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VPI/Zenn/Nitty Gritty

meatyogremeatyogre 2,080 Posts
edited March 2006 in Strut Central
Anyone of you guys got the Zenn record cleaner? Looks pretty darned sweet.. and less moving parts. I'm thinking of investing in a record cleaner soon. Is there a huge difference between the 16.5 VPI to the more expensive one? That Zenn cleaner is cheap, but you gotta do the cleaning manually, which kinda defeats the purpose, no?

  Comments

  • coffinjoecoffinjoe 1,743 Posts
    what about ultrasonics ?
    anyone else rockin with these ?
    i heart my branson 3510
  • mojoworkinmojoworkin 283 Posts
    I have the Nitty Gritty 1.0, and it suits me fine. I got it from www.kabusa.com - they're out of New Jersey. They also have a budget cleaner that they designed and sell exclusively, which requires using your own vacuum:



    As for turning/brushing the fluid onto the record manually, I don't mind it at all. When you're cleaning 40 and 50 year old records, it feels good to be putting some elbow grease into the scrubbing.
  • meatyogremeatyogre 2,080 Posts
    how long does it take to clean a record with that cheapy Nitty Gritty? The thing I've heard about the VPI and Nitty Gritty and those types is that the brushes get dirty real quick, so you have to clean or replace them alot. Do you VPI owners find that to be true?
  • meatyogremeatyogre 2,080 Posts
    also, how does the Nitty Gritty clean 45s? I've found it hard to clean 45s on the VPI
  • progbeatzprogbeatz 451 Posts


    How'bout a Keith Monk machine.Only cost you about 5 grand.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    how long does it take to clean a record with that cheapy Nitty Gritty? The thing I've heard about the VPI and Nitty Gritty and those types is that the brushes get dirty real quick, so you have to clean or replace them alot. Do you VPI owners find that to be true?

    Yes, if you are cleaning, say, 20 records or better a day then you will need to constantly clean the brush and vacuum tube. The brush can be annoying to clean (you have to unscrew it, I spray compressed air up and down and all sorts of gunk comes out) but once done it keeps working... the tube gets dirty real easy and it wears down so that it becomes harder and harder to clean.

    I love my VPI but I've been holding off on replacing those two things, they're expensive and it's annoying
  • mojoworkinmojoworkin 283 Posts
    how long does it take to clean a record with that cheapy Nitty Gritty? The thing I've heard about the VPI and Nitty Gritty and those types is that the brushes get dirty real quick, so you have to clean or replace them alot. Do you VPI owners find that to be true?

    I would estimate it takes about one and a half minutes.

    I bought 2 1/2 gallons of fluid when I ordered, some vacuum-slot replacement things, and two extra brushes - I'll be fine for a while!

    Also, you can always run the brushes over the vacuum slot when they are dry. That prolongs the life of the brushes.
  • sabadabadasabadabada 5,966 Posts
    I[/b]



    MY NITTY GRITTY![/b]
  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    how long does it take to clean a record with that cheapy Nitty Gritty? The thing I've heard about the VPI and Nitty Gritty and those types is that the brushes get dirty real quick, so you have to clean or replace them alot. Do you VPI owners find that to be true?

    Yes, if you are cleaning, say, 20 records or better a day then you will need to constantly clean the brush and vacuum tube. The brush can be annoying to clean (you have to unscrew it, I spray compressed air up and down and all sorts of gunk comes out) but once done it keeps working...[/b] the tube gets dirty real easy and it wears down so that it becomes harder and harder to clean.

    Are you using the VPI 17, i.e. the more expensive one? I don't know how one would unscrew the brush on the 16.5.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    how long does it take to clean a record with that cheapy Nitty Gritty? The thing I've heard about the VPI and Nitty Gritty and those types is that the brushes get dirty real quick, so you have to clean or replace them alot. Do you VPI owners find that to be true?

    Yes, if you are cleaning, say, 20 records or better a day then you will need to constantly clean the brush and vacuum tube. The brush can be annoying to clean (you have to unscrew it, I spray compressed air up and down and all sorts of gunk comes out) but once done it keeps working...[/b] the tube gets dirty real easy and it wears down so that it becomes harder and harder to clean.

    Are you using the VPI 17, i.e. the more expensive one? I don't know how one would unscrew the brush on the 16.5.

    Yes, I am - you have to loosen the left-most screw along the side of the brush. It uses some weird six-sided screw that is a pain to work with.
  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts

    Are you using the VPI 17, i.e. the more expensive one? I don't know how one would unscrew the brush on the 16.5.

    Yes, I am - you have to loosen the left-most screw along the side of the brush. It uses some weird six-sided screw that is a pain to work with.

    Good to know that's what the other five hundo is for.
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