Vinyl records

Evancoyle

Hi am looking for vinyl records at good rates or free. I have a friend who teaches art to the children who make projects to sell and proceeds go to charity.
I myself collect all types of records if anyone has any taking up space I would gladly pick up and give payment .

iamstop

What do the kids do with the records? I feel I have a fairly high appreciation for art, but I find any form or are that involves destroying records as repulsive. I really really hate seeing these wanky high end store hanging records by punching holes in them for their window displays. Even if they all came from the 50c bin of a charity shop. Doesn't mean they are worthless.
Countless producers have shown us time and time again that one man's discarded gospel choir record is another man's banging hook waiting to happen.
If anyone is really interested in this type of thing there is a great short documentary called secondhand sureshots all about this idea.
Here is a short clip of it:
http://youtu.be/fT-3EHaZVss

I'm also of the school of thought that since the majority of these records will never be re-pressed, they are in fact historical artifacts. And thus, should be treated as such. Sure, there may be a few million Abba records out there that are not in demand right now, same goes for tons of xmas music, classical, and a few others but tastes swing in and out of fashion. Demand ebbs and flows.
For every record there is a would be owner somewhere in the world and sometimes you just don't know how many of that 'Classical Harp' record there is left in the world that you are about to make into a, let's be honest, fairly sh1tty fruit bowl for someones coffee table.
You may think no one cares for it but just the other day my dentist was asking me if I had any accordion records and could he borrow them to make a copy. He plays the accordion and is interested in some of the earlier recording. Even able to rattle off a whole load of names who I assume are big in that scene.
This isn't aimed at you OP, I've been thinking for a while, just seemed like an appropriate place to vent it.

Evancoyle

You got it all wrong in your little rant, I myself collect records and do my best to keep them in the best shape possible. If there are hundreds of Abba of Christmas albums they are worthless if they can't be played or enjoyed due to bad scratches or very common now is melted in the attic. These are what is required for art... If you know how to fix these please tell.
Would you not rather see small children recycle this scrap and proceeds going to a good charity than going in a skip.

Evancoyle

Would your dentist appreciate a warped scratched record?
Would your dentist like to see a child's life maybe being saved by destroying that rubbish vinyl or hold onto it as someone out there may really want it.
I hope you picked this thread up wrong and your priorities are right.
I love vinyl myself and agree with some of your comments but feel you were a bit harsh and quick to judge . Who cares if the kids make a shelf or bowl from a destroyed vinyl ....who cares what they make if it could save life.
There are thousands of vinyl collectors out there so you don't have to loose sleep about only one copy of reels and jigs left. So take a chill pill sit down with the dentist and listen to some classical .

iamstop

1st off, if the record is completely beyond repair then I see no issue with it being turned into some art. However the sleeve could be still of use to someone who had the record before and perhaps had their basement flood or something. This would destroy the sleeve but not necessarily the record.
2nd, Stop saying it's all for the kids, but the kids, children deserve to be happy etc.
Look, I want kids to be happy just as much as the next person but not at the expense of destroying something valuable beyond use. Just because they are kids doesn't grant them free reign to ruin historic artifacts. Should kids be allowed to scribble in the Book of Kells if it will make them happy? Obviously not.
Now I know you are going to say such and such record is worthless and who cares? Well the point is sometimes you just don't know. I read recently about a guy who collects early blues recordings and paid something like 35k for 1 record. There is one one other of this record in known existence, which he already owned. The one he bought was in near mint condition. There is no master tape to make copies so he bought it up to preserve it. He is going to re-release it in fact.

Maybe these records are not what you would think people would buy to sit at home and listen to but as I stated before there are countless producers who comb through old obscure records looking for samples. It may be only 2 seconds but the way a lot of these records were recorded can't be reproduced very easily. A lot of the equipment they were recorded with is scarce or now non-existent.

All I'm saying is, in this drag and drop, copy and paste world there is something to be said for preservation. Preservation of true recordings. I'm not going to get into the whole analog/digital debate. Jaysus, that's a whole other thread. Lol.





P.S. I have fixed some minor to mild scratches on records by cueing the needle just after the skip and spinning the record back manually. Repeat this a few times and you may be surprised how well it can work. The very odd time I've gone at the skip with a very fine compass needle and a magnifying glass and scrapped the skip out.
A lot of times though if you don't see the scratch where it skips it might just need a good clean to remove greasy gunky residue.

As for warped records there are loads of How-to type pages on the net. Here is just one:
http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Fix_a_Warped_Record

Niamh Morrissey

I have a collection of old 78's and vinyl. Let me know if you are still interested in collecting. Thanks