One I hope Fenlander won't shun on sight. It's to do with mixed feelings on the recent vinyl revival.
I've hung on to my turntable through thick (nice new 180g discs) and thin (some of my early-90s albums as the record companies were trying to force us on to CDs.) Through that time I've been a customer of secondhand record shops, and have picked up some gems along the way.
Now I'm thrilled to be able to buy new vinyl releases again, produced with far more care than in those bad old days of 25 years ago. OK, at £18 a time they ought to be, but it's a special pleasure to release a new LP from its wrappings and drop the stylus on it before sitting down to savour the gatefold sleeve and the music.
But nothing is for nothing, and there's a price to be paid in the secondhand market too. I was in my local Oxfam Books & Music the other day, and noticed that classical LPs in no more than moderate condition, which would have been £1.99 a year ago, are now stickered at £4.99. I unsleeved a couple and found hairs and thumbprints on the grooves - which I might tolerate at trivial prices but not now.
So is FL, or anyone else who buys on the black (geddit?) market finding the same thing. And has anyone tried any of the affordable devices for home-cleaning LPs?
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Just down the A65 from me is the fairly recent Skipton Sound Bar. Sells real ale, vinyl, CDs, gin, and soft drinks (allegedly). And will play any vinyl you happen to purchase whilst imbibing.
A novel idea...sorry WdB didn't mean to hijack your thread.
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I buy most of my vinyl at low cost in large quantities at house clearance (often probate) auctions.... the last lot was a few weeks ago and contained around 500LPs. Much of it is straight to the tip junk like The Sound of Music, Mantovani, Doris Day and the like which has no value.
Out of the 500 I might find about 5 I want to keep then I sell out the "not bad enough for tip but no good to keep" as a smaller lot of say 50 LPs. Ones in the middle I take to a charity shop.
You are right the charity shops are asking too much lately. By chance just off with daughter to look round the ones in town when I will go through the vinyl but it's mostly of no interest. They now use folks who think they know the LP market to sort their LPs from the 50p ones to the £4.99 ones. But from what I see they know very little and mostly over price.
I've just started buying the £18 new Vinyl but try and look for the best value... say the double albums for £20 rather than a standard LP at £18 with a short run time. Trying really hard not to buy new what I already have in both my teenage purchased 1970s copy plus re-purchased slightly better used one.
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Thanks for the Mantovani nudge. Just put half an hour's worth on Spotify and it felt like I was stuck in a lift at the back of a Berni Inn.
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>> Thanks for the Mantovani nudge. Just put half an hour's worth on Spotify and it
>> felt like I was stuck in a lift at the back of a Berni Inn.
>>
After dining on prawn cocktail, steak & chips, followed by Black Forest Gateau, all washed down with a bottle of Mateus Rosé
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>> >> Thanks for the Mantovani nudge. Just put half an hour's worth on Spotify and
>> it
>> >> felt like I was stuck in a lift at the back of a Berni
>> Inn.
>> >>
>> After dining on prawn cocktail, steak & chips, followed by Black Forest Gateau, all washed
>> down with a bottle of Mateus Rosé
Dont knock the MR, its fantastic guzzling wine on a hot day at the barbie. And try the Prawn Cocktail at the George Hotel in Stamford. A starter of awe and wonder.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 24 Feb 16 at 20:52
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Once upon a time, long long ago, I had a fool set of Mantovani LP's.
Just saying :)
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>> drop the stylus on it
>>
:)
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I read the other day that cassettes are making a comeback. I have about 200 boxed up in the garage and sometimes play a few on an old ghetto blaster down there.
I've still got a couple of walkmans ( walkmen ?)....one of them is a Sony. Not used for a long time so maybe now......? There's a car radio with a tape slot somewhere about as well.
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My SAAB still has its original cassette player. I far prefer that to a CD player without an aux input (like in the Mazda - a mid noughties model when nobody played tapes anymore but the digital music player hadn't caught on fully), as the cassette player is an aux input.
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>>
>> I read the other day that cassettes are making a comeback.
>>
If they are I hope they improve the quality. We've got loads of the things in the loft and getting them down a while back to play a few the first thing that struck me was how awful they sounded, despite all the Dolby this and Dolby that.
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We have a guy in town who cleans 5 LPs for around a tenner inc supplying new anti-static sleeves for each. If you do a few at a time over a period working through the more important items in your collection then the cost is nothing in the scheme of life and will give a real lift to many dirty 30-50yr old LPs.
I also have started to collect singles... not for value or rarity but just examples that are embedded into my brain over a lifetime such as...
Mary Hopkin - Those were the days, Stranglers - All of the day and all of the night, Amen Corner - Half as nice, Ferry cross the mersey - Gerry and the pacemakers, Thank U very much - The scaffold, 99 red balloons - Nena, Take 5 - Dave burbeck, Seventy six trombones - King Bros, Nutbush city limits - Ike and tina turner, Golden years - Bowie, Le Freak - Chic, Jamming _ Bob marley, Good Vibrations - Beach boys, You really got me - Kinks, Schools out - Alice cooper, Hit me - Ian dury, Beatnik fly - Gordon Franks, Telegram Sam - T rex, Rober Palmer - Addicted to love...
and many many more. Play them usually on a valve Dansette type thing which often gives a better rendition than a revealing true hi-fi. They are a bit like taking hits from pub juke boxes over my lifetime.
I do buy cassettes for the car as the BMW has a (hidden) player as well as 6-CD unit. They are so cheap and it's often easier to find a reasonable playable example of 70/80s music on cassette than find a scratch free LP but again if you output to a true hi-fi it cruelly exposes cassette issues.
Also been amassing 78s for a while and recently aquired some holy grail rock and roll ones such as Elvis. Have been playing 78s on the Dansette thingy which has a flip needle but just assembling a 70s Garrard turntable that will play 78s with a early transistor Goodmans amp and now just some compact 60/70s speakers to find then that will be a nice 78s stand alone system.
If you keep a look out in the right places the hardware to play them and the LPs, 78s & cassettes can be found for buttons. For me it's a great cheap retirement hobby.
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As a matter of interest we went round the town charity shops earlier, perhaps 6 of them, and we were about 5mins behind a 50-something guy who was going through the LPs in each shop hunched over them with an air of secrecy. He already had some in a bag some must have scored some of interest... tried some friendly chat but he wasn't giving anything away. The charity shop stock is gleaned so often there's almost never anything decent there.
The other week I was at a disposal auction where there was a very nice oak case wind up 78 gramophone... unusually in very nice working order and complete. I was discussing with my daughter come the bomb when infrastructure has collapsed take that with you and you'd still be able to be in any remote place in the world munching on grass and nuts... listening to Hound Dog while your iPhone had failed long ago.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Wed 24 Feb 16 at 17:13
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Mary Hopkin - Hairy Mopkin, Shirley?
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>>And has anyone tried any of the affordable devices for home-cleaning LPs?
I don't know if the "tone arm" brush is still available. These were usually installed on the opposite side to the arm and exerted a tiny downward pressure, "playing" across the disc. I used one back in the day and a magnifying glass showed some benefit.
I believe some shops offer a cleaning service. It probably includes de-static treatment.
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Thanks Ambo. Yes, I know about the 'dry' methods; I have a carbon-fibre dusting brush that works fine on the records I've had since new.
It's not enough for mistreated discs, though, which is why I've been wondering about the devices that spin the disc through brushes in a bath of alcohol-based cleaning agent, then rinse and air-dry. There are versions - the ones the shops use, like the Moth - that add a motor and even a vacuum, but these aren't economically viable for home use and even the shops seem to charge £2 or so per disc - with no guarantees that the record wasn't beyond saving from the start.
I'm really wondering if spending £50 on equipment will let me clean up the few records I find that aren't fit for the bin but aren't ready for the turntable either. Might be a fun thing to play with too - therapeutic, a bit like learning to sharpen a knife on a water stone.
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As I was looking at those, including the Moth, only two days ago and making the same musings, if you do plump for such a thing do report back.
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Damn, now we're stuck in an elaborate game of After You, Carruthers.
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>> I'm really wondering if spending £50 on equipment will let me clean up the few
>> records I find that aren't fit for the bin but aren't ready for the turntable
>> either. Might be a fun thing to play with too - therapeutic, a bit like
>> learning to sharpen a knife on a water stone.
>>
Practice on some Mantovani first, Wild!
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Yes, that's my plan: spend £10 on half a dozen that are borderline playable but not worth keeping, try out the method and bin or re-donate them depending on the results.
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You do realise this is the basis for a whole new thread? A Room 101 for music which should be be banished from the airwaves forever, much like Gary Glitter's has been?
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More than a little truth in that. The most expensive LP I've sold was an as new but original copy of a rare rock group I'd never hear of before. I was going to burn a CD copy before I sold it to listen to after but once through to "grade" the album was enough. It was very ordinary for something that fetched close on £500.
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Secondhand LPs - legacylad
