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The end of LP collecting????

I don't know about most of you but I am a joe six pack fince kind of guy and it bums me out that I keep seeing prices of equipment becaome more and more rediculous.That's why, say with amplification I ike a companies like Quicksilver,Rogue,VTL etc where just getting a set up that sound sbetter than mid-fi (and of course there budget companies for source compenet and spoeakers) where buying their products does not insult your inteliigence,But being a guy whao over tha past 6 years ghhas amazzes a pretty decent collection of LP's off EBAY the party seesms to be over.Yes we all wish we bought items before we di (Micorsoft in '83) or a split window Corvette jst to store away the wholeLP thing at least one ebay (which dtermines prices at shows and shops) the prices over the past 12 or pwerhaps 18 months has just gotten totally out of hand.Lp's that could get over the couple of years say $60 in mint conditon (like a Prestige Miles) not regularly go for $100..Bassically prices have doubled or trippled in one year.I know supply /demand but the supply has been static but I find it weird that everyone and his cousin finally disocvered Ebay even though it's been a forum for years.Blue Notesin particular have eneded up primarily Japan for quite some time but now the prices have just gobne nuts.Yes a goofd copy of a lowproduction item like Tina Brooks (made propular by the Mosaic set wheu\ic revived (or in fact started his fame-read his bio it was sad a talented guy who recorded as a dideman for a few Blue Note guys like McLean,Hubbard, or Burrell) but he himself recoded 4 LP's for Lyon and Wollf.But sales were so poor with the first titled "True Blue" that the other 3 staid in the can until Cuscuna brought them out on Mosaic.all of a suden copies would reguarlly go for $1500 when 10 yeas before they were bought for $5 in some cut out bin.But now a regular Mobley 1500 series LP will go for $2K.Barney Wilen excellent (Buy it for $8 on CD on Vogue) goes for $2500.And jusyt last week I sawa Sihab Shihab "With The Dabish Radio Orchestra ": go for $1800 pounds.You do the conversion.Iam satisfied with my $25 CD re-issue.But it's all taken the fun out of it for me siunce the priceing ( three or four players WILL get an LP they want no matter what.I guess if I was woth a few million I woulkd be that guy.I am only glad that since 1995 or so with 2 bit K2 [processing CD's are finally soundiong acceptable not terribel like they did for the fisrt fifteen years of "the ultimate media".And some red book CD's sound as good as SACD's.Still there is nothing more depressing than wanmting a say Prestige LP and only having the CD otion (foget the OJC LP's.Re-melt wax combine with re-melt something that has made LP's in general suck sinc the late 60's).Thank goodness for comapines like Clasic Records which have made soemre-0issue using original tapes,stampers etc and in some cases sound as f\good as the oru\iginal LP>And then there are comanies like Mapple shade which use no board for EQ,compression, etc-no board at all just mike to tape.Then there is the Japanese comany Venus whose "24 Bit Hyper Magnum Sound" is incredible either on CD or LP.Take the terrrfic Archie Shepp Ballad LP's like "True Blue","Tru Romance' etc (four in all I think)The Lp's have a great tactile sound and warmth that only Lp's cab provide but of course you lose some of the fdynamic range you get with CD's.And all of this from digital tape so nobody can tell me that LP'scan only sound good with analogue tape-these LP's are great.I stopped running the jazz section of CD stereo equipment store 4 years ago and just before i left did CVD's start to sound "right".SACD's,DVD Audio,BlueLight or other digital formats maybe the salvation for a guy like me.But there some of my jazz Lp's that maybe got pressed in a few hundred companies and I am doubtfull all of them will make it to market.So maybe I should just borrow my freinds trumpet and play taps for my beloved hobby.The groove factor of the cover srt and it's size,finding a clean flat edge preesing with adep grove with "Rudy Van Gelder" and the little "ear mark(swirl) that indicated a fuisrt press well it's a pleasure that isn't going to vcome down the pipe that ofetn and while I like the fact that mire and mre folks seem to be digging the "New Thing" that is now 40 or 50 years old great the recent spike of LP's is just plain depressing.
Chazzbo
chazzbo
qdrone
1,039 posts
 
I have been collecting records since around 1967. I have collected in bulk with the thought of selling off when i retire. This is still my plan. I have albums i love and would never part with but I have albums that have never been opened and I see what they go for on Ebay.
When Cd's were the rage Fantasy Records sold their ENTIRE wherehoused Vinyl jazz catalog to some dentist in the mid west who sent me a catalog and was dumping OJC, Prestige and Riverside at 2.99 a pop. From Coltrane to Red Garland I loaded up on over 2000.00 dollars worth. 95% are still sealed. Blue Notes the 1992 Japanese limited issue where if you bought the entire set you recieved a ticket and if you sent it in you got a copy of some rare Vinyl recording of jackie mcClean or something like that I got em all. Even if I play them they are mint because i take care of my records.
One day I will sell the ones that don't interest me. I don't know how this guy got my address I suspect from the gentleman in Layrel Canyon that I was buying the Japanese Blue Notes from but to this day I thank my lucky stars that catalog was in my mailbox.
Chazzbo all I can tell you is what everyone else has told you look in thrift shops,garage sales,estate sales hell call em on the phone ask em if they have records,hell ask if they have stereo equipment sometimes people don't know what they have.I bought an Original Pressing of Miles Davis Live at the Blackhawk Vol. 1 in mint condition at a state fair in butte county for 35 cents in 1983. Whenever you travel grab a phone book and look up records go down there and talk to the people ask where you can get Vinyl. You'll never know what you will find.
Good Luck

opalchip
355 posts
 
Here's a recent example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4793089242&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Sheesh!!!!
r_f_sayles's avatar
r_f_sayles
872 posts
 
DEATH To The LP!?
Just toke a quick reality check on the current state of the record collecting situation on the bay (US) only, here are some stats:

Total LPs 64,270 (as compared to 1559 CDs/ 706 SACDs)

5,533 said to be MINT

7,004 said to be SEALED

and 6,805 45RPMs

And if you were looking for a complete Classical library in one purchase:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4795041618&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT
(This just backs up what I was saying earlier in this thread unfortunately about record ownership being temporal.)

Heck, With my collection nearing that of Elizabeth's it would seem that some find great value in this dusty old imperfect medium.

I would guess our hobby is just about died... ;^)
Long Live the Long Play!
Happy listening!
skyeenter
1 posts
 
chazzbo,

guess the six pack got to you joe, 'cause the way you were hammering on the keys you would think they were bad notes coming from an old upright 88, mottled through with slamming the can down hard on the low C.

While I tried to stay with you and make it through your thinking I kinda gave up. It reminded me of tending bar and listening to people slur their words the more they drank. But at least you didn't commit the other mortal sin of bad internet posts, ALL CAPS.

About the album pricing issue, back in the day some one bought 1 share of Qualcomm for $600.00. So, about the DUSKO GOJKOVIC Slavic Mood LP, am I missing something here or is this something I can't live with out and need to whizz away $415 on it. 'Course, some poor bas**d in Bangladesh lives for a year off the sum of that LP and doesn't know it exists. (Pearls before swine, don't you think, or don't cha?)

But's we gots our priorities. Right! And we can spend our money the way we want. Now add to that, what about poor ol' Dusko himself. I suspect he might not have seen a total of $415 from that album either. But that's what makes the world an interesting place.

Me, I just picked up a clean copy of Bitches Brew at my neighbor's garage sale for $3.00. And I think I paid way too much.

I will agree, the thrift stores have gotten out of hand. Where I use to get amps, TT's, CD players and other electronics for the cheap now their prices are reflecting ebays. For example, Advent Original's for $20.00 five years ago, now going for $80.00. Not long ago I saw a Pioneer Pl 516 TT selling for a ridiculous $129.95 at my favorite thrifty.

To make this point clearer, I use to have rear room access to one of the thrifties in my city and could direct the attention of an item to the "marker" who would put it on the floor while I was still in the shop. (Mind you nothing shady was going on, just a little help from a friend. I always paid their price and up front too.) Now those items don't make it to the floor. They are being put on ebay instead. So lately I'm mostly finding the typical Best Buy consumer junk there too.

Although I did find a nice pair of Morduant Short MS 35Ti's and MS 15Ti's, with Monster Cable for $75.00 last month, because I don't think they knew what they had. What was disgusting is they had the the tuner from this setup, an below average Rotel 830, going for $59.95, and an Audionics CC 2 amp, temptingly over priced at $175.00. Now if the entire package was $175.00 that would have been a different story. But as far as I'm concerned these were not bargain prices. At these prices, the initial cost cannot justify the inherent risk of spending that much on an antiquated obsolete amp with limited replacement parts, no guarantee of working and no way to set up and test at store. 'Course I could of waited until Tuesday when they offer senior discounts of 25% off. But then it's no deal either.

So I going to paraphrase chazboo in this respect, thrifties are going the way of the past for cheap electronics.
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
Nah, my solution makes $sen$e...
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