Tips for buying used Vinyl needed

I seek out and listen to mono recordings for the same reason I look for 78s - there is a large body of music available in these formats that you just won't find on stereo recordings. But unlike most 78s, mono LPs actually sound great. But in order to achieve the best you need to use a good (not necessarily expensive) mono cartridge. I won't go into a detailed explanation here - there are many, many previous posts that discuss this in detail.

There is a wealth of great info here. One thing I am a little surprised no one has mentioned is the fingernail test for scratches on used LP's. Gently run your fingernail across the scratch - if you can feel it, you will certainly hear it, and do not purchase the LP. If you can't feel it, this is not a guarantee that you won't hear it, but there is a good chance that you won't.

I have found this fingernail test to be much more reliable than visual inspection. Many times I have cleaned an LP that looked fine visually and then turned out to have groove damage that was not visible, even looking at it after I knew the location of the damage.

Visual inspection will also almost never reveal whether or not an LP has a great deal of surface noise from the pressing. I can't tell you how many times I have been disappointed by the RCA "shaded dogs" in this particular respect. Sometimes an LP was just pressed badly, and no amount of cleaning will fix it.

Speaking of cleaning, I agree that a RCM is a must. I also highly recommend the AIVS fluids - I have had some very good results using their three-step process.

Ditto here on a RCM with the following caveat. I have a VPI 16.5 and use the AIVS stuff and a friend has a Loricraft. We did an experiment where I cleaned a batch of records from the late 50’s to the early 60’s on my VPI. I carted the records over to my friends house where we first listened to establish a baseline and then re-cleaned the records on his Loricraft. No contest, everything sounded much better than they did using just the VPI. To ensure that it wasn’t multiple cleanings that was the cause of the improvement, I brought the records back home, re-listened again to re-establish the baseline and then re-cleaned on the VPI. I never got past the first disc as it regressed to the pre-Loricraft condition. My best guess is that the concentrated suction of the Loricraft removed more of the fluid out of the grooves. A Loricraft is on my wish list.

My best advice is to befriend collectors in your local area. I stumbled into several of these early on in my collecting life and the friendships that developed over the years have been extremely rewarding first on a personal basis and then also from a building a collection standpoint. From my experience, these guys love to play DJ and will endlessly spin records for you. These guys also tend to have large collections with duplicates that may send your way after the relationship is established. Also, these guys have years of experience and know the best sources for records.

The corollary to the above paragraph is to develop relationships/friendships with dealers. Your local collectors can help facilitate this. The benefits from this are many. Here’s a couple of things that have happened to me. The larger of these dealers will only include an item on their list for set number of times before it goes in a discard file if it hasn’t sold. How would you like to get a call from said dealer letting you know that the pile is getting large and he will sell you any disc in the pile for a buck? Yes, it does help being a good and consistent customer. Scenario number 2. Dealer gets a large batch (about 15k) of records in that’s loaded with the type of stuff you like (being a good customer, he knows what you like). The problem is the stuff in the pile doesn’t have enough value to make it worth while for the dealer to individually list so he plans to sell them in bulk to foreign buyers. You get a call that you came come and cull records out at 3 bucks a disc. Lots of fun and well worth the hours of driving required.

Thanks for the great tips, I have taken your advice and ordered the affordable VPI 16.5 RCM with sleeves and extras. I must say this thread was a pleasure to read as there is a lot of good ideas here. Especially nice to read because no one got off topic, no one hijacked the thread, and no petty pissing matches.
The Loricraft sounds nice, but out of my price range at this time.

This is indeed a wonderful thread! Adding my $0.02:

I often take a chance on less than pristine looking used vinyl if the price is right. I attend a local record show near my home every 3 months. I do most of my buying at this show. Last Sunday, I spent about $125, and came home with all kinds of great LPs, about 50 of them, plus a few CDs (guilty as charged, your honor). It's a big show with numerous vendors, so time is limited. I am there when it opens at 10 am, and usually when it closes at 4 pm.

When I see a record I want, but does not look too good, I will try to pay as little as possible for it. One vendor, when I told him I would buy about 10 LPs from him, but told him to put back a somewhat scratched one that I didn't want, just gave it to me. Heck, free is good.

As to cleaning, I can't speak about the Loricraft, which seems well reguarded here, but I have been using a KAB EV1 for several years. It costs about $160, and uses your own canister vacuum. It's like a manual version of a Nitty Gritty machine. See it at KABUSA.com. As the KAB web site says, you can spend more, and get more automated features and an internal vacuum, but your records will not get any cleaner.

Although I can appreciate the advantages of multi-step cleaning and other more labor-intensive methods, I am just too lazy to bother. When the vinyl underneath all the grime and dirt is good, it sounds wonderful on my rig.