Karaoke Forums

Hi. I've been a member for a while now and find lots of useful info here from you guys, usually by doing a forum search. Surprisingly I wasn't able to find anything on repairing damaged CDGs.

I recently acquired a collection of disks from a former KJ, and at a great price too! One of them is scratched, a really good one, Sound Choice disk #8148. It has Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Gin Blossoms and others. Big Empty has one whole verse where it's damaged. Are there companies that repair damaged CDGs out there? Reputable ones, anyway. I tried polishing it with Brasso, which usually does the trick. But not this time . Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.
~Tina

I have seen companies that advertise they will polish discs.  Would I send one?   I don't know.

You can buy a "Disc Dr." to polish your discs, they work real good.     It's like a mini wet grinder.   Get the electric one.  $30.    You don't want to hand crank them.

doowop.com does a great job, however if the damage is on the label side, there is nothing that can be done to repair it.

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I have been told that silver fingernail polish on the label side will work to repair scratches in the label side.

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I'm Not Dead yet...... But every day Im getting Closer !

It will HELP... but once the damage is done on the foil side, data is lost. You might have an audible blip, and definately a graphic's hiccup... the polish or the silver Sharpie pen will fill in the hole so the laser doesn't "jump" when it reads that area.

Yet another reason I went to computer... was to avoid those as much as possible. You could even fix the graphic bits on "editcdg" a freeware program.

But since the two major labels are targetting computer folks, guess that's only good for you home users!

Hi, they havn't used foil on the label side for a long time now. It is sandwiched within the plastic.
I have repaired countless scratched cd's using T-cut and a buffing mop on my drill.
I used a cd cleaning tray to keep the cd's in place.
Has never failed yet. Hope it helps...

Thaught I should mention. It does make a mess.
I do it in a cardboard box.
As you can see, no expense is spared.

Help...
What is a "t-cut" and a buffing "mop" (for a drill)?

I use a Memorex motorized polisher from circuit city. has two spinning polishers, and another motor that turns the cd/dvd. I use Semichrome polish on them, then clean with alcohol when finsihed. this will fix 99% of badly scratched disk cheeply. the Machine costs about $50.00

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I'm Not Dead yet...... But every day Im getting Closer !

Thought I would offer my 2 cents...not sure if this is the type of repair you're looking at achieving.....but....if you're at the point where simple cleaning is not the solution, try fixing the disk. If this doesn't help you, maybe it will help someone else doing a search for similar issues.

I often use a program called cdgfix.com....priced at about $30, which allows you to get inside the cga file and graphics and work a little magic. I've not not used it for the purposes of fixing a video, but I have seen their tutorials explaining the meglo stuff this program can or claims to do.

I believe they have a trial....

I've made back up copies of my scdg's and cdgs which is a pretty simple but of course requires a bit of a purchase of dual layer dvd burner and extra capacity disks.

Good luck!  

I've tried the Disc Dr. (both motorized and hand cranked) with limited success.  Someone, I think it was lonman, offered a solution for cleaning discs awhile back.  i think it involved brasso.  Anyone remember that post?  I have a couple of discs that could use "refurbishing" as well.

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All work and no play make Homer something something

also, the cdgfix program is only for use of once the file is put on another format. Even if you put it on CDR, that's still technically illegal.

I have used cdgfix and it works great, btw.

Well that's not entirely accurate.  The label side is much more delicate & still contains the information of the disc - which is usually why they are more protected via the label ink & sometimes other types of protection, but there is not a separate piece of plastic that sandwiches in the information.  If the label side gets scratched, that information is damaged & can not be repaired.

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Yes i've fixed many discs using Brasso.  I have since moved into a very nice cd repair machine that brings the disc playing surface back to new condition.  Now it did cost a bit, but worth it to me.

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Hi ericlater,
In the UK, Tcut is the industry standard cutting paste used on cars.
It simply takes off the paint surface which would bring up an old cars paintwork like new.
The more you polish with it, the more it takes off. It is not gritty like grinding paste.
You will have similar stuff.
A buffing mop is like a circular lambswool polishing glove that fits on a rubber disk that fits in an electric drill.
You will know exactly what I mean. We just seem to use differant names.

I was also corrected about fragile labels. Seems differant acrylic thicknesses are used.
A CD is a fairly simple piece of plastic, about four one-hundredths (4/100) of an inch (1.2 mm) thick. Most of a CD consists of an injection-molded piece of clear polycarbonate plastic. During manufacturing, this plastic is impressed with microscopic bumps arranged as a single, continuous, extremely long spiral track of data. Once the clear piece of polycarbonate is formed, a thin, reflective aluminum layer is sputtered onto the disc, covering the bumps. Then a thin acrylic layer is sprayed over the aluminum to protect it. The label is then printed onto the acrylic.

As Lonam stated, if the damage is on the label side, nothing can be done to fix it.  

But, to help prevent damage to the label side, they do sell clear sticky plastic label covers that you can put on your disc's label side.  It adds a tick layer of protection to the label side.

care to plug that product?

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All work and no play make Homer something something

http://www.jfjeasypro.com

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thanks!  i don't see $250 being a bad investment when you consider you've paid for it by repairing 15 discs or so.  plus i'm sure it would repair dvds and games as well.  thanks for the link!

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All work and no play make Homer something something

Save the $250, invest in a PC, and NEVER have to worry about discs again.
 LOL  LOL