All you have to know is mathematically how many times to scratch it and when to let it go - when certain things will enhance the record you're listening to.
Fashion choices are never arbitrary. Even if you say you don't care, that's a decision. There's something you're trying to say.
The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair.

