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WATTs DUST BUG

3dbinCanada

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sergeauckland

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Back in the day, I had a Watts Dust Bug, and a Bib Groov-Kleen which was similar, but with carbon fibre bristles rather than stiff nylon. Both worked, but they both had a roller that picked up the dust that was stirred up by the front brush.

The Dust Bug worked well, but was a very heavy tracker, and bypassed the suspension on bouncy-bouncy decks, so only worked on rigid turntables that had high-torque motors like the Garrard 401 or some of the DD tirntables of the era. Useless on belt drives.

One problem was that the stiff bristles played the grooves, and that created pre-echo which added to coloration.

The Groov-Kleen had a counterweight that reduced the tracking weight, making it more suitable for lower torque turntables, but the softer bristles didn't stir the dirt up so much, nor played the grooves so noticeably, and seemed to discharge static quite well.

This German unit doesn't have a roller, so I can't see it picking up much fluff, nor be stiff enough to stir the dirt around. It's probably OK at discharging static if the arm tube is earthed.

As Watchnerd said above, I can't see it being any better than a hand-held brush, in fact, I can't see it being as good except possibly for discharging static if that's a problem.

S.
 

gene_stl

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You usually can't have something riding on the surface of an LP without it making enough noise that the cartridge will pick it up enough to totally ruin the experience. We played with and rejected "Dust Bugs" in 1967. Though the Watts "Disc Preener" was the best predecessor to the "Disc Washer" Made in Columbia MO two hours from here.

When Disc Washer came out with their "Disc Tracker" which was a shock absorber of extremely clever design my speaker building buddy and I got cranked an ran out and bought one having forgotten about the experience with dust bugs ten years earlier. The DiscTrakker was supposed to help improve tracking on warped records. We installed it and tried it out and it didn't even make it through the first LP. Totally useless. very noisy
The shock absorber was great it had a little miniature piston made of graphite impregnated polymer in a transparent plastic cylinder. But it rode on a little pad of hairy plastic which made noise. We even tried reducing the tracking force.

All these things turn the record surface into sort of a violin bow. Phone cartridges are connected to very very high gain systems. Not possible to do successfully. Even airflow becomes audible. Clean first Then Play.

You used to be able to buy Polonium strip anti static gadgets to dissippate static charges. My late friend had a wide Static master brush that I still have. But the Polonium has a short half life and you had to buy an new expensive strip every two or three years. Now you can get electronic ones that ionize by using high voltage. I do have a couple of ZeroStats but never found them worth using much except in the deadest of dry winter.

https://www.thomassci.com/Equipment...TATICMASTER-STATIC-ELIMINATOR?q=Static Master
https://www.thomassci.com/Instrumen.../_/STATIC-ELIMINATING-BRUSHES?q=Static Master
 
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3dbinCanada

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3dbinCanada

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Why answer this thread if you are not into vinyl? Are you just another putz like troll having nothing to offer?
 

anmpr1

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At the price it's probably worth something. I mean, at least it does something. I'd be concerned about the 'self adhesive' base. Is that going to mar your turntable finish? As others have said, a record brush is going to be as effective, and certainly a lot less hassle.
The Dust Bug worked well, but was a very heavy tracker... One problem was that the stiff bristles played the grooves, and that created pre-echo which added to coloration.
I've experienced this--at least I did years ago when my hearing was better. Not sure if it was a Dustbug or another brand. I think it was another brand. You could actually hear the brush playing the record grooves. It was a long time ago--these devices were pretty popular and many types were sold.

I have a NOS Pickering with a brush attached to the cartridge, and haven't noticed a problem. You have to set the stylus force higher to compensate for the brush. Shure's invention was the best. Damped and carbon fiber bristles. Very practical and did its job well--took care of dust and resonance.
 

solderdude

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Why answer this thread if you are not into vinyl? Are you just another putz like troll having nothing to offer?

Suppose you are a true vinyl lover (or used to be) and had records that have become unplayable then there are lots of things you can do with those that would look really nice and cool in the listening room. Here are some ideas.
 

DChenery

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Back in the dawn of prehistory, I used the original of this product. Wasn't as flash as what you referenced, and it had the advantage of no effect on the drive of the table (used successfully with a Dual 1218 for my university years). The ritual was to place a small line of D3 fluid (from Discwasher) on a Parostatik Preener and with the platter rotating use the Prenner to evenly spread the D4 fluid on the record and then wipe it up. The idea was to kill static and thus reduce the accumulation of dust on the record. The Dustbug then kept the grooves just befoe the tone arm clean. Successful? Not sure, but I do seem to remember that I went through at least 1 Dustbug per 6 months, and religiously replaced the Preener every quarter.

1601107912600.png
 

killdozzer

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You usually can't have something riding on the surface of an LP without it making enough noise that the cartridge will pick it up enough to totally ruin the experience.
This is completely wrong. If a dust bug creates audible noise, you should inspect your TT.

@3dbinCanada
This is a very solid product and there's a reason why even professionals (radio stations) used to have one. It is preferred over some brushes since it cleans the grooves immediately before the stylus hits it.

Adjusting the tracking force properly will make it move towards inner grooves much like the stylus itself. Since dust settles, even if you use a brush on your record, a particle can land during playtime and make unwanted sound. This means it’ll clean the grooves that are about to play the next second.

This is not a record cleaning device. It just removes dust and other small specs of filth. If your record is greasy or scratched just don’t expect wonders from the bug.
 

restorer-john

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The various dust bugs and cleaning arms have their uses and are certainly not snake oil. In a low humidity or dusty environment they are worth their weight in gold.

Radio Shack sold a version virtually identical to the one pictured above (the black metal one). It was excellent, had carbon fibre brushes and an earthing wire. I can attest to the effectiveness of it back in the day getting rid of static when we were recording new records to cassette.

I have an excellent Nagaoka version still in its box someplace as well as a few Cecil Watts Dust Bugs.

My father used to use various ones to slightly slow belt drive turntables that were running a fraction fast. Quartz PLL DDs don't care about a dust bug or two, but piddling little belt drives will slow significantly.
 

killdozzer

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The various dust bugs and cleaning arms have their uses and are certainly not snake oil.

Radio Shack sold a version virtually identical to the one pictured above (the black metal one). It was excellent, had carbon fibre brushes and an earthing wire. I can attest to the effectiveness of it back in the day getting rid of static when we were recording new records to cassette.

I have an excellent Nagaoka version still in its box someplace as well as a few Cecil Watts Dust Bugs.

My father used to use various ones to slightly slow belt drive turntables that were running a fraction fast. Quartz PLL DDs don't care about a dust bug or two, but piddling little belt drives will slow significantly.
Cecil Watts was one of the better models.
 

restorer-john

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Cecil Watts was one of the better models.

My father had one from the very first turntable I remember seeing. I think he bought it for prior turntables in the late 1960s. He still has the dust bug (and the TT), along with quite a few other cleaning arms he's bought and I've picked up over the years.

It used to sit on the motor cover of his 398A Empire as the platter is too tall for it to rest on the base. I remember the suction cap got all cracked and hard.

1601109600821.png
 

hmscott

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It looks like the "Zerostat Gun" is still being sold, along with the brushes :)

There were two kinds of "brushes", both had advantages and drawbacks - weight and angle of attack, but if you had a steady hand they both worked fine - you could see the dust and fluff picked up - and leaving the record - as long as you used the liquid I didn't need the de-static gun and I could get a clean pass from recording to reel-to-reel then cassette. One recording per album for many years, and always using the cleaner before each recording when the RTR and Cassette's were available, or record playback alone later without recording hardware.

The Dustbug is only available as pre-owned or used / open box:
1601138567344.png
1601138698922.png

It's nice to see you can still buy some vintage cleaners as "new" on Amazon:
There were more elaborate contraptions, but I never saw the need to try to automate the cleaning, it was part of the ritual of recording and listening to music.

Even the old brushes held by the head / arm seemed more of a problem than a solution - dragging dust and fluff ready to drop back into the path - and were a pain to pull dust from while causing audible noise through the pickup when cleaning - sometimes the brush dragging dust generated noise that was picked up as well.

My records never got this dirty, but friends used these to clean used records after "garage-saling":

Spin Clean Vinyl Record Washer: Demo & Review
https://www.amazon.com/Spin-Clean-Record-Washer-MKII-Complete/dp/B002UKSZUU

How to Clean Records with the Record Doctor V Record Cleaning Machine
https://www.amazon.com/Record-Doctor-Cleaning-Machine/dp/B00BEIC3DO

These I haven't seen before:

Record Doctor VI – High-Performance Record Cleaning Machine (Carbon Fiber, 2020)
https://www.amazon.com/Record-Doctor-VI-High-Performance-Cleaning/dp/B07Z6PFD7D

Degritter, Ultrasonic record cleaner
https://www.amazon.com/Degritter-Ultrasonic-Cleaning-Machine-100-240v/dp/B089DR473V - $2990
https://degritter.com/
 
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anmpr1

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You usually can't have something riding on the surface of an LP without it making enough noise that the cartridge will pick it up enough to totally ruin the experience. When Disc Washer came out with their "Disc Tracker" which was a shock absorber of extremely clever design
This is completely wrong. If a dust bug creates audible noise, you should inspect your TT.

Back in the dawn of prehistory, I used the original of this product. Wasn't as flash as what you referenced, and it had the advantage of no effect on the drive of the table (used successfully with a Dual 1218 for my university years).
Depends on what one is talking about. Generally a Dustbug like thing won't cause the cartridge to pick up a secondary signal, however during quiet passages one might hear the brush fibers 'playing' the groove, if they are stiff enough, if you are close enough, and if your hearing is intact.

On the other hand, if the device attaches to the tonearm there could be unwanted interactions. The DiscTracker device attached to the headshell screws as an outrigger. It was supposed to damp resonances. However, because it rode maybe a quarter an inch inward from the stylus, its action was not 'in sync' (or in line) with the groove that the diamond was playing.

The Shure device was almost in line and very close to the diamond, so any damping necessary was coterminous with the groove being played. The Stanton brush was a little farther in front, but still close to being in line with the diamond. Some people claimed the Shure brush caused a sonic degradation, but I never experienced that. Unlike the Shure, Stanton's device was not a precision mechanism. It was hinged but not damped, and only provided dust collection--that said, it did a good job collecting fuzz. I found that I had to use more than the advised 1g increase in force in order to adequately tame the Stanton brush. About 1.5 extra did the trick.

Older Duals (and most changers of that era) used idler reduction drives featuring instant start up and lots of torque. The Dustbug was OK with Duals and Garrards, and other idler drives. I couldn't get one to work with my AR turntable, which used belt drive and floppy suspension.

Even if the record was 'clean', I'd sometimes be surprised at the amount of dust that was on the brush over the course of playing a record.
 

Robin L

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My best luck came from ultrasonic record cleaners---somebody else's. Tower District Records in Fresno would clean a batch for something like $10 for 8 records. If there's a record store [or its ilk] in your town that offers this service, that's your best bet. After that, db audio in Berkeley used to have a Keith Monks record cleaning machine, that was almost as good as ultrasonic cleaning. I owned/used a VPI 16 [earliest model] 'til it fell apart. That took about 20 years. As they were made out of MDF it is only a matter of time before they fall apart. The discwasher is okay at first, only takes a few months before the grease from other discs gets lodged in the brush, finding its way to all your records. Then the bristles would wear out. The dustbug is worse than any of these [I've owned one]. If your serious about LPs, either find a place that offers a cleaning service with an ultrasonic cleaner or get a record cleaning machine. Long term, the Dust Bug will make things worse.

Note---the Shure damper/dust remover worked well.
 

watchnerd

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Confesson:

I don't wash my LPs, nor do wet playing.

The only hygiene I do is a hand held brush and one of the gummy cartridge cleaners.

Then again, I buy very few used records.
 
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