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Having recently inherited 2,000 CDs, I have started the mammoth task of going through the entire collection, which including my own, amounts to some 4,500 discs.
Obviously there are many duplications plus some that are not to my tastes, so I have been listening to a lot of new stuff, as well as re-cataloging and trying to find ways to house it all!
Today I took 100 CDs to a charity shop, and warned them there could be another few hundred more to come.
A blessing and a curse I imagine Barry, that's a lot of CD's.
Progress so far.
One of the problems I have always had with cataloging any music collection is division into genres and subsequent sub-divisions.
For my LP collection, which started first, I divided the genres into: classical; blues and R&B; jazz; pop and rock; folk, and 'world'. This time with my CD collection, the divisions are: classical; blues; jazz; pop, rock and folk; world, and spoken word.
So far, the re-housing and cataloging has only been with rock, pop and folk; and to date covers A - M only. When it comes to cataloging it is strictly alphabetical. Solo artists and groups which have a leading artist are filed by their family name, with sub division by given name, again in alphabetical order. There are some ambiguities, for example a CD of James Taylor dueting with Joni Mitchell is filed under Joni Mitchell, and by date of release.
Thus halfway through the alphabet within the genre of pop, rock and folk has amounted to 1,046 CDs. There is probably at least a similar number, if not more, for N - Z. And probably another three times that for other genres.
Barry would you consider selling these to a member (donating to your chosen charity) so we know they are going to a good home?
Hello Lawrence,
You raise a question I have had from the start, that of 'disposing' of duplications and of titles that do not interest me. And initially I did think of offering them to Members gratis. However I didn't want to have to send them piecemeal - it would be too much trouble to buy the necessary padded bags and post them off, and to charge for the packaging and postage would appear mean.
The alternative would be to list the titles of those unwanted discs with the option for a Member to list those discs that were not wanted by them, and to take all of the rest. This would amount to several hundred items which would weigh a lot making postage very expensive.
It will take me a long time to complete the task: at the moment I'm only half way through the rock, pop and folk genre. The house is littered with discs which need to be sorted, filed and housed. It's getting on my (and especially my partner's) nerves, so surplus discs are being taken to Oxfam on a drip feed basis as soon as is convenient.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I have given it some thought and what I'm doing is convenient for me and a charity still benefits.
I'd be interested in them as a job lot Barry. No picking and choosing, just send me the lot.
Just give me a price if you want to do that, will understand if you don't.
Martin,
There could be a couple of thousand CDs available if you include all genres. If you are only interested in rock, pop and folk (N to Z) then there might be 300 or so.
I'm going to be taking a break from the CDs for a couple of weeks, but should then be able to give you more information regarding numbers, weight and cost of carriage.
That's what I was thinking, have a day out with the family in Essex and rather conveniently drop by to pick the CDs up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
Unfortunately, charity shops are inundated with CDs at the moment. Several of those near me are offering them at 5 or 10 for £1. Others won't take them at all.
Others just put them in the landfill bin as they don't bring enough income per foot of shelf space and they are not recycleable.
Offer them here (individually or in bulk) and enthusiasts will catalogue, sort and cherish them.
If nothing else they are useful for the jewel cases which I buy from charity shops to replace broken ones.
I tried to give away a CD radio at the local recycling tip- told to put it in the electrical skip- even the employees there can't get a quid out of it.
My local Oxfam shops (even the dedicated book/media one):rolleyes: have drastically reduced CD space, other charity shops don't accept them, or DVDs. :rolleyes:
I have already spoken to my local branch of Oxfam, which specialises in books, vinyl, CDs and DVDs.
I told them I could have at least 500 CDs to donate, and probably about a couple of hundred DVDs. In the words of the assistant there: "We'll take everything you've got. Just don't bring it all in one go." So I'm drip-feeding them, as I work my way through the alphabet.
Zelenka fans will have a wait then [emoji23]
As will fans of ZZ Top. :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence001
What about
'Till Tuesday
and
10,000 Maniacs?
Our local tip (Waste Transfer Stataion) cannot (will not?) sell anything with a plug on it. They can sell speakers but not the associated amp, cd, tuner or turntable.
So don't take anything electrical to the tip unless you want it to be ground up and sent to India for metals reclamation/landfill.
They also will not allow me to take a CD player apart for the laser mechanism, they class this as "processing" and this is not allowed.
I suppose they would be liable if they let people take electrical goods and they were faulty?Quote:
Originally Posted by majex45
No reason why they won't let you cannibalise stuff though, just the usual pointless beaurocracy.
Used to know someone who worked at the tip, unofficially they can take what they want. One time he got a Marshall practice amp, full working order, not a mark on it. Why someone would dump that I've no idea.
Maybe things have changed, but before we left the area the Leatherhead dump had a little shop from which I bought quite a number of decent CDs - though I may have been prepared to pay £1 or so for each one I wanted.
Now I can get CDs in the local charity shop for 4 for the £1 or better, or sometimes the assistants count rather badly so we get "how many have you got there ?" "about 10" "OK call it £2" - also double albums often get miscounted too.
However a fair bit of filtering has to be done to get anything good - seems to go in waves. Occasionally it looks as though someone has just brought in a fairly big decent collection, which then gets drip fed out to the shop and mixed in with [for me at any rate] a load of trash.
My local tip will not sell anything with a mains plug on it (or powered with a wall wart). I asked if I could take the CD mechanism out of a player and take the cartridge out of a record player but was told no - as this counts as "processing" and this was not allowed!Quote:
Originally Posted by kirstysdad
It is criminal the waste that the Health & Safety lobby causes.
Tip by me all electrical goods go in a shipping container which goes off to Bangladesh or somewhere where they pull it all apart.
Possibly a condition of the deal they have with them means no-one gets to pull it apart here first? I don't know.
More tip news.
I was at a different tip a while ago when a lady came in with her car loaded with good stuff: by which I mean an Epiphone guitar with amp, microphone on stand some stereo equipment (cannot rememeber brand but OK) and other "man's goods", including suits and shirts etc. I assume a divorce had just happened and she was clearing out the memories but it seemed such a shame she was sending them to be destroyed and losing out on the value. As usual the jobsworths would not let me skipdive for these goodies.
Why didn't you ask her for the music gear before it was put in the skip? Until it goes into the skip it is her property to do with what she likes. When anything is put in the skip(s) legally it becomes their property.Quote:
Originally Posted by majex45
As to my task with sorting out a couple of thousand CDs, I have finished with the rock, pop, blues, jazz and folk, and am now part-way through all things "classical", which spans the period 12th century through to the 21st century.
Picked up an old coloured 7" record from my tip that had been dropped on the floor by someone. Jobsworth took it off me, "that's not yours!" then snapped it in half. The miserable git.Quote:
Originally Posted by majex45
What a shithead. In an ideal world he would be held to account for that. Unfortunately, like most things that make no sense, it'll come back to insurance and Health & Safety :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Folkboy
I was in a charity shop yesterday. They had a basket of CDs & DVDs near the door. I rummaged and found about 8 CDs (John Mayall, 'Stones and others). Unfortunately three did not have CDs in them. I told the assistant and asked if I could have the empty cases to replace some broken ones I was buying. She said she was not allowed to give them to me and put them in the bin. So I bought CDs in broken cases and she threw away perfectly good cases and presumably paid the waste company to take them as trade waste.
Anyone see the logic in this?
How much was she charging per CD? Some charity shops ask £1.50 for 3 CDs, that is 50p each. If the charity shop you visited was asking the same, then I would have bought all 8, and put three of the CDs and their artwork into the undamaged cases.Quote:
Originally Posted by majex45
Having said that empty replacement CD cases are not expensive to buy. https://www.amazon.co.uk/25-DVD-Sing...85632273&psc=1
Many organisations with low skill requirements/high turnover are big on 'process' that all staff must follow.Quote:
Originally Posted by majex45
You can understand why, in principle, approved process is needed and maybe this one had a reason behind it in certain other situations. But 'process' removes scope for customer facing staff to use their brains in a common sense way.
Many's the time when I was at work when I'd see a complaint from a customer and find out that we had followed a process that existed for good reasons for certain situations, but it had been slavishly followed in others where it was bonkers. Ultimately I believe you can't control everything and write it all down, you have to empower people to think for themselves and have faith that it'll make for a better business outcome.
A few years ago i visited a roofline /fascia boards merchants local to me for a few bits. They'd recently computerised their stocktaking. I asked for a length of black square guttering, and after a few taps on the keyboard he informed me they had none in stock.
Thing is, I could see one on the shelves behind him. But he couldn't sell it to me, as the computer wouldn't allow the sale of something they didn't have :scratch: I had to go somewhere else.
Just about to construct a ‘shelf/stand for about 1000 CDs.my old one was ex-wine shop but steps down to Basement are danger-to-life
So we’re moving the CDs up to living room level.
Taking example of equally old friend now in hospital with broken hip..
Irony will be I’ll fall whilst moving the CDs up!
I need to address my CD storage, there's about 20 piled on top of the player now. Keep looking in the charity furniture shop for another storage tower but they are so rare. Would be easier to come across some Chippendale or Louis XIV in there.
The procurement of CD storage shelves, racks and towers was the first task for me. After several visits to the British Heart Foundation I managed to aquire 14 towers (though one is a third height) a CD compartmentalised case and a small chest of two drawers that are deep enough to house CDs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
At the moment all of the rock and pop have been filed and housed, as has the jazz and blues and R&B. The 'world', spoken word, test discs and various "odds and sods" have also been housed. I'm partway through housing the classical section of my collection; having got as far as 'L'. It's a slow process as Classical requires many divisions and subdivisions. Also I have many versions of the same piece by different ensembles and performers, that need sifting as I don't need them all.
So to date, I have two shelves of CDs and one set of drawers full of CDs in the living room; 8 CD towers in a cupboard in the same room, and three racks of LPs (all genres apart from classical and folk). On the landing there are three towers and two compartment cases for CDs. The Jazz, Blues and R&B are housed in the TV room, as are the Classical LPs and Folk LPs. The storage completion of the remaining L - Z of Classical CDs is still ongoing.
At least my partner has stopped complaining about piles of CDs I used to have littering up the living room! :)
This ought to do the trick.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/HOMCOM-Stor...6-6bbbd79fadc1
It would but it's too pricey. I'm looking for something I can pick up for a fiver or less. Last one I got was 2 quid.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
BHF by me used to be good but now 90 percent of what they stock is brand new and pretty much the only used items they sell are those smoked glass TV stands that no-one wants.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
I have over 5,000 CDs - so I would need at least 12 of those... :eek: They are relatively cheap, though. It says "Easy to Assemble" which I am sure is true, but with that many shelves I reckon it would take me about a day to build one!Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
You can see why I started throwing away the jewel cases and keeping them in slip cases... (And now they are all in the garage in bookshelves, and I mainly play them from FLAC files on hard drives.)
My biggest problem with shelves is that it's fine once you've put them in whatever order you decide, but as soon as you buy a new CD the whole system is shot - you've got to readjust everything to fit in the new one. Unless you leave loads of space ready for the new additions, but my OCD couldn't handle that!
I just spotted this picture on the Amazon page:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1500_.jpg
Not sure that "Anti-Tipping Strap" is man enough for the job... Looks like the start of an episode of Casualty to me... (Is that still going?
Is your garage part of the house? If yes then you might be OK, but if detached, as mine is, and not heated then damp will quite likely spoil your CDs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex_UK
Yes, it is integrated, with our bedroom above. Certainly not damp, and the boiler is in there too, so hopefully it will be ok - not had any issues so far...Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
How many CDs do you need to house Martin?Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
I can see build up, cheerful but naive audiophile happily listening to his CDs while his visiting nephew is crawling around the front room and grabbing things to hold on to and try and take his first steps.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex_UK
I don't know, I've totally lost count. It isn't that many, maybe 500.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
You know how it goes, it takes 4 hours to build the first one then 30 minutes each for the rest of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex_UK
It's sized for DVDs so you could always put additional ones on top. That's what I do but only with A through to N as they are on bookshelves.
I wouldn't trust that strap either but the thing is probably so flimsy the child would be unharmed. It would just break into matchwood on his head.
A row of 100 CDs is just over 1 metre long. So I would suggest you put up three 2 metre (6' in old money) shelves which will give you storage for 600 CDs. The costs shouldn't be too much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Oh, in that case I'd estimate I have about 7 metres of them so around 700 then. I already have storage for most of them, the overspill is maybe a hundred or a bit less. So one more tower should do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
Interesting to see that Amazon ad for shelving units. In its own small way it feels like another vote of confidence in the future of CD.
You can fill your boots with Ikea 'Benno' units from eBay, only problem is most of them need collection. I waited a year until a few came up near me but I'm sorted for good now.
Closest to me is in High Peak which is miles away! And they want too much money.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete The Cat
We could have got you one from Warrington IKEA a couple of years ago when I accidentally went near there on the way to your house. Then we would have at least salvaged something from the wreckage that is my inability to follow a Satnav. :doh:Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
So,are we lucky here in Bristol, to have at least one shop in St. Nicholas Market, dedicated just to CDs?
Can’t speak for ‘Wanted Records’ that is only 50 metres away, though I know John has a basement with VAST numbers of LPs.
After all it’s the message not the medium!.
I’ve just’ made’ a CD shelf unit that holds circa 1000 CDs.leaving a bit of space for additions.
If anyone wants an ex-wine shop unit, originally used for LPs…..you\ll need a truck…..
I have many bookshelves from Argos like these:
https://www.oakworld.co.uk/shop/book...yABEgIGHvD_BwE
However, I buy two and use the shelves from both in one bookcase. This makes the shelves shorter and more suited to CDs.
I also screw the shelves in place with long screws which helps to prevent sagging in the middle.
See here:Attachment 31660Quote:
Originally Posted by majex45
and yes...I have listened to all of them at least once.
Now that's a CD collection!