How many plays can you get out of a good record?

Assuming you use both sides, a little shorter than McBeth.

@erik_squires 

Aye, now I understand:  Macbeth must've ruined his LP's using an old stylus, prompting this soliloquy!

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

It's not a question of tracking weight, it's a question of mistracking. Too light is as bad for records as too heavy.

I did wear out a copy of Blonde on Blonde in 1966 using my father's old Collaro player that must have been tracking at about 5g.  That was the design weight.  The whole thing started sounding like mush. I guess there must have been swarf.

I bought another one and my own turntable.

Exactly. About mistracking.

drbond,

Is your cartridge set up correctly?

Do you clean the stylus tip after every play?

Is the record stored properly?

Do you have an adequate record cleaning procedure?

Are you a smoker?

Do you handle your records without touching the groove area?

You say "a good record", but what was the initial quality of the pressing?

Do you repeat play or allow a reasonable time interval between plays?

Do you have a clean, relatively dust-free environment?

With all that I can only say that I have LPs purchased 60 years ago that are still enjoyable and distortion free to listen to.  But as any wear may have occurred my hearing resolution has declined, so I can't offer a number. ;^)