Where can I buy Vinyl Records? Please recommend.

Does anyone know where I can buy Vinyl Records?

I saw this place but never bought from them. http://www.musicstack.com/

Please recommend.

I started collecting vinyls and today I went to the store and bought my first batch. I'm planning on putting an ad in the local paper to search for people selling their collections.

My goal is to get as many as I can, even a room full wont be a bad idea.

I need a hobby and this is a great way for me to get "decompressed" but the main reason is the sound. I love the sound of Vinyls, nothing can beat that.

I lost my collection in the past because I was a nomad, this is the longest I have ever lived in any country, so now I have settled - I can start putting a collection together.

The way people are mastering/Recording music today just don't meet my listening standards.

What I need now is a player. I don't want a recent player like something made in recent years. I would love to get one of those big ass player that looks like a freaking casket. This way I'm getting all original sound.

I have seen a few on craig's list and hoping to get one.

This may sound crazy but I'm really excited and can't wait to light a cigar, open a beer and start listening to "real sound."

AI

assuming that you are still in the Twin Town area - you might try Craig's list or the City papers for collections. Mpls became a center of the record business because it was home to two rackjobbers and a handful of national chains over the years.

Because of that concentration you had both an active retail market and a disproportionate number of people who were getting comped on dj copies of everything. Those collections may be ripe for plucking. (Have you ever moved records? You don't forget that. )

Otherwise, I am sure that you will still find dealers somewhere on Lake St. or in the college neighborhoods of St. Paul. Get to know what they have. If you actually start buying collections you may want to move some sideways.

ebay is where I amassed a sizeable collection.

I recently went to a garage sale (actually a house sale where everything in the house was for sale). Tucked away in one corner of one of the rooms were stacks of records, mostly classical (which I am not familiar enough with to enjoy), but, mixed in were some interesting black New Orleans jazz recordings. In total there were about 250 records. I went to the person running the sale for the owners (moved into a nursing home) and said that I thought the records looked "interesting" but that I wasn't that familiar with the contents and would like to gamble on their purchase. I offered $20 for the lot and they said "take them away", so I did. I have enjoyed some of the jazz stuff and haven't had the time to listen to much else.

As for the Twin Cities, I used to work for Pickwick International when they were there. They were the world's largest record distributor and had their own label doing KTel type greatest hits stuff. I worked for Pickwick Records in their remastering studio. Pickwick also owned the Musicland chain and Sam Goodys' record stores. If you are infact still in the Twin Cities you should try to hunt down some records of some good midwest music on the Soma or some of the other local labels from years gone by. Soma was started by the Heilicher Brothers, who eventually sold their distribution business to what became Pickwick. Soma is Amos backwards, Amos being one of the two brothers.

I still have my complete collection from when I started collecting in 1970. Figure the longer I hold on to it the more of my investment I may get back. May need it when I retire with the way the economy is going.

Every city has an old school record store. Amoeba style. www.amoeba.com/

Here in San Diego it's Lou's Records. www.lousrecords.com/

I'm sure your town has one or two as well. Ask the young music clerk at your local Barnes & Noble. They'll be aware of where the store is because most likely it will be the place they really wanted to work at but it had no openings.

My absolute favorite record store - which of course also sells CDs - is Aquarius Records in San Francisco. And yes, they're online. WARNING: they mostly specialize in sort of unusual or off-the-beaten-path music, albeit of seemingly every genre. Lots of international, folk, death metal, weird {censored}, dub, psychedelic, country, and other stuff.

Amoeba has tons of vinyl.

eBay is a great place to search for vinyl.

Dusty Grooves has tons of vinyl also, and are online.

I seem to get most of my vinyl from either eBay or Dusty Grooves for some reason, but I get some when I go to Amoeba in Hollywood and a little from Aquarius. I mostly buy CDs from Aquarius, for whatever reason.

New or used vinyl? Even my local Fred Meyer's music section is carrying new vinyl now. Pretty much every independent music store in my area also carries vinyl records.

As far as a turntable, there's nothing wrong with new ones. It would probably be hard to get much better than a Technics 1200 (whatever the latest model is). There's a reason they have been the DJ's favorite for years.

I bought a $100 Numark belt-drive turntable last year, and it sucked right out of the box. The speed isn't very steady. It's not really noticeable when I listen to my classic rock records, but when I put on a trance or techno record that has a synth pad for a few seconds, the pitch of the chord definitely fluctuates. If you're looking for superior playback, get a direct-drive turntable.

Flea markets, thrift stores like Goodwill. Used record stores. Get off your Internet-based ass and scout around your town. You may have to sort through a lot of Montovani and Leslie Gore in order to find the Miles Davis or Chuck Berry, but that's what collectors do. You said you had started a collection - go for it.

Well thanks everyone.

On Saturday I will be traveling with a co-worker to look at his grandfather Jukebox. Okay, my co-worker is about 60 years and if this belongs to his "grandfather" then it must have been made between 1940 to 19 70 which is great. He tells me it's looks like a little closet.

I'm very excited, because this may have the tube circuit or the earlier transistors. My family had one of these when I was a kid - it was huge with a turn table and an eight track tape deck and sounded like butter - just warm smooth and silky.

I'll take some pictures and post it when I see this thing of Saturday.

Thanks for all the recommendations, we also have a store here in Minnesota call Electrofetus. http://www.electricfetus.com/

They have been around for quite a while.

Thanks Mike - I'm ready for record diving, you are right, that's the way to do it, I'll go out there and dig but I also need other sources, I'm looking every where.

Thanks everyone.

AI

I totally and wholeheartedly agree with Mike. I've been DJing since 88 and producing sample based music since 94. I have a collection of close to 5,000 records. All of the best finds (quality and price) I've had have been at flea markets and thrift shops. Internet sites and record stores are only to be used as a last resort IMO.

Regarding the turntable, I would also recommend a Technics 1200, a one time purchase that will last you your whole life. It's a beautifully engineered and designed piece of gear (except for the RCA cables which may need replacing if you are moving them around a lot).

Let me know if you need any help/tips/etc.

Take care,

Jason

Exactly. The search is definitely a huge part of my record collecting hobby. It's almost like treasure hunting.

A big one, if you are *really* into collecting, are swap meets. There are specific record swap meets, of course, but there are also many swap meets that sell everything, including swap meets. Around Los Angeles, there are several, but the PCC (Pasadena Community College) swap meet is a good one for record hunting. Be prepared to do a lot of crate digging, as it's affectionately called by record collectors. And get there early!