I noticed a slight hum after the record ended. Turns out that the turntable ground wire was broken. Probably due to a rodent as I live in an old house and it is hard to keep them out especially when the weather turns cold. Also found a chewed up record sleave (I wondered where that went) and droppings when I was back there.
At first I thought it might be a cartridge problem. I have two old ones (Grado G+ and Stanton 681EEE). The Stanton I bought over 40 years ago and only stated using it the last few years, Great cartridge. Back in the day when FM stations spun vinyl it was the gold standard. The Grado was my work horse and I replaced the stylus twice thanks to Ebay. But the hum persisted with either cartridge. Sometimes it would get better after several times taking the cartridge out and replacing only to come back. In retrospect I was probably getting rid of some static charge on the turntable hence the need for proper grounding.
Because the turntable is over 40 years old (Sony PS-X50) I thought that maybe there was corrosion on the tonearm contacts. I was out of Deoxit and had to go to the local Guitar Center to get some. I hate that place. Guitar Center killed local music shops and the staff is kids that don't have a generation or two of experience. We had a great music store in Gainesville that loaned equipment to young talent. Tom Petty hung out there.
Damn, I have turned this into a Geek Status post as well as an old man ranting post.