Vinyl

[Spike]

Just now, Scouse_Mouse said:

AJ's is a good bar. 

Might not be the best place to go on about Stevie though.

Are you from Chicago or did you move there?

it is just a few blocks away from the globe, i know where it is. 

you’re right, americans and liverpool fans cant handle the banter, so mixing them together is trouble

no silly, i said before i am from queensland australia, been here a couple of years now

[Scouse_Mouse]

5 minutes ago, Spike said:

it is just a few blocks away from the globe, i know where it is. 

you’re right, americans and liverpool fans cant handle the banter, so mixing them together is trouble

no silly, i said before i am from queensland australia, been here a couple of years now

I've been to Oz, Sydney, Melbourne, did a couple of days doing the Great Ocean Rd, loved it there.

My oldest daughter did her masters at Griffith University in Brisbane. One of my big regrets is not visiting Queensland when she was there.

Talking of Chicago, the best steakhouse in the world (imho) is the Chicago Cut on La Salle right on the river, I'm not namedropping (ok I am) but we went there with King Kenny, Rushy, Fowler, Grobbelaar, when Liverpool played there last. Fantastic steaks, if you ever go ask for the manager Paul Murphy (Murph).

[Dr. Gonzo]

I’ve got a few records on vinyl. My dad mailed me a few of his records from back home so I have some old Bowie, Kinks, Hendrix, and Small Faces records - which is cool. And Quadrophrenia by The Who.

I got my record player a week or so before covid really locked things down, so I’ve mostly built up my collection over the year and spent probably way too much money in the process.

I buy mostly from Record City, which is right by me. But also Plaid Room Records is pretty decent. Also the Earache Records online shop, shipping out of Nottingham, has a selection that goes way beyond their label and has good shipping pricing imo - if you’re buying several records at once.

I also use Bandcamp to directly buy from some artists - best way to get your money as close to direct to the musicians as possible without buying music or merch at live shows. Especially if you buy on Friday.

My collection built over the past year is mostly metal classics, a couple of newer metal bands, and some classics like Santana and Zappa. I haven’t actually counted how many records it is. But it’s been cool collecting these albums I love.

[Scouse_Mouse]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I’ve got a few records on vinyl. My dad mailed me a few of his records from back home so I have some old Bowie, Kinks, Hendrix, and Small Faces records - which is cool. And Quadrophrenia by The Who.

I got my record player a week or so before covid really locked things down, so I’ve mostly built up my collection over the year and spent probably way too much money in the process.

I buy mostly from Record City, which is right by me. But also Plaid Room Records is pretty decent. Also the Earache Records online shop, shipping out of Nottingham, has a selection that goes way beyond their label and has good shipping pricing imo - if you’re buying several records at once.

I also use Bandcamp to directly buy from some artists - best way to get your money as close to direct to the musicians as possible without buying music or merch at live shows. Especially if you buy on Friday.

My collection built over the past year is mostly metal classics, a couple of newer metal bands, and some classics like Santana and Zappa. I haven’t actually counted how many records it is. But it’s been cool collecting these albums I love.

It's funny how vinyl has made a comeback. So much stuff available now that you'd never see years ago.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

6 minutes ago, Scouse_Mouse said:

It's funny how vinyl has made a comeback. So much stuff available now that you'd never see years ago.

 

Cassettes are getting cool again too for some reason.

I know exactly where my Walkman is back at my parents house... but I don’t think I’ll ever be hopping onto any cassette craze 

[Scouse_Mouse]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Cassettes are getting cool again too for some reason.

I know exactly where my Walkman is back at my parents house... but I don’t think I’ll ever be hopping onto any cassette craze 

Me neither mate. 

Nothing better than popping a cassette into the car stereo then forwarding and rewinding your tape to find the track you want before you realise you are already at your destination.

[Bluewolf]

Modern kids will never know the struggles.... 

[Spike]

1 hour ago, Bluewolf said:

Modern kids will never know the struggles.... 

I'd rather not remember the brief period of time I had a walkman, they really did suck

[Scouse_Mouse]

5 hours ago, Spike said:

I'd rather not remember the brief period of time I had a walkman, they really did suck

i know this is a thread about vinyl and maybe everyone is missing albums tapes etc but for me getting into my car or sitting outside with my Bose speaker then playing my stuff on bluetooth is so much better.

[Dr. Gonzo]

17 hours ago, Scouse_Mouse said:

i know this is a thread about vinyl and maybe everyone is missing albums tapes etc but for me getting into my car or sitting outside with my Bose speaker then playing my stuff on bluetooth is so much better.

I think the analog sound through a good preamp and a nice set of speakers in my living room is the best "sound" I can get - enough to make collecting vinyl a worthwhile hobby for me. With shite like Spotify, I basically make sure I'm only buying vinyl (because it is quite expensive if you keep buying it every couple of months) that I really love.

With digital music (btw when you buy vinyl off bandcamp.com - they often give you a download code to get a digital copy in whatever file format you want - so I usually download the flac files) has the obvious convenience factor... especially with streaming services like Spotify - I don't even need to download songs onto my phone or computer to have almost every album I'd ever want to listen to. And being able to bluetooth to those same speakers I listen to vinyl with is great (it doesn't go through my same preamp though) - it's just very nice.

You can't beat digital for convenience... but I do like analog for the whole "audiophile" experience of listening to the albums I love the most.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Also I never counted, but I have this many records (the older ones from my dad are on the right, you can tell they’re a bit older )

[Spike]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Also I never counted, but I have this many records (the older ones from my dad are on the right, you can tell they’re a bit older )

Please buy sleeves for them

[Spike]

[Scouse_Mouse]

15 minutes ago, Spike said:

Hmmmm, zoom in to see Spike's Barry Manilow collection.

[Spike]

4 minutes ago, Scouse_Mouse said:

Hmmmm, zoom in to see Spike's Barry Manilow collection.

those are in the safety deposit box

[Dr. Gonzo]

On 29/03/2021 at 13:36, Spike said:

Please buy sleeves for them

As you can see by some of them having sleeves, I'm working on it 

[Spike]

I have a lot more now, I can't remember what I own.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, Spike said:

I have a lot more now, I can't remember what I own.

Same, I've got 158 now. I had to go to Ikea recently to buy a cabinet to hold them all because our bookshelf could not handle the weight of the records anymore. I wanted something like what you've got (Kalax, I think right?) but my cats are arseholes so we got a different Ikea cabinet that's honestly less ideal but it's got doors and I put an anti-baby lock on it to keep the cats out away from them.

My wife and I have actually made an excel spreadsheet to catalogue our collection. She used to be a librarian (and misses it) and the whole vinyl collecting being very similar to comic book collecting and having lots of details that affect the value/cataloging has made it sort of a hobby for her. It keeps track of the album's catalogue #, what's written on the runout, whether it's a first press/repress/reissue, and sometimes additional notes. So she has fun keeping track of all that and I get to benefit by knowing actually what we own 

We're lucky in that there's several good record stores around us that have a good selections of new/used stuff (and I've been getting more used stuff than new tbh) - and my dad's sent me about 20-30 of the albums we've got too. And very, very rarely now - I'll order an album of ebay if I really want it but I can't find it anywhere. I've got a copy of an album I've wanted for a while coming in tonight that I'm really looking forward to giving a spin (Raven's first album "Rock Until You Drop").

[Spike]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Same, I've got 158 now. I had to go to Ikea recently to buy a cabinet to hold them all because our bookshelf could not handle the weight of the records anymore. I wanted something like what you've got (Kalax, I think right?) but my cats are arseholes so we got a different Ikea cabinet that's honestly less ideal but it's got doors and I put an anti-baby lock on it to keep the cats out away from them.

My wife and I have actually made an excel spreadsheet to catalogue our collection. She used to be a librarian (and misses it) and the whole vinyl collecting being very similar to comic book collecting and having lots of details that affect the value/cataloging has made it sort of a hobby for her. It keeps track of the album's catalogue #, what's written on the runout, whether it's a first press/repress/reissue, and sometimes additional notes. So she has fun keeping track of all that and I get to benefit by knowing actually what we own 

We're lucky in that there's several good record stores around us that have a good selections of new/used stuff (and I've been getting more used stuff than new tbh) - and my dad's sent me about 20-30 of the albums we've got too. And very, very rarely now - I'll order an album of ebay if I really want it but I can't find it anywhere. I've got a copy of an album I've wanted for a while coming in tonight that I'm really looking forward to giving a spin (Raven's first album "Rock Until You Drop").

One of the brother's in law enlisted his son to do that, except they are probably in the 1000s.

[SchalkeUK]

Having transferred my collection of 45's to CD's (app 72,000 titles) I have now found one which somehow I never sold.  Its an old Col Us 45 of Mary Martin and Son Larry (Hagman) in the original Columbia paper sleeve and probably has been played no more than three times - not quite mint but nearly!  Anyone any idea whether it is of any value?

[Spike]

7 hours ago, SchalkeUK said:

Having transferred my collection of 45's to CD's (app 72,000 titles) I have now found one which somehow I never sold.  Its an old Col Us 45 of Mary Martin and Son Larry (Hagman) in the original Columbia paper sleeve and probably has been played no more than three times - not quite mint but nearly!  Anyone any idea whether it is of any value?

https://www.discogs.com/

 

https://www.discogs.com/master/1261446-Mary-Martin-And-Her-Son-Larry-Youre-Just-In-Love-Get-Out-Those-Old-Records

About $10

 

[SchalkeUK]

Thanks - I'll keep it!

[Dr. Gonzo]

@Spike my wife and I want to upgrade from our pretty basic AT LP-60…

but she wants something that’s still fully automatic - while I don’t think those are going to be quite a big enough upgrade to be worth it (although I guess the counterweight & anti-skate & swappable cartridges are pretty big upgrades from the LP-60).

She thinks something manual would be “too hard”. But aren’t there some that have the auto-stop to avoid damaging the stylus?

My argument has been “I doubt it’s too hard, it’s how everyone used to listen to music a few decades ago”?

Is she right? Am I right? Is there a compromise we can make so I feel like we’re not wasting too much money on a minor step up?

[Spike]

8 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

@Spike my wife and I want to upgrade from our pretty basic AT LP-60…

but she wants something that’s still fully automatic - while I don’t think those are going to be quite a big enough upgrade to be worth it (although I guess the counterweight & anti-skate & swappable cartridges are pretty big upgrades from the LP-60).

She thinks something manual would be “too hard”. But aren’t there some that have the auto-stop to avoid damaging the stylus?

My argument has been “I doubt it’s too hard, it’s how everyone used to listen to music a few decades ago”?

Is she right? Am I right? Is there a compromise we can make so I feel like we’re not wasting too much money on a minor step up?

Dropping the needle is scary the first time but the needle is designed to make contact to the vinyl, so you'd have to be pretty silly to damage the needle and the vinyl. It's pretty easy to do as well, just lower it slowly with a finger, the needle will catch the vinyl and just follow through and keep lowering that finger. You'll know if you fucked up because of the immediate sound feedback. It's so simple it is one mechanical movement of the arm. I wouldn't even bother with an automatic arm, it's remarkably easy to drop the needle into the blank spots between tracks and start playing a record at any song you wish.

If you have a quality hi-fi system and listen to a lot of records don't bother with an automatic. It's a trade off between convenience and audio fidelity. 

You're flush with options, personally I love my antique Technics SL1200. Who knows how many people have used it during it's near forty year life? Doesn't matter because it is indestructible, I could probably throw it out my second story window and it'd be fine. Buy a manual, impress your friends, scare your wife away from the TT so she won't play her shitty music.

[Bluewolf]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

My argument has been “I doubt it’s too hard, it’s how everyone used to listen to music a few decades ago”?

 

42 minutes ago, Spike said:

just lower it slowly with a finger, the needle will catch the vinyl and just follow through and keep lowering that finger.

It's an art form mastered over many years of using vinyl records... extra brownie points for getting it just between the track you want to play and the one that's just finished on an album. Now that's a skill!