I found another one.

I was playing my Ricki Lee Jones album “Pitates” (which I had never listened to before but I like by the way) when I noticed that there was a name in the dead wax.

Andrea Duria.

The more I look at this the more I think that this is not someone inscribing their name on their record, but the engineer’s name. It would take an incredible steady hand to do this that neatly.

Wouldn’t it just be esier to do it like J. Kulpin did on the back cover of my “Triumph – Progression Of Power” album?

or like D. Diaz did on the label of my “Doobie Brothers – Best of the Doobies”?

I guess the only way to really answer that question is to try it myself.

I bought a couple 3 Dog Night records from St. Vincent DePaul a while back that turned out to be basically unplayable and I thought I would use those as my testers. Ironicly, the cover of the “3 Dog Night – Golden Bisquits” album that I was going to use had a name on the cover. Thank you Pat Murray.

As a firm believer in “the right tool for the right job” I assembled a collection of possible inscribing instuments that I might be able to handle. Small, but sharp types.

First, the nail. I tried an “M”.

It worked, but the nail was too small to work with for anything lengthy. I did discover that the vinyl was softer than I imagined. It didn’t take too much pressure.

Next came the tweaker Phillips screwdriver. I finished my name. “IKE”

I figured one of the Exacto knifes would be perfect. Actually, it was not good for curves and horizontal lines. I got part of my website written with it.

It looked a little crazed and chaotic.

I decided that the easiest tool to use was the screwdriver. I tried it again and it worked better for the curves and horizontals. I got the whole site name inscribed with not too much trouble.

I could do it more neatly, but this was just a tester. If I were doing it for real I would take my time and follow the groove line more carefully.

If you saw this inscribed on your used vinyl record you just bought, would you check out the site? I think I would. I would be too curious not too. That’s just me though.

So, it can be done and isn’t too hard. You just need a good light, a comfortable sharp point and a steady hand.

Possible Inscriptions:

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