Maybe white paint...
I'm thinking WD-40.
Why would you think that???
Re: Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:04 pm
by Roaring20s
Ethan, you have tried to remove it and it is not responding.
You've not said whether it adversely affects on the audio, so I'll assume it's sounds fine.
Let the needle do the work of removing it, as you enjoy Jelly-Roll Morton.
James.
Re: Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:11 pm
by Ethan
gramophone-georg wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:13 pm
Curt A wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 9:35 pm
Who knows what gunk spilled on this in the last 100+ years? Maybe white paint...
I'm thinking WD-40.
It’s possible that someone put WD-40 on it, intentionally or by accident, but I’m not sure that it would leave this sort of coating—I know that some forum members have suggested it as a record cleaner or lubricant, but no one has said that it leaves residue behind, and I once got a little bit on a record while trying to soften the old grease in my VV 2-55’s tone-arm, but it just soaked in and disappeared.
Roaring20s wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:04 pm
Ethan, you have tried to remove it and it is not responding.
You've not said whether it adversely affects on the audio, so I'll assume it's sounds fine.
Let the needle do the work of removing it, as you enjoy Jelly-Roll Morton.
James.
The idea does have a certain appeal—his records from around the mid ’20s are among my favorites; my only concern is that the residue crumbs might act as an abrasive and wear the record, although if I brush them off immediately after playing, perhaps that wouldn’t be a problem. I haven’t played it all the way through, so I can’t say whether the coating affects the sound, but the locked final grooves sound pretty much the same on both the normal and coated sides, so it might not.
I may try playing it all the way through to-morrow; if I do, I’ll report back here with the results.
Re: Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2021 11:52 pm
by gramophone-georg
Ethan wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:11 pm
gramophone-georg wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:13 pm
Curt A wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 9:35 pm
Who knows what gunk spilled on this in the last 100+ years? Maybe white paint...
I'm thinking WD-40.
It’s possible that someone put WD-40 on it, intentionally or by accident, but I’m not sure that it would leave this sort of coating—I know that some forum members have suggested it as a record cleaner or lubricant, but no one has said that it leaves residue behind, and I once got a little bit on a record while trying to soften the old grease in my VV 2-55’s tone-arm, but it just soaked in and disappeared.
Roaring20s wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:04 pm
Ethan, you have tried to remove it and it is not responding.
You've not said whether it adversely affects on the audio, so I'll assume it's sounds fine.
Let the needle do the work of removing it, as you enjoy Jelly-Roll Morton.
James.
The idea does have a certain appeal—his records from around the mid ’20s are among my favorites; my only concern is that the residue crumbs might act as an abrasive and wear the record, although if I brush them off immediately after playing, perhaps that wouldn’t be a problem. I haven’t played it all the way through, so I can’t say whether the coating affects the sound, but the locked final grooves sound pretty much the same on both the normal and coated sides, so it might not.
I may try playing it all the way through to-morrow; if I do, I’ll report back here with the results.
I was just giving Curt a hard time, LOL.
Re: Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 9:16 am
by Dischoard
Perhaps someone tried the trick of cleaning that side of the record with a layer of wood glue or white glue and either applied it too thinly or left some behind? Hope it didn't cost too much though a Jelly Roll Morton record in rough shape is better than any of my Jesse Crawford records in mint shape
Re: Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 1:23 pm
by Curt A
"I know that some forum members have suggested it as a record cleaner or lubricant, but no one has said that it leaves residue behind..."
"I was just giving Curt a hard time, LOL."
George's comment was directed at me... the notorious WD-40 record cleaning guy...
And, NO it does not harm shellac records...
Re: Odd residue on a Victor Scroll record
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2021 9:43 pm
by Ethan
It could be some kind of glue; it does look reminiscent of the film that Elmer’s glue makes when spread thinly—Or maybe someone didn’t like the worn look and tried using furniture polish on it. Surprisingly, the record didn’t cost all that much; I bid on it in the last Nauction, with no expectation of winning it—but here it is, and aside from the coating, it isn’t even in terrible condition, although I certainly agree that Jelly-Roll Morton records are worth listening to even if they are just about worn out.
I played the coated side to-day, and it sounds fine—the surface noise is fairly noticeable, which could just be due to wear, but there isn’t much distortion or rattle, if any—so I think I’ll just rely on repeated playing to clean it.
Curt A wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 1:23 pm
"I was just giving Curt a hard time, LOL."
George's comment was directed at me... the notorious WD-40 record cleaning guy...
And, NO it does not harm shellac records...
Ah—Now I see…And speaking of using WD-40 as a cleaner, maybe I should see if that works to clean off the coating…I may test some on the blank space around the label.