Buying vinyl records

[Rob H]

Who here collects, or just buys on a regular basis, vinyl records?

Lately, I've been mainly listening to music at home predominantly on vinyl whereas I'll listen to my ipod in the car or whenever I'm away from my flat. So I hardly buy CDs anymore. If I like a tune and I want to listen to it away from home, I'll download the album from iTunes.

I have a few questions but I'm slowly picking up second hand records from the local second hand music dealer just down the road. I find that older records don't skip as often as newer records. I'm not sure why this is but would a new turntable fix this problem? I have quite a few records in less than good condition but I don't want to get rid of them as I love the size and album art. Is there a specific way to clean or "de-scratch" a record(silly question?)?

It's all new to me so any tips or info you can give would be appreciated. Cheers.

[bert]

Who here collects, or just buys on a regular basis, vinyl records?

Lately, I've been mainly listening to music at home predominantly on vinyl whereas I'll listen to my ipod in the car or whenever I'm away from my flat. So I hardly buy CDs anymore. If I like a tune and I want to listen to it away from home, I'll download the album from iTunes.

I have a few questions but I'm slowly picking up second hand records from the local second hand music dealer just down the road. I find that older records don't skip as often as newer records. I'm not sure why this is but would a new turntable fix this problem? I have quite a few records in less than good condition but I don't want to get rid of them as I love the size and album art. Is there a specific way to clean or "de-scratch" a record(silly question?)?

It's all new to me so any tips or info you can give would be appreciated. Cheers.

I have a several thousand strong Vinyl collection, and I'll always buy a vinyl version (if offered).

just a few weeks ago, I picked up the Vinyl version of Ace Frehley's new album "Anomaly" (I also got the CD version so I could listen in the car).

I won't be able to be much help on the turntable questions, as I have an late 70's Panasonic "stack" stereo where the only thing that really still works is the turn-table. With pennies taped to the needle arm to keep it from skipping, of course.

but to me, the clicks and pops of the vinyl is what makes it worth listening to on vinyl in the first place.

They used to make "record cleaning" kits. . but a simple soft rag, damp from soapy water, moving in along the groove of the album works for me on my older records.

[Rob H]

Clicks and pops are great! I love the sound it makes when you lay the needle down onto a record. Some of my albums are just a little too unlistenable though and these are albums I'll try to replace further on down the line.

Do you find your new Ace Frehley to work just as well on your old Panasonic as any of your older albums would? I've never really understood the 'pennies taped to the needle arm' trick. Wouldn't the extra pressure increase the chances of damaging the record?

As a side note, I also have a fantastic old AM radio/turntable unit. The turntable doesn't work unfortunately, but I'd love to get it fixed someday. It looks great in my living room and sound of these things are phenomenal.

[Shellhead]

I've never really understood the 'pennies taped to the needle arm' trick. Wouldn't the extra pressure increase the chances of damaging the record?


It's been a long time since I owned vinyl records or a turntable, but the pennies were a necessary evil for many turntable owners. My cheap turntable's needle arm had a slight tendency to jump and skip, so a single penny taped on was enough to keep it down. But I did wonder if that extra weight was causing my records to wear out faster.

I don't miss vinyl, except for the larger and more elaborate album covers. You had to store them carefully and handle them carefully, to avoid warping, scratches and worse. And even then, they still degraded over time. Tapes and CDs have their own issues, but with careful handling, a CD can still sound great for many years after purchase.

[Eric D.]

a CD can still sound great for many years after purchase.

yeah...but for me, more important - is mono vs. stereo (whether it be vinyl or cd)

mono beats stereo every time.

[Rob H]

They used to make "record cleaning" kits. . but a simple soft rag, damp from soapy water, moving in along the groove of the album works for me on my older records.I missed this before! Thanks for that, I'll give it a shot. :smile:

[Sunrider]

I mostly buy 7" singles, 10" EP's and 12" maxi's (if offered) from bands like Arctic Monkeys, Editors, etc. I also like to collect coloured vinyl, picture discs, etc. At conventions I search for old 80-ies 12 inches (Depeche Mode, Prince).

[Slackjaws_ate_my_brain]

I went througha period when I was big into vinyl. Mostly old 1st gen hardcore 7" and colored/picture/import albums. I had plenty of domestic LPs as well, but I was literally just buying to buy when it came to "rare" pieces, regardless as to if I even liked the band (which is why I owned things like the pentagram cut-out version of Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil", lol).

That said, I honestly just got sick of storing them and sold 80% of my collection (which peaked with just under 300 7" singles, and just under 500 12" albums). The one thing I like about digital music is that there's no storage issue. There are plenty of things I HATE about digital music, but the spacial issue is certainly a plus.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

I mostly buy 7" singles, 10" EP's and 12" maxi's (if offered) from bands like Arctic Monkeys, Editors, etc. I also like to collect coloured vinyl, picture discs, etc. At conventions I search for old 80-ies 12 inches (Depeche Mode, Prince).

Not a lot of stuff on this, but you might like this link:

http://www.adifferentdrum.com/search.php?PHPSESSID=c80b1d98939cc815d5b8b6bd2070f 80a&query=vinyl

You could probably e-mail the store owner to see if he can find more vinyl for you, as that store specializes in synthpop (Depeche Mode and the like).

[mgs]

With pennies taped to the needle arm to keep it from skipping, of course.

I never heard of that use... :confused:


It's been a long time since I owned vinyl records or a turntable, but the pennies were a necessary evil for many turntable owners. My cheap turntable's needle arm had a slight tendency to jump and skip, so a single penny taped on was enough to keep it down. But I did wonder if that extra weight was causing my records to wear out faster.
yeah, it would seem like a cheap table and arm would be the cause, cause I see no reason to press down on a record, which is made with grooves, so, certainly extra weight would cause problems, I would think..

[The Black Guardian]

Most turntable arms have an adjustable weight system attached to them anyway. Shouldn't be much of a problem. You're not talking about a lot of weight.