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Collecting Blue Note Jazz

I have decide to start building up a collection of Blue Note Jazz LPs, of which I have very few. What is the best way to go on what can be a sizeable investment. I am willing to spend for great music/sound quality, but cost is a factor, especially when originals are so expensive. I see many options, of which standouts include:
1. New Music Matters 45 RPM reissues.
2. Original Pressings ($$$)
3. Affordable but relatively early reissues (e.g. Blue Label, Liberty Pressings..maybe from the 70's or even early 1980s)
4. Just buy SACDs, since the LPs will not sound that great anyway.
The website www.dccblowout.com touts hot stampers. As I understand it, this site recommends shunning recent reissues and buying perhaps five or more original LPs or reissues (e.g. Blue Label) and keep the best sounding of the lot, while selling the rest. I've noticed that none of the Blue Note LPs I have so far offer sound quality on par with my LPs by the Contemporary Records label. Any recommendations? I have a pretty decent system for both LP and digital. Any advice would be much appreciated - Mark
mcmprov
grimace
624 posts
 
I'd beware of "VG+" on E-bay. You will be disappointed. There are a lot of sellers misgrading records out there. Not all but its very hit and miss. "VG+" seems to be the catch-all grade for some real crap vinyl.
mcmprov OP
57 posts
 
I've bought a few hundred LPs from ebay, mostly rated VG+. If not satisfied, I just ask for a refund. However, this is very inconvenient, and happens too frequently. Also, if someone accepts the return, I don't give them bad feedback, since I'm grateful to get my money back (ex shipping). There does not seem to be anyway around this issue. Not enough inventory on ebay is rated NM and I've even had problems with LPs rated NM. On the other hand, I've had many good buying experiences on ebay as well. I live in the Boston area, which has many great used vinyl shops. However, the employees tell me that most of the best LPs go straight to ebay...as walk in customer typical don't pay more than $30 per LP. This issue is relevant for this thread, because I guess many of the best original blue notes are probably sold on ebay.
jj2468
280 posts
 
My experience with vg+ vinyl is very similar to Grimace's report. Like a b+ insurance company rating, it often means its a "D" or an "F".

Having said that, I've found a lot of really nice NM and NM- records on eBay in the range of $5.00 to $15.00 or so. If you are in SoCal, I also recommend Atomic Records. They are on the web too, but save their more expensive stuff for eBay.
ed13
3 posts
 
Don't count on being able to find a good copy by only buying 5 versions of an album. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. I buy multiple copies of my favorite albums, clean them and try to find the best sounding copy. This can get expensive and time consuming.

I also like the P.T. Barnum approach of the Hot Stampers. I have about a dozen and purchased another this week. The sound is simply amazing on some of these. I easily have over 1000 albums but only listen to about 100 of them on a regular basis. I didn't spend the time and money to put a system together to listen to OK albums, I want to hear the best.
mcmprov OP
57 posts
 
I only aspire to own 500-600 albums in total, all of which I listen to enough to know pretty well, but not too well. I want to focus on getting the best sounding LP, with great music. If they don't sound great, might as well get a much more convenient digital version. Beyond this number, I think LPs get unwieldly to organize, store, and maintain quality control (for sound quality and condition). With Blue Notes, it might theoretically be easier to find a "hot stamper", since fewer LPs pressed in the first place and maybe superior quality control. Anyway, I'm just getting started with this BN collection. I'll experience a bit with all of the approaches and report back my findings. Even if I pick up a few sonic duds along the way, the music on this label seems maintain a very high level of quality.
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