diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/jam_track_importer.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/jam_track_importer.rb
index 4e5b45ca0..89e376499 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/jam_track_importer.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/jam_track_importer.rb
@@ -1206,9 +1206,9 @@ module JamRuby
       instrument_weight = nil
       # if there are any persisted tracks, do not sort from scratch; just stick new stuff at the end
 
-      if track.persisted?
-        instrument_weight = track.position
-      else
+      #if track.persisted?
+      #  instrument_weight = track.position
+      #else
         if track.instrument_id == 'voice'
 
           if track.part && track.part.start_with?('Lead')
@@ -1275,7 +1275,7 @@ module JamRuby
         if track.track_type == 'Click'
           instrument_weight = 10000
         end
-      end
+      #end
 
 
       instrument_weight
@@ -1336,19 +1336,10 @@ module JamRuby
         end
       end
 
-      # default to 1, but if there are any persisted tracks, this will get manipulated to be +1 the highest persisted track
       position = 1
       sorted_tracks.each do |track|
-        if track.persisted?
-          # persisted tracks should be sorted at the beginning of the sorted_tracks,
-          # so this just keeps moving the 'position builder' up to +1 of the last persisted track
-          position = track.position + 1
-        else
-          track.position = position
-          position = position + 1
-        end
-
-
+        track.position = position
+        position = position + 1
       end
 
       # get click/master tracks position re-set correctly
@@ -1498,12 +1489,21 @@ module JamRuby
 
       deduplicate_parts(tracks)
 
+      changed = false
       tracks.each do |track|
         if track.changed?
+          changed = true
           puts "CHANGE: #{track.changes.inspect}"
+          track.skip_inst_part_uniq = true
+          track.save!
         end
-        if !track.save!
-          finish('invalid_audio', track.errors.inspect)
+      end
+
+      if changed
+        # if we messed up any instrument/parts by making a dup, this will catch it
+        tracks.each do |track|
+          track.skip_inst_part_uniq = false
+          track.save!
         end
       end
     end
@@ -1549,7 +1549,7 @@ module JamRuby
 
         track.instrument_id = parsed_wav[:instrument] || 'other'
         track.track_type = 'Track'
-        track.part = parsed_wav[:part] || "Other #{unknowns}"
+        track.part = parsed_wav[:part];
         tracks << track
       elsif parsed_wav[:type] == :clicktxt
         file.file_type = 'ClickTxt'
diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/jam_track_track.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/jam_track_track.rb
index 9a2426fe7..77938d0c3 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/jam_track_track.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/models/jam_track_track.rb
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ module JamRuby
     attr_accessible :jam_track_id, :track_type, :instrument, :instrument_id, :position, :part, as: :admin
     attr_accessible :url_44, :url_48, :md5_44, :md5_48, :length_44, :length_48, :preview_start_time_raw, as: :admin
 
-    attr_accessor :original_audio_s3_path, :skip_uploader, :preview_generate_error, :wav_file, :tmp_duration
+    attr_accessor :original_audio_s3_path, :skip_uploader, :preview_generate_error, :wav_file, :tmp_duration, :skip_inst_part_uniq
 
     before_destroy :delete_s3_files
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ module JamRuby
     validates :part,            length: {maximum: 35}
     validates :track_type,      inclusion: {in: TRACK_TYPE }
     validates :preview_start_time,  numericality: {only_integer: true}, length: {in: 1..1000},  :allow_nil => true
-    validates_uniqueness_of     :part, scope: [:jam_track_id, :instrument_id]
+    validates_uniqueness_of     :part, scope: [:jam_track_id, :instrument_id], unless: :skip_inst_part_uniq
     # validates :jam_track,       presence: true
 
     belongs_to :instrument, class_name: "JamRuby::Instrument"