Expecting Rain

Just be prepared that it takes a lot of space and they're friggin' heavy. I've got over 3,000 albums and, to be honest, most are stored away in a cool dry place. When I was moving, a lot my friends hated hauling the boxes upon boxes of LPs. You folks are inspiring me to do some un-archiving! Don't bother with scratched used records. They're just a tease. Set high standards and always ask if they've got other copies available. Lots of times they'll stick the marginal quality ones out on the floor first. Most shops will also do a record cleaning for you as well and let you play it right there on the spot. Be careful regarding cleaning though, as newbie workers that are unfamiliar with vinyl can do more harm than help if they do it wrong.

inspecting for quality is a must

Speaking of which just bagged myself a mint 1969 viny copy of this lil' baby this morning:

http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Sisters- ... B00004U68A

Looks mighty tasty!

I own mostly second hand records. I have a collection of around 2,000.

I've not found new vinyl to be particularly trustworthy. I've bought new vinyl that sounds great and new vinyl that is badly pressed and poor quality while screaming from the sticker on its label that is "180gm virgin vinyl". So that doesn't decide things for me. There's as much bad new vinyl as there is bad old vinyl out there to me... I also tend to avoid coloured vinyl, as it always, always sounds inferior to black.

I've always bought records to listen to first and foremost (sounds dumb, but you know what I mean). So I'd rather have originals, of course, but if it sounds good, is in good condition and reasonably priced, I'm happy with it.

Definitely some good advice on here. especially about holding yourself to a high standard. I always run my fingers lightly over any marks at all on a record. A general rule of thumb is that if you can feel a scratch with your finger, you will hear it when it plays.

If something has a mark on it that I can feel, I don't buy it, regardless of how rare it might seem - another good rule of thumb to remember when buying records is that everything - I mean everything - turns up eventually, if you keep looking. If you buy a scratched copy the focus of the entire album will be when that scratch is coming up and you won't enjoy the album - at least that's how it is for me!

Don't be fooled by these record stores now who want to charge you around £20 (in the UK) for a new copy of a Pink Floyd album or similar, down the street you'll probably find a perfectly good second hand copy for half the price or less. That's what I've always found anyway.

It's also true that you'll eventually become familiar with the centre labels and to what pressings were made when. I have little interest in this type of collecting, but again, it'll give you a rough idea... "hmmm, it's THIS pressing, and it's in THIS condition, but it's THIS price = yes or no. You'll learn to judge it before too long, Especially when you start to see dozens of copies of Highway 61 Revisited on the 70s sunburst label kicking around (for example)... it soon becomes clear that they are cheaper because there are more of them and they're easier to find in decent condition than an original of that album on the textured orange label from the 60s.... this is just a generic example....

Anyway, you're in for hours of fun..
Happy hunting!

Thanks for an interesting read, Rimshottbob

I would refuse to pay more than 5 to 7 Euros for anything used unless it is in impeccable condition.

As someone who is just about to discover the fabulous world of vinyls, I have got a few questions as well:

1) if you take good care of your vinyls, how long will they survive? Apparently people say that the lifespan of an original, factory-pressed CD lies between 30 and 50 years (in good conditions, of course). Is it possible to reach such a lifespan with vinyls, too? I mean, without losing too much of the sound quality over the years?

After all, if I'm going to start a record collection I don't want to have to buy the same albums every other year because they are worn out. (Don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect that I’ll have them for 50 years of something, I’m just curious how long the sound quality will be acceptable). Any personal observations or experiences?

2) I see that many on here prefer to buy used vinyls, and because I’m a poor student I’ll do the same, I guess. However, at least with regard to BOTT I want to have a new record. It’s my favorite album and I know I’ll listen to it a lot. Therefore, I want to be on the safe side and buy a new one. (And before Bennyboy advises me to buy the half-speed vinyl of BOTT, I’d like to add that this one is just too expensive for me right now, unfortunately.)

I’ve seen that a limited edition of BOTT will be released on 7 Feb. 2012 by a company called Mobile Fidelity. I have never heard of this company, to be honest. Are their vinyls good, quality-wise?

@ XRaylroad:

you have little to worry about here.... if a record is well looked-after, it will last longer than you will.

I inherited my father's record collection, I have some LPs that are around 60 years old and they play like they're brand new. He looked after them well, as now do I.

This can be the case with any 'used' vinyl, if you buy carefully.
I understand the want to buy a new Blood On The Tracks, and I can't speak for that album specifically (I have a used, 70s copy which sounds great), but often I find that new vinyl these days is put together in a cheap, slapdash way.

As I said before, not all of it, some of it sounds great - it's just that you have to be as careful and selective with new vinyl as you do with old - i.e. don't assume that because something's on new vinyl, it'll sound great.

Hope that helps.

this is essentially my opinion but written in a more considered way. bravo!

most important things are:

- have fun
- LISTEN TO YOUR RECORDS
- don't spend millions

...an' that's about all

It's important to have a good needle, weighted and aligned properly.

^^ .....back in the dark ages, if you had a record that developed a skip in it, you'd balance
a penny on top of the needle to weigh it down > that way the needle wouldn't skip over
the part of the record that was scratched. hey...it worked!

Welcome to the wonderful world of vinyl !! i myself gave up on vinyl back in the eighties ,sold my turntable and my record collection.
it was when i moved a couple of years ago i stumbled upon a box with about 50 of my old LP´s that i had kept because it wasn´t easy to get hold of them even back then.. rolling stones ,pink floyd in mono black sabbath ,mott the hoople ,i was sitting there looking at the cover art ,reading on the covers took out the records and admired the black shiny vinyl.... and then i went out and bought a technics sl1200 tt and a vintage yamaha cr2020 receiver to match.and i haven´t looked back since! it sounds wonderful! and the feeling of actually playing the records instead of just listening to them (thats the way i feel about vinyl vs cd´s)
is so much more satisfying. i bought almost the whole Dylan catalog since, most of it second hand wich is very cheap compared to other collectible artists from the 70´s strangely enough .... except for the 60´s records i bought the mono box that´s the cheapest way to get hold of them! witch is excellent replicas of the original albums and covers,and in MONO!!
so now i started to look around for the boot catalog and that should keep me occupied for at least 20-30 years..........

Just taken delivery if a brand new vinyl good as I been to you. It's by music on vinyl. Sounds mighty fine to me. Far superior to CD version!

what a great story how good!

..that is so perfectly said
= it clarifies my own feelings
about playing Vinyl, which occurred
to me a while back, while playing Unkle Neil's
'Tonight's the Night' - while crawling around on the floor
looking for something - the piano came tinkling out of the speakers
with a sound i hadn't heard since i first got the record * lo, those years ago.
..and i went and ordered 3 extra stereo needles, but YOU just put into words
- the feeling of the total experience. Thank You. ..
*.. a CD i had listened to regularly over time, so - when that 'sound' came out
= i actually stood up and STARED at the speakers... and then proceeded............
- to order the MONO BOB-BOX VINYL .. and life ain't the same - it's better. ..

I believe Mobile Fidelity are the folks that used to put out the Half-Speed Masters. If so, they are a reputable company and certainly should be guaranteeing something great with that re-release.

finally i can get rid of my bootleg copy!:-)

Awesome!

I got that, too. Unfortunately, no working record player.

I just bought a f'cking vinyl collection on ebay it has GAIBTY, WGW, Unplugged, TOOM, "LAT" and MT and most of the others, except the mid-60s trilogy, strangely, but I won't miss that.

If any of you wants the "LAT", let me know, I have this on vinyl already.

Sounds great Jo ! If only i wasn't so far away

how much??

I mean, I really want that!

We'll have to wait til I get it to see the condition, and we can both look up what it might be worth. I don't want to rip off a fellow fan, but I guess it's still be in the (lower) three figures (€).

^ lower three figures? Is it a used record ?
....man, i have a bunch of old Dylan LP's ....are they really worth that much ?

It's the newer ones that are worth most, since not so many of them were pressed and most are out of print. Original GAIBTY, WGW, TOOM and "LAT" are especially sought after on vinyl.