Help me build a vinyl collection instantly!

April 26, 2009 4:02 PM

What's the best way of building a vinyl record collection if you know what you want?

I'll be ponying up for some proper stereo equipment shortly, and although I have an excellent collection of music on CD and MP3, I will also include a turn-table in my purchase and as such would like to get a choice selection of my favourite albums on vinyl. Given that I know exactly which albums I want (ranging from Miles Davis to James Brown, Beastie Boys to Fugazi), what's the best route for me to get these albums in one shot, preferably in excellent condition.

P.S. Should I be making sure I get 180g/200g vinyls?

posted by furtive to media & arts (11 comments total)

It depends if you want to buy used or new LPs. Miles, James Brown, Fugazi and Beastie Boys albums should be mostly readily available new. Amazon (but not Amazon.ca) has a reasonable selection. You could also try to find a seller on eBay who has the kind of records you are looking for and ask them do to a special order for the whole list of the records you want (I used to sell records on eBay and often did large special orders). Gemm is another good place to look for both new and used LPs.

I would not bother with the heavier weight LPs. It is better to spend the extra cash on more LPs rather than thicker vinyl.
posted by ssg at 4:29 PM on April 26

2nding Gemm. I personally think you should visit your local record stores and see what they can do for you. If you've got the money to buy all new, you could definitely special order stuff through your record store. Keep in mind, though, not everything is available on vinyl, at least not new. Definitely check out Gemm for your out of print stuff.

Good luck!
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 4:57 PM on April 26

GEMM is not going to help here due to the inevitability that some number of records you want will only be available at extortionate prices, which is a failing of GEMM. I'm not talking about a few dollars here and there, I'm talking about a typical $1 record, such as James Brown's "Gravity," being listed for considerably more than that. GEMM is only useful if you know exactly what you want and how much it should cost, it is not a reliable indicator of current prices or availability. I'll reiterate: GEMM is bad for this.

For you, I would start by getting as many reissues as possible right now. They are typically priced only 1-2x the price of CD, have a good chance of being available online, and you'll be getting a sealed copy with (probably) heavier vinyl. You can get older pressings later on if you want, but I think you'll appreciate starting off with known quantities rather than having to deal with EBay problems because your Miles Davis sleeve arrives with a Celine Dion LP inside of it.
posted by rhizome at 6:32 PM on April 26

GEMM is what you want when you want to buy the last Klatu album you need for their complete catalog.

What I would do is keep a list of stuff, check out local record stores (and if you can hit a record fair or record swap, you can pick up an assload of these at once, usually), and keep alerts on eBay.

I'd also mention a couple of things: There's a lot of stuff that's not in print as vinyl, which means that you're not only going to have to know what titles you want, but what editions, etc. Mixing changes as things get reissued, even on vinyl. You also have to decide how much you want to spend per album, what condition you want things in (getting that Kind of Blue in Mint is going to be a little harder and much more expensive than getting a Very Fine with a waterlogged sleeve).

There are two more things that I'd mention here: while finding vinyl has become immeasurably easy since the internet, it's not the same as the instant gratification mindset that pervades mp3s (I was vaguely curious about ELP's Love Beach this afternoon, so I downloaded it, listened, and deleted it all in the space of about an hour). Even stuff that's acknowledged as classic can take some work to find—sometimes more work, because everyone knows it's classic, especially if you're on a budget. The other thing I'd mention is that vinyl collecting is a hobby, man. It takes work and effort, just like putting together model trains. It's great that you know what you want, but you're still gonna have to hunt for it unless you want to pay someone else to. I've worked with some professional vinyl hunters, and it's not as easy as it looks (though finding Check Your Head will be a million times easier than tracking down a white label of "Blue Monday" dubs or 45s from Motown subsidiaries), even though it's always been something that I'd love to do if I could get paid for it, despite the asthma and back pain.
posted by klangklangston at 7:05 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

Oh, and with regard to the 180g/200g vinyl, well, how often are you going to be playing it? For the vast majority of albums, they're already pressed at a decent rate. The only time it's worth it to bump up is, like, the Sons of Yma comp which was originally pressed on vinyl that you could practically see through. Original copies always look warped and sound fuzzy, but the reissues are pretty rich and nice. Or if you're going to be scratching off of it, I've heard that the heavier-weight stuff holds up better and has a longer life in the crates.
posted by klangklangston at 7:09 PM on April 26

My roommate and I often frequent pawn shops and the likes to search for records. They're usually not more than a few dollars each, but it's rare that we find anything worth buying, at least in his case. It's still a fun thing to do though.
posted by Geppp at 7:16 PM on April 26

In-print Fugazi albums are available direct from Dischord, brand new for about $11 each. Buying direct from them as opposed to from your LRS or online retailer gives the band the most money. Same goes for most independently released albums.

For classic albums that you're fine with re-issues of, I'd recommend labels like Classic Vinyl and Sundazed. I was listening to my Sundazed release of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band's first album today, actually. It sounds fantastic. I picked it up used at the best used record store in Toronto for C$12. I don't think they do mail order though.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 7:55 PM on April 26

Oh, and not that you asked, but if you haven't bought a turntable yet, I'd recommend Craigslist or eBay. I bought two turntables in the past month--a brand new music hall for $200 and a Rega Planar 3 with RB300 tonearm ($300). New these tables are about C$600 and $1000 respectively.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 8:07 PM on April 26

Just for reference, this site shows you how much others have paid for certain records on eBay.

POPSIKE
posted by cloeburner at 6:13 AM on April 27

Take a vacation to Portland, OR.
posted by wcfields at 10:57 AM on April 27

Beastie Boys just re-released Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head, and they're offering 180g vinyl as an option ($24), if you want to buy direct.
posted by Dean King at 1:29 PM on April 27