In our previous professional audio post production days we tried many different methods of cleaning both the vinyl records and the styli
This is one of our old styli cleaning tools
If you really care about your investment in vinyl records, take a good look around online - there are a large number of methods/systems available - some are great, most are average and some are downright dodgy.
Often the styli is forgotten and yet it is there that all the dirt and rubbish picked up from the grooves accumulates - the styli MUST be kept clean.
Auto Styli Cleaner
Barely used
This tool is basically a special carbon fibre brush which you carefully mount in position onto your turntable plinth.
Once you have established the position for the styli brush, it is fixed in place with double sided tape which is NOT SUPPLIED but easy to obtain from a hardware store.
The brush height is fully adjustable
The idea is that when the tonearm is moved across and down onto the vinyl and also on the return "trip" when the tonearm is returning to the arm rest, the styli will lightly brush against the carbon fibres and be automatically cleaned.
SPECIAL NOTE: Because of the concept used to clean your styli as it moves across the brush, this is going to cause "noise" as the styli passes over the brush on an auto play turntable - it is really the best to use this brush with a turntable that has an auto mute feature while the tonearm is travelling to and from the platter.
Other than the brush itself, the support is entirely non magnetic metal.
I have included a photograph of it mounted on our old AKAI AP-002 but due to its nature, this can easily be used with any turntable.
DIMENSIONS:
Base is 15mm diameter
Height from the base to the carbon fibre tip is adjustable from around 43mm to 35mm - on the Akai AP-002 it was set to around 36mm
CONDITION:
Excellent - metal is clean and shiny
Carbon brush is clean and not "frayed"
SPECIAL NOTE:
When deciding where to place this brush and also adjust its height, make absolutely sure that the brush is not too high otherwise it could cause the styli to collide with the brush body which will result in damage to the styli as it passes over. From time to time, clean the carbon fibre brush and the area surrounding the support on the plinth as this is where the dust will collect that has fallen off the brush.
