Turntable Skipping Answered

One of my records is scratched, and I thought it was impossible to play through perfectly because of how scratched it is.  I found out today that it IS possible!  I found that by adjusting the tone arm to track more lightly, the record would paly over the scratches instead of following them.  Alas, there is a pop when the needle goes over the scratch, but a pop is better than a skipped section of a song.  My tone arm doesn't have a counterweight on it, so I MacGyvered a way to balance it; I taped a fifty-cent piece to the end of it on the top to make it track lighter.  If your record player is skipping, give this a try before you clean your record in hopes of getting rid of the scratch.  This way is a lot easier.