Analogue Studio Simple Record Clamp

As my old belt-driven deck was probably not man enough to cope with 350g weight options, and has a dust-cover I usually have down when playing vinyl, a lightweight spindle clamp was the next best thing.Many are too tall to be used under a dust cover, but this Analogue Studio Simple Record Clamp is very low profile, and purely grips the spindle.My Ariston Q Deck has a shorter spindle than some you see nowadays, as far as protruding above the manufacturer's mat. Whilst the clamp works well with thinner vinyl, it's those pesky slightly dished brand new 180g pressings that I wanted it to help with (at least on one side) by holding the label against the mat in the centre. I had a new Dead Or Alive "Fan The Flame" plus David Bowie "Heathen" in mind, and initially the clamp simply would not hold as is needed more spindle to grip. It just popped off after a few seconds!I had to press down quite hard to get it to work, but there was no apparent marking to the label as a result, and the dishing on the concave side was totally removed. It held for the play of a side, which is all I need it for. On the convex side, where the edges are not always in contact with the platter mat due to warping, it won't lessen the visual effect, but at least it will help stabilize the centre of the record to remove potential wobble etc.Will only use this on dished pressings as it does currently grip very strongly so pushing it onto the spindle will mean I am pressing down on the oil reservoir under the spindle base (not that there's much oil there after this length of time I've owned this deck anyway!). I can see why another reviewer has mentioned this though. You could try and hold the edge of the platter as you push it on, I guess, but as I will only use occasionally that isn't a problem.Of course the spindle must be an integral part of the platter for any clamp to work (vast majority are) but not too short. Overall the benefits outweigh any cons, and it's slim, clear plastic design means it doesn't dominate the turntable or completely obliterate the label when playing!

I bought this to replace a Souther Clever Clamp (distributed in Europe by Clearaudio), which has worn out and lost its grip. This device exerts more downward pressure than my old clamp ever did, at first I thought it an improvement, but I noticed a drip of oil hanging off the bottom of my turntable's bearing housing. This clamp grips the spindle too tight, pulling it out of the bearing a little and displacing some oil.