CÄBS: The Four-Step Vinyl Ritual You Didn’t Know You Needed

So, what’s CÄBS all about? It’s four simple steps that will help to elevate your vinyl listening experience. Whether you’re dusting off some records you bought at a yard sale or opening a brand new record, you’ll be all set if you can remember CÄBS.  

Let’s run through it. We’ll start with the obvious…

“C” is for Clean.

Every record you buy should be cleaned. New or used, it doesn’t matter. You might be thinking, “Clean a brand new record? Are you nuts?” Well, feast your eyes on this:

It’s my favorite image to show when I talk about brand-new records that inexplicably have some Cheeto dust on them. The worker in the image might have fingers devoid of particles from an afternoon snack, but I’ve had new records show up with fingerprints on them – now I know why.

There are plenty of ways to clean your records, from budget-friendly DIY solutions to fancy vacuum systems. Start with what you can afford – even a homemade cleaner and a microfiber cloth will do wonders.

Next is “A”.

“Ä” is for Anti-Static.

I’ve included the umlaut to remind you that there are two steps here.

1. Store your cleaned record in an anti-static inner sleeve. Polyethylene or rice paper sleeves are great for this. They won’t eliminate static completely, but they’ll help to mitigate it.

2. Before you drop the stylus, give your record a quick zap with a Zerostat gun. It’s not essential, but it’s a game-changer if you’re serious about static reduction.

I bet you’ve guessed what “B” is all about?

“B” is for Brush

Your record is clean, and you may or may not have used a Zerostat to help reduce static. With your record on the turntable, give it a gentle sweep with an anti-static brush while it spins. I use an anti-static brush from Audioquest, but any quality anti-static brush will do. They won’t remove static, but they are designed to minimize the amount of static generated by sweeping it across the groove.

And finally, we come to “S”.

“S” is for Stylus

Everything so far has been about keeping things clean and eliminating static (which attracts dust). It’s nearly impossible to completely eradicate dust from accumulating. Your stylus will inevitably pick some of it up.  

If you’re feeling diligent, clean your stylus daily or even after each listening session. There are various methods, from magic erasers to specialized brushes. Find what works for you and stick to it.

And there you have it – CÄBS in all its glory. It might seem like a lot at first, but trust me, it’ll become second nature before you know it.

Happy Spinning!