Good time for vinyl lovers? [Archive] - The Art of Sound Forum

kininigin

20-06-2011, 10:32

I was chatting to my postman when some records i had bought turned up and he mentioned there was a chap around the corner from me who was clearing out his loft and getting rid of his vinyl.

So went there today to see what i could salvage and was met with a very nice guy in his 60's who has been collecting since he was 15.For him 'it was over' he is going to transfer it all to cd,as for him 'it's about the music and not what medium you listen to'.

So in about a couple of weeks i should have some new(to me) genre's to get into and am quite excited.

So is this the trend with people who have been collecting a long time? I see on ebay quite large collections go for peanuts,I saw 600 records go for £60 the other day.

Macca

20-06-2011, 12:11

I guress it may be getting to the point where people who have been collecting vinyl since the mid-sixties when it all took off are now -ahem- shuffling off this mortal coil and their collections just arn't of interest to relatives ('old records their not worth anything to anyone no more') so it goes on the 'bay at a knock-down price or to charity for nothing.

Audioman

20-06-2011, 12:22

These 'collections' are usualy a mixed bag of unknown quality. Common titles of no interest to dealers or dealers excess stock were they buy a collection just to pick out a few valuable records. Then there is the time and hassle sorting through them. Usualy have many titles I already have in much better condition anyway.

In contrast to these apparant bargains which I suspect are anything but, prices for desirable vinyl continues to rise. Also getting more of a lottery as to actual condition of the item on sale. If you want genuine EX+/NM vinyl as I do used on ebay is getting a hard task. Frankly I am buying more new vinyl these days in spite of the expense.

Macca

20-06-2011, 12:28

There's no way I'm paying £25 for a new release on vinyl even if there were any new releases worth buying these days. I don't mind trawling through several hundred unsorted albums to pick out stuff I do want if I'm only going to be charged a quid apiece.

I've only ever bought 2 records used off e-bay. One was playable the other was knackered - both were described as 'mint'. I like to get the record out of the sleeve and check it for damage before I hand over my quid - you can't do that on t'internet.

colinB

20-06-2011, 12:47

Its pretty rare i get a vinyl bargain. I went through a period of buying stuff from my youth, Banshees, cocteau twins, killing joke for a £1 each. Most of them kept in a squat and played on something we wouldnt call a stylus. Waste of time.
I prefer to go to notting hill record exchange or JBs of tottenham crt rd.
No bargains but you can check it and sometimes the staff can help with info, you know if its a first press etc.
I dont mind paying £20 if the record has been mastered by Hoffman or Arkwright, someone who knows how to eq vinyl. Thats reissues though, new stuff i only buy if its a label im familiar with and know they put effort into the lp release people like Matador for example.

Wakefield Turntables

20-06-2011, 14:30

I remember walking into work one Saturday morning only to be tapped on the shoulder by an old patient who was clearing out vinyl. He ushered me over to his Volvo estate where I was promptly given 6 bags of vinyl and told to give them a good home ;) I recieved 81 albums, I chucked 3, sold 10 and kept the others (you do the maths:lol:). I now have a fairly good mono collection of john lee hooker, beatles, stones, and a few others. The mono version of Rubber Soul by the Bealtes sounds very "wide" on my system and is probably one of the best mono's i've heard. All I can say is let the clear out continue.... :eek:

kininigin

20-06-2011, 17:16

The thing that struck me the most about this guy,was that he was clearly a music lover who has built up a nice collection and by the sounds of it has some collectable 45's,which he is willing to just give away,i ended up trying to convince him to keep them but he was having none of it saying 'you cannot play memorys'.

Im not sure if in 30-40 years time i could just give my all my records away without batting an eyelid.
I have said to him if he gets sentimentle,then they will allways be here if he wants them back.

I think taking a punt on some large collections can be worth while if you get a good price.I'd find it quite rewarding searching through a somewhat unknown quantity maybe finding something special or a band you would never normally listen too.

MartinT

20-06-2011, 17:27

I have done well just from colleagues at work ditching their collections. You have to sift through the crap (so many repeats of dodgy albums) but there are always gems. They mostly clean up well on the RCM.

I've also won a couple of collections on eBay, the signal to noise ratio being about 30%, which is fine considering what I paid.

Thing Fish

20-06-2011, 18:08

I was in a local charity shop the other day sifting through their records and it struck me that all the records were either by Des O'Connor or Val Doonican!

Haselsh1

20-06-2011, 18:22

Twenty two quid for the new Paul Simon album on vinyl or eight ninety eight on CD...? You choose.

Thing Fish

20-06-2011, 18:27

Twenty two quid for the new Paul Simon album on vinyl or eight ninety eight on CD...? You choose.

Neither! Nice bottle or red please...;)

Alex_UK

20-06-2011, 18:46

I was in a local charity shop the other day sifting through their records and it struck me that all the records were either by Des O'Connor or Val Doonican!

:lol:

And I've never been in a charity shop that doesn't have at least one copy of The Sound of Music!

Audioman

20-06-2011, 21:55

Twenty two quid for the new Paul Simon album on vinyl or eight ninety eight on CD...? You choose.

I've ordered the vinyl. :)

Barry

20-06-2011, 22:52

:lol:

And I've never been in a charity shop that doesn't have at least one copy of The Sound of Music!

Alex! -don't you already have a copy of that essential album? ;)

Regards

WOStantonCS100

20-06-2011, 23:06

So is this the trend with people who have been collecting a long time?

I've been collecting vinyl since I was 2 years old. That makes... ahem... 38 years. No plans to ever ditch the collection. My dad is in his late 60's. He's got no plans to part with his collection. On the other hand, I have plans to get it from him. :eyebrows: :lol: I have started ditching my CD's though; about 300 left to go.

Vinyl is a commitment of space, for sure. Sometimes, when people are reordering and scaling back their life in other areas it carries over to collections of anything they have. I've stopped trying to guess the hidden motives. From what I can see, for every person that ditches a vinyl collection, there are ten more waiting in the wings to increase theirs with the spoils. I went record shopping this weekend and it was literally annoying how crowded the shops were; literally teeming with people of all ages buying everything from high priced new stuff to bargain basement bin items.

chelsea

20-06-2011, 23:17

I have decided to sell all my cds (ripped) and just use vinyl or squeezebox.

There are a lot of peaple out there hunting it but now and again a good batch will turn up at a charity shop or car boot.

Charity shops are getting harder as the people who price it probably get first dibs.

Clive

21-06-2011, 13:56

I have decided to sell all my cds (ripped) and just use vinyl or squeezebox.
I hope you have backups....and a lawyer.

kininigin

21-06-2011, 14:23

Vinyl is a commitment of space, for sure. Sometimes, when people are reordering and scaling back their life in other areas it carries over to collections of anything they have. I've stopped trying to guess the hidden motives. From what I can see, for every person that ditches a vinyl collection, there are ten more waiting in the wings to increase theirs with the spoils. I went record shopping this weekend and it was literally annoying how crowded the shops were; literally teeming with people of all ages buying everything from high priced new stuff to bargain basement bin items.

Actually this is exactly what he was doing,wasn't just his vinyl,it was everything in his storage cabin that was just sitting there taking money doing nothing.

Thinking about it if i reach 60yrs old and have records just sitting there doing nothing i would like to think i could give them away to someone who would value them without me getting any financial gain from it.

Spread the love i say :grouphug:

nat8808

21-06-2011, 22:53

I went record shopping this weekend and it was literally annoying how crowded the shops were; literally teeming with people of all ages buying everything from high priced new stuff to bargain basement bin items.

Weekend... people desperately trying to cram everything in to the 2 days off. I hate it, whatever it is I'm doing, being record shopping or whatever.

One of the main reasons I've carved a freelance excistance for myself, albeit less reliable and less well paid. My life spent queuing at lunch or the rush hours or spent trying to do things at weekends was too precious.

Back to record buying etc..

Buying records in London is a pain - too many people looking for that bargain or rip-off prices in the shops.

I went to Japan earlier this year and carried back 20kg of vinyl in hand luggage! Only one security officer at Frankfurt who was also into vinyl took any notice of it (I was trying very hard to make it look as light as a feather!)

Most stuff in Japan has been kept in pristine condition and no rip-off prices just because it is on vinyl - only the actually rare items were expensive.

I'm quietly waiting for all the audiophiles to go off their vinyl, buying mega buck CD, upsampling and streaming sollutions.

chelsea

21-06-2011, 22:54

I hope you have backups....and a lawyer.

Have back up but why would i need a lawyer.:scratch:

WOStantonCS100

22-06-2011, 04:36

Thinking about it if i reach 60yrs old and have records just sitting there doing nothing i would like to think i could give them away to someone who would value them without me getting any financial gain from it.

Spread the love i say :grouphug:

You're a good man. :) Hopefully, all my CD's will be gone long before I'm 60.

Weekend... people desperately trying to cram everything in to the 2 days off. I hate it, whatever it is I'm doing, being record shopping or whatever.

One of the main reasons I've carved a freelance excistance for myself, albeit less reliable and less well paid. My life spent queuing at lunch or the rush hours or spent trying to do things at weekends was too precious.

Usually, I stick to rainy days when folks stay in or business hours when most folks are at the office. Apparently, I had a severe lapse of judgement. It's the first time in my life I've ever stood in a record store and wished I had stayed home. :(

Have back up but why would i need a lawyer.:scratch:

I think he's referring to the technicalities of owning a copy without also owning an original.

chelsea

22-06-2011, 16:20

You're a good man. :) Hopefully, all my CD's will be gone long before I'm 60.

Usually, I stick to rainy days when folks stay in or business hours when most folks are at the office. Apparently, I had a severe lapse of judgement. It's the first time in my life I've ever stood in a record store and wished I had stayed home. :(

I think he's referring to the technicalities of owning a copy without also owning an original.

Ok ta.

Personally i feel once i've bought it i'll do whatever i want with it.;)

How is this meant to work with downloads.:scratch:

If the police do come round i'll plead guilty straight away so will only do half the sentance.:)

Jac Hawk

23-06-2011, 09:30

Well as a lot of you guys know my 1st vinyl collection was dumped in a skip by my ex, around 800 to 900 albums no 45's, and all in mint condition, back in the day vinyl quality was steadily getting worse, as the all conquering CD was getting popular, i must admit in the early days of CD I liked the convenience of it all, and no problems with surface noise, but like you all know CD doesn't have any soul, it's clinical and sterile sound doesn't convey the same feeling as vinyl does.

So after years away i'm back to the black stuff, the 1st thing that struck me was the price of new vinyl :eek: it's definitely aimed at the enthusiast £20+ is a lot of money, when the equivalent CD is less than £9, at the moment though i'm concentrating on getting back the best of my previous collection, either through ebay or online stores, and i must say i'm loving every minute of it :)

MartinT

23-06-2011, 11:15

Well as a lot of you guys know my 1st vinyl collection was dumped in a skip by my ex

:eek: was there no retrieving it? Boy, she must have been mad...

Thing Fish

23-06-2011, 12:48

Well as a lot of you guys know my 1st vinyl collection was dumped in a skip by my ex, around 800 to 900 albums:wah:

I would have called the police. That's a lot of money. Or burned all her dresses.

kininigin

23-06-2011, 17:02

WOStantonCS100

23-06-2011, 17:08

Personally i feel once i've bought it i'll do whatever i want with it.;)

Even as a recorded artist, and aside from someone selling copies of the original, I agree 100%.

Well as a lot of you guys know my 1st vinyl collection was dumped in a skip by my ex, around 800 to 900 albums

I would have been mad as a hornet. :steam: Isn't that punishable by law; destruction of property... I wouldn't even bring cookies to the jailhouse. Let her sit their and rot for a few months.

Canetoad

23-06-2011, 19:14

I can't decide whether I'd garrot her or sell all her jewellery.:steam:

Jac Hawk

23-06-2011, 19:59

The thing was i didn't know my records had been dumped for about 2 or 3 weeks, back in those days i was a work o hollic, and all my vinyl had been stored away in boxes in an upstairs cupboard, i listened to music in the car on CD and never really had time to sit down at home and listen to the stereo, because of this hectic lifestyle i didn't notice that she'd dumped the stereo too, apparently the stereo was ugly and didn't go with the décor, and apparently because i hadn't played a record for a long time she thought i didn't want them anymore. freekin halfwit:doh:

nat8808

24-06-2011, 20:16

aahh.. that was BEFORE the devorce?

shane

24-06-2011, 22:17

Is £20 for new vinyl so expensive? In 1972 an LP was about 30/-, and I was on £12/-/- per week. If I was in the same job (sales assistant in a small hifi shop), I'd expect to be earning at least £200 a week now, so the equivalent would be £25. If it's a rip-off now, it was 40 years ago as well. We're just spoiled by the fact that CDs and downloads are so cheap.

Incidentally, I just bought from a local charity shop an EMI boxed set from 1960 of the nine Beethoven symphonies conducted by Klemperer on nine LPs that look and sound like they've never been played.

£5 the lot...