•> Does anyone know how to make 45 rpm records sound less scratchy? Not a simple solution. 20 years ago, a hi-fi company called SAE made a signal processor that was designed to take "pops and clicks" out of the signal from a record. It was not perfect but made a noticeable improvement. Minor pops an...

•At the risk of heresy, there are programs that run on a PC or Macintosh to reduce or remove noise. You would record the record onto your computer, apply the noise reduction software, then record (burn) a CD. I don't have any personal experience with these programs and they can be pricey. I'm intere...

•Try http://www.lastfactory.com/. "The LAST Factory" [cleaners & preservatives] product has been around for many years, and many audiophiles swear by it. We have used it on several older LPs, and it does seem to take away some of the noise. Major scratches it can't repair, of course. The company als...

•In the 6/4/01 MMD, Jeffrey Borinsky suggests using Brasso or similar metal polish to clean the disk. In my opinion, this is an absolutely SURE way to ruin the disk forever. As far as I know, it is not possible to "polish" a damaged disk and remove the noise. I strongly advise against this procedure...

•Removing in real time: 1. SAE made a "click, pop, scratch eliminator" 20 years ago. It still works today. You can find them used on eBay. It operated by eliminating transients above a certain slew rate and patching the interrupted waveforms together. It was not good at eliminating "hiss". 2. Phase ...

•Following an earlier suggestion (see MMD archives, using DcArt as a keyword) I purchased a copy of DcArt32. I have been using it to clean up my old vinyl LPs preparatory to transcribing them to CD. With a decent PC, I can rip through a 15 minute side of an LP in less than 30 seconds. The trick seem...

•Jeffrey Borinsky invited me to comment and normally I am a few days late reading the list in which time any thread has run its course. But not this time. I don't disagree with the earlier comments and would suggest that Joyce contact a specialist stylus provider for advice on which stylus size to t...

•Hi all, The discussions of whether it is moral, ethical or responsible to gut a Mason and Hamlin grand are interesting, perhaps even inciting. In practise, however, regardless of what my opinion is or that of anyone else, even historically responsible people will continue to modify their possession...

•Removing the bent screw from a piano leg might be a difficult job, requiring grinding the head off or drilling a small hole in the slot and progressively drilling larger and larger holes until the head falls off. It is very difficult to center a drill bit in the head of a screw with a slot in it. T...

•Mr. Shahar, The legs on pianos with the Ampico which I have encountered have been secured with machine bolts with a square head with a slot. These bolts, as well as slot-head wood screws, can become very tight. For this reason my driver of choice is a 3/8" ratchet with a slot bit on an extension. T...

•Hi All, In the auto industry, bent and broken bolts and screws are commonplace, so a tool was invented to address the problem. It's called an "Easy-Out". Every auto parts store I've ever visited has a variety of 'Easy-Outs' to cover virtually any size screw or bolt. Musically, John A. Tuttle ...

•Eliyahu, I would suggest you drill a small diameter hole in the screw head and then insert an "Easy-Out" to back the screw out. If you're not familiar with them, they look sort of like a tapered drill bit with the threads reversed. As you "un-screw" the Easy-Out it grabs the old screw tighter and t...

•If the screw is in tight or if you can wedge it, try a tool called an "Easy Out". You drill a small hole in the center of the screw and insert this tool, which has a left hand thread, into the hole. The tool cuts a rough thread into the screw as you tighten it in, by turning it counter-clockwise, a...

•I contacted Eliyahu Shahar to offer suggestions about his screw problem and discovered that the pesky screw has relented. I sent him a couple of ideas that have worked for me in similar circumstances, so I thought I'd repeat them here, in case someone else with a similar problem can use them in the...

•My experience with heavy bent screws is that you cannot use an easy-out on them. As Spencer Chase mentioned, drilling a slotted screw right in the center is impossible, anyway. Unless the screw head is broken off, forget easy-outs. If, as was suggested, the screw is a large 3/8" or 1/2" machine bol...

•Thanks to all for the emails and contributions. This group has the best and most helpful people! My problem was much smaller than I thought and the solution was actually the simplest. I went to an auto parts store asking for an "Easy-Out". Unfortunately, they speak only Hebrew and didn't know the p...

•I 'm following the discussion about the screws; it's nice to see everybody's ideas. But did you ever think of electricity? I do. Almost every screw -- big ones, very small ones -- no problem, I get them out of the wood or metal. There are special electric tools (DC 1.5 volt 80 Amp.) for the shoe re...

•Eliyahu Shahar mentioned that he plans to dowel the hole he extracted the bent screw from. I would just suggest that there are other ways to do it that are far better, since heavy screws do not hold well into end grain -- which is what dowels are. Such a repair will self-destruct quickly. Don't do ...

•Hi All, Drilling a hole in the top of a slotted screw is actually quite easy if you know the trick. The trick is to use an appropriately sized center punch before attempting to drill the hole. That way the drill bit won't wander all over the top of the screw. Another hidden benefit of using the pun...

•Two more cents worth on the difficulty of drilling a hole in a damaged screw for application of an easy-out. The solution: Just as you would with drilling any metal object, first use a center punch, if feasible. I realize this will not work with a floating screw that would be knocked through a piec...