I put on a BB King “Prison” album. It sounds ok but I glanced over at my TT and the tonearm was swinging back and forth wildly; maybe 2 or 3 mm left to right. I stopped it as it surely was giving the cart suspension an unacceptable workout. Crazy!
I have seen something similar years ago. Unfortunately I do not recall which album.
I imagine it happens during cutting/pressing and subsequent lack of quality control.
I think you need an exorcist, that TT is possessed!
Never seen lateral motion to that degree, maybe the spindle hole is off center. I assume you refer to this B.B. King, Live at Cook County Jail. Great album BTW.
Sounds like an off-center pressing, one of my huge pet peeves. It effectively creates monstrous amounts of pitch wow that makes me physically ill. The effect gets worse the closer to the end of the side you get.
I don’t think the hole is off center as the record fits and spins evenly. Obviously the pressing but just new to me.
Stamper offset, 2mm would be a pretty large offset. IIRC you are using a VPI, does it have a unipivot tone arm. I’d double check it to ensure it is properly seated on the bearing/point. Any recent Robert sightings just prior?
Robert has been here but he hasn’t been near the TT or new speakers.
The unipivot is fine.
The grooves can be off-center from the hole punch even if the outer edge shows no run-out, if I understand you correctly. Otherwise I can’t see any other way the tonearm is swinging in and out, at least not without it actually skipping.
Sounds like a bad pressing / off-centre! 3mm / 1/8" ? ‘That’s a lot’! Is there Wow and flutter, the pitch all to hell. I’ve had a few bad pressings with just a ‘slight’ rocking action.
The worst I ever saw was the original pressing of the first “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” I got back in college. The final side was so off-center that the last cut, a single acoustic guitar playing “Both Sides Now,” was unlistenable. It was nauseating. Literally. To make matters worse, it sensitized me to the problem on every LP I listen to now.
@Craig_Burgess Me too! Now I have it on CD and I get ready to cringe right when the piece starts to play.
Good thing you caught it before damage was done. Have never encountered that with one exception: a test record low frequency sweep intended to find the tonearm resonance. Where it is intentional and expected. Still makes me uncomfortable seeing one of my multi-thousand buck carts oscillate that way.
There is a tool sold (I suppose a round file works just as well) that reams out a hole so you can center it yourself manually. I think in all my 2500 LPS there is only 1 off center enough to be concerning. Either that or can look for a vintage micro seiki that centered the record, regardless of hole.
Once upon a time Nakamichi made a turntable that would automagically make an adjustment for off center center holes. I am not sure any other manufacturer ever tried this.
Clearly the most popular guess/advice here is that the hole is off center. In that case, it’s very easy to see when the record is on the platter. In this case, that isn’t the issue.
So what do you think is causing it? Seems it is not visible to the naked eye.
I gave the record to a local shop that sells used records. He agrees that it was the pressing.
Hopefully you score a clean playable copy as it is a core album to any blues library.