Solvent. If it's a nickel-plated arm (more durable than the gold plating), Lacquer thinner should harmlessly cut right through that stubborn residut, melt it and leave the metal clean and unharmed, with two or three successive applications. I'd make two recommendations before embarking on this: Remove the arm from the machine (by removing the screws around the flange of the black base of the arm, where it meets the wood); and keep the thinner away from the painted support, keep it from dripping on it too. Oh yes - and do this outside or with plenty of ventilation and let it air dry thoroughly, both inside and out, before reinstalling on the machine. Andy On Jun 24, 2007, at 7:08 PM, Richard Rubin wrote: > Greetings, everyone. I just picked up a nice old Victrola, in > which someone had duct taped the tone arm down at some point to > keep it (I assume) from swinging around. They left the tape on for > many years, and though it has since been removed, there is a wide > band of tape residue on the arm. Naturally, I'm looking to remove > this residue while preserving the arm's original finish. What is > the best and/or easiest way of doing so? Thanks in adance for your > ideas. > > --RR > > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org