[78-L] Capitol schmutz

[Malcolm Rockwell]

I've been going through my Blues 78s for the first time in years and 
getting myself reacquainted with them. I had forgotten just what was 
there and many were uncataloged so there are quite a number of pleasant 
surprises!

Anyhow, one odd surprise was finding a copy of Leadbelly on red label 
Capitol 40130 (Irene b/w Backwater Blues). from the early 50s. Both 
sides were covered in this partially hardened white glop that resembles 
the castor oil exudate one finds on lacquers. I've never seen this occur 
on a shellac and the records surrounding it are all fine. Could it be 
that Capitol was playing with their formulation? The disc "rings" like a 
regular shellac but sounds somewhat duller, as if it's not a normal 
shellac mix. Could it have been plasticized enough for it to "mold"?

Anyone else find a Capitol doing this?

On a related note, Kodak Lens Cleaner seems to work (whereas my regular 
cleaning solution does not work well at all), but not as well as it does 
on lacquers.

Would somebody please refresh me on the correct water to lens cleaner 
ratio I should be using for lacquers?

Thanks,
Malcolm