Vinyl Question

[Bigandbouncy]

Just a bit of advice really, , as some of you will knowI have inherited lots of stuff, some of which I have sold and other bits I have put on here for my charity (more to come shortly).
I also have boxes and boxes of classical vinyl which I dont know what to do with. I have looked through it and around 15% of it is the desirable stuff for collectors - Decca, sxl, 33cx, EMI - and the rest is just an interesting lifetime collection.
It hasn't been well looked after and most of the sleeves have been written on in the top corners

What do I do with it? any ideas?

I would like to listen to one or two but don't own a turntable (though I do have a nice shell and cartridge)

Do I cherrypick the collectable ones and take the rest to the charity shop?
Do I split into lots and mix collectable and others?
Do I list the whole lot on a auction site or here?

No one is interested in coming to value them so I'm stuck!!

Any advice appreciated!

Dave

[Rare Bird]

No one is interested in coming to value them so I'm stuck!!



:lolsign:

If it were me i'd take em to the tip.

[Alex_UK]

How many - roughly - Dave? I suspect the market for all but the collectable ones is rather slim, but it would be a real shame to see them just go to landfill. I'm not even sure charity shops are that grateful for vinyl any more - my local "haunts" have stopped taking it in - which is a real pity. I personally would suggest cvherry-picking the good stuff, then eBay the rest as a charity auction - you probably won't get a great amount, but more likely an enthusiast will get some pleasure from them.

Isn't it sad though that one man's obsession becomes another's "problem" - I hate the thought of no one appreciating my music collection when I'm gone - but then no one appreciates it whilst I'm still here apart from me so no biggie I suppose! Maybe we should all start some sort of collective record library pact just to spite the bu99ars! ;)

[Smoker]

it is sad they might end up as rubbish :( i do like my classical never cared much about collectibles as long as they play well thats all I care about.

[Welder]

I’m surprised you can’t find anyone who is interested in having a look at them.
I sold my vinyl rather easily to a couple of friends and a couple of collectors.

Despite some of the silly prices you see in some second hand record shops you’ll find unless the record is in virtually perfect condition and rare it wont be worth much more than a couple of quid at most. The average price I got for mine was £1.60 and mine were in very good condition.

It’s worth sorting out what is and what isn’t collectible and putting those up for auction perhaps. How about a list for AoS, people here I imagine could be interested.
If there are a few albums you would like to keep, how about asking here if someone would rip them to file for you.

[Bigandbouncy]

Thanks for the advice chaps, I have already had to dispose of the 78's as noone was interested and there were around 300!

Alex, I haven't counted them but they came out of a 6 foot long dresser and were stacked upright. I might take your advice and cherry pick the ones that I have seen on tinternet are collectable, try some on ebay and some on here. I was thinking of giving them away for the cost of the postage and asking for the donation to charity again, working out what postage is for 25 or so albums then once the postage is paid, people can donate whatever they feel is fair.
I've done that already on here and everyone has always been really generous - it restores your faith in humanity!

My main problem is grading them i.e. I can visually inspect them but really wouldn't know if they were very worn or not? say for instance one or two have big scratches across where the needle has skipped. Will that ruin it?

Dave

[keiths]

My main problem is grading them i.e. I can visually inspect them but really wouldn't know if they were very worn or not? say for instance one or two have big scratches across where the needle has skipped. Will that ruin it?

Dave

Probably - though you can get records that look to be in a pretty bad way but play fine (and others that look fine but don't play well at all). Try running a finger across the scratch - if you can feel it then it will probably be audible, but there's no guarantee.

Any with clearly visible scratches really won't be worth bothering with to be honest.

[The Grand Wazoo]

......but don't confuse a scratch with a scuff.
The latter doesn't go into the grooves.

[keiths]

......but don't confuse a scratch with a scuff.
The latter doesn't go into the grooves.

Yes, as Chris says there are some marks on an LP's surface that won't be detrimental. Scuffs, 'bag marks', 'hairlines' etc are examples. I buy 90% of my vinyl from charity shops etc, and with experience you can usually get a good idea of how the record is going to sound from a quick visual check. There are often other clues too - Spindle marks (the little scratches around the centre hole in the label), wear to the bottom edge of the sleeve (from sliding the record on and off the shelf) are all a guide to how often the record has been played.

The problem here is that average condition classical records are really worth very little. I sometimes buy them for 49p - 99p from charity shops, but if you are offering them here for 'postage plus donation' it will cost £2.50 or so per LP to post as singles (LPs when packaged weigh around 250g - 300g each) which will unfortunately make them uneconomic even before a donation is factored in.

[jazzpiano]

Good advice from your friends on this site. First, are you a classical fan or "potential" classical fan? If not, maybe begin by giving the records a cursory check using a halogen lamp if you have one. The stuff in the worst shape, scratches, nicks, warps, obvious physical damage - set these aside for charity, thrift shop, etc. The next level up group you'll have to drop the needle on (figuratively) in afew spots to get an idea about condition. As others have said, paper marks and scuffs may have no effect on sound.
Set the good ones aside. The last group would be the cleanest or most unplayed looking ones. Of these, you want to listen more carefully and separate out the labels/artists who are most valued and create a set sale list for these. You could contact dealers in the back ads section of 'Classic Record Collector', an excellent British historical record/78 magazine which I can no longer get here. You will find some dealers who will offer you 2 pounds for a record they will resell for 100. Take your time. If you have some nice ones take the effort to clean properly, use new paper=poly inner sleeves, and poly outers. These are just suggestions. I am a music lover first and foremost. If you are a classical fan, take even more time to listen and determine which records you want to keep, collectibility and writing on corners be damned, and save those for yourself. If you have friends or members of this site who might be interested, offer whats left up for a song. That way, no hard feelings if not perfect. Just some random thoughts on how I might do it. Hope it helps.

Best,
Barry

[jandl100]

I've sold a lot of classical LPs over the last month or so on the forums on behalf of a charity shop that I do volunteer work for. I've been able to donate getting on for £200 so far. :thumbsup:

But - they need to be (near) Minty though to do that, so you have to be able to give them a listen to do a quality check. Shame I'm not nearer or I'd be happy to help out.

[jandl100]

P.S> - if you think they may be decent, and are happy to have any funds donated to my Cancer Research UK charity shop, I'd be happy to pay £7 or £8 courier fee if you plonked them in a box and sent them to me. :) No point in sending any with obvious damage or bad marks.

Not sure how many you have ...?

[Bigandbouncy]

That's some great advice. I'm more of a Pixies / Cure / Smiths fan than classical, though I never dismiss any sort of music and love some pieces. I considered buying a turntable and trying to educate myself using the collection - but that is probably more to do with the fact that I like shiny things with buttons on than my want for knowledge:)

I think the way forward in the new year is to pick out all the ones that look like they are worth over £5 and try and flog them on ebay, then send the rest of the undamaged ones down to Jerry so he can pick through them at his leisure.