2nd Hand Vinyls - How to Choose

[AdamAnt316]

I agree with everything that "dcmfan" stated. Also, for visible deep scratches, I lightly feel with my fingertip and run perpendicular over to the visible scratch--if I feel it--it's a no-go. If I do not feel it, I further test it by running my fingernail flat and ever so gently to sense a ruptured ridge. If it has ridge--that will definitely make "pop" when playing--the LP or 45 is also disqualified. If I do not feel it, the surface noise would be minimal (if any)--and I deem it to be a calculated risk to buy. I tend to focus on Near Mint and Very Good Plus. On occasion, the Very Good and Fair rated LPs can be 'lil' diamonds in the rough, per se. Good hunting!

Good advice. A record collector once told me that, if you can feel the edges of the scratch, it may be possible to use your fingernail to polish down the edges a bit to reduce the severity of the heard scratch. Basically the same motion used to find the scratch, but a bit more vigorous. Won't be perfect, but it might not be as bad as it originally would've sounded when played before the 'repair'.
-Adam

 

[travellersol]

I don't have a lot of Japanese pressings, but the ones I have are simply excellent in every way.

May I know which online stores you used to buy these Japanese records?

 

[kermit z]

I use Discogs for Japanese pressings.

 

[Frank Sol]

It's an old Rega Planar 3 with RB300 arm. Any characteristics that I should know about this table?

TT and arm are just fine IF functioning correctly and with properly aligned cart/stylus -- Would not worry about it

 

[travellersol]

I use Discogs for Japanese pressings.

I am looking at the site now, but how do I know if each piece they sell is new or used? I am more inclined to buy used due to budget limitation.

 

[travellersol]

TT and arm are just fine IF functioning correctly and with properly aligned cart/stylus -- Would not worry about it

Thanks for the advice. I have a specialist around who can check gears for me so should be alright.

 

[Guest126]

Not too hard to see. Of course if its sealed then there should be a return policy. If the album is unsealed then:
1. Record should be clean, and no warps.
2. The album should be something that you like. It is always a gamble when you buy a title or artist that's unknown. Nothing worse than an album that plays cleanly but the music is unpleasing.

 

[Joel66]

I am looking at the site now, but how do I know if each piece they sell is new or used? I am more inclined to buy used due to budget limitation.

If it's New, it should state that it's M or Mint. Once in a while, I'll see one that is still sealed but has a rating of NM (Near Mint) for the cover due to having shelf wear.

 

[patient_ot]

I don't what it's like in Malaysia, but over here in the U.S. a lot of shops are selling common pressings of common classic rock albums in less than VG+ condition for inflated prices. The shops do this because more noobs are jumping into the vinyl trend every day. My best advice is to avoid spending too much on used records when you are starting out. That way if you make a mistake on an album that looked good under the shop's dim light or whatever but turned out to be a lemon you won't be out a lot of $. I would try to set a limit under $10 per LP if you can for used vinyl, at least until you get more familiar with some of the inspection techniques that have been discussed here. It's also not a bad idea to bring a small flashlight with you to inspect vinyl in shops. As convenient as online buying is, the best way to buy used records is still in person at a record store, IME/IMHO. Oh, and get to know the shop's reputation for returns. If you get a bum record with a repeating skip in it or something, are they are going to take it back no questions asked, or are they going to hem and haw and give you static about it, refuse a return/exchange,etc.? I've learned to avoid shops that do the latter.

RE: Discogs, it can be a crapshoot w/r/t grading. Overgrading is general is rampant on Discogs. So if something is listed as NM-, it might be VG+ or worse. If a record is listed as VG+, it might be more like VG or even G+ and so on. The seller rating system is helpful but there are ways to game that and like I said, more new people are getting into this hobby every day and they might not be keen on giving a seller a bad rating even when they deserve it. My tactic is to ask questions from sellers and only buy 1 or 2 records if the seller is new to me, usually inexpensive records. If the seller won't answer basic questions about an item's condition or if it is the correct edition (lots of sellers listing stuff wrong as well) I simply move on to a different seller. Where people often get burned is ordering a truckload of LPs from a seller they're unfamiliar with because the prices are low and they want to combine shipping to save money.

 

[meggy]

I am new to vinyl {vinyls --> slashed}.

Since you're just starting to build a collection, I'd advise getting together some sort of record cleaning system that involves a scrubbing brush, fluid, and a method to vacuum off the junk. Do some searching here for all kinds of affordable options.

When you have that tool and hear the before and after results, it will change the way you shop & select used vinyl. Without it, you might pass up a lot of potentially great records if you base selection solely on visual perceptions.

 

[Djcoolray]

Sounds like allot of work if you can’t see how deep the scratches are, cleaning records just to find out if they are trash. All my originals are just as quiet as new.....

But now a day finding cherry viny is like finding a needle in a hay stack !!

 

[meggy]

^ It just gives you a better understanding of the scale of what you may or may not be willing to tolerate when decision making based on visually inspecting $1 -$5 records. Based on dollar bin selections only, with very little visual inspection (basically making sure they're not cracked or have a 16 penny nail gouges), I have a cleanup to audible NM ratio of 2 in 5, VG (+ - ) 2 in 5 and junker 1 in 5.

 

[travellersol]

I don't what it's like in Malaysia, but over here in the U.S. a lot of shops are selling common pressings of common classic rock albums in less than VG+ condition for inflated prices. The shops do this because more noobs are jumping into the vinyl trend every day. My best advice is to avoid spending too much on used records when you are starting out. That way if you make a mistake on an album that looked good under the shop's dim light or whatever but turned out to be a lemon you won't be out a lot of $. I would try to set a limit under $10 per LP if you can for used vinyl, at least until you get more familiar with some of the inspection techniques that have been discussed here. It's also not a bad idea to bring a small flashlight with you to inspect vinyl in shops. As convenient as online buying is, the best way to buy used records is still in person at a record store, IME/IMHO. Oh, and get to know the shop's reputation for returns. If you get a bum record with a repeating skip in it or something, are they are going to take it back no questions asked, or are they going to hem and haw and give you static about it, refuse a return/exchange,etc.? I've learned to avoid shops that do the latter.

RE: Discogs, it can be a crapshoot w/r/t grading. Overgrading is general is rampant on Discogs. So if something is listed as NM-, it might be VG+ or worse. If a record is listed as VG+, it might be more like VG or even G+ and so on. The seller rating system is helpful but there are ways to game that and like I said, more new people are getting into this hobby every day and they might not be keen on giving a seller a bad rating even when they deserve it. My tactic is to ask questions from sellers and only buy 1 or 2 records if the seller is new to me, usually inexpensive records. If the seller won't answer basic questions about an item's condition or if it is the correct edition (lots of sellers listing stuff wrong as well) I simply move on to a different seller. Where people often get burned is ordering a truckload of LPs from a seller they're unfamiliar with because the prices are low and they want to combine shipping to save money.

In Malaysia records are not as commonly found as in the US, and secondhand ones are even rarer and the range is much more limited, plus the prices not as low as in the West, so my best bet is to go to buy in Hong Kong or Japan, or buy them online.

Thanks very much for the advice, I will use them certainly. How about buying from members here in the Barter Town?

 

[travellersol]

Since you're just starting to build a collection, I'd advise getting together some sort of record cleaning system that involves a scrubbing brush, fluid, and a method to vacuum off the junk. Do some searching here for all kinds of affordable options.

When you have that tool and hear the before and after results, it will change the way you shop & select used vinyl. Without it, you might pass up a lot of potentially great records if you base selection solely on visual perceptions.

yeah I am planning to buy a set of ultra sonic cleaner from China, cost around $200+.

 

[patient_ot]

In Malaysia records are not as commonly found as in the US, and secondhand ones are even rarer and the range is much more limited, plus the prices not as low as in the West, so my best bet is to go to buy in Hong Kong or Japan, or buy them online.

Thanks very much for the advice, I will use them certainly. How about buying from members here in the Barter Town?

I have never used Barter Town. From the videos I've seen, I'm sure Hong Kong and Japan are great for record shopping if you can go there in person. There are some record shops in Japan that have a good reputation for selling online also. I've only ever bought CDs via Japanese mailorder and online. Can't remember if I ever got anything from Hong Kong...

 

[patient_ot]

yeah I am planning to buy a set of ultra sonic cleaner from China, cost around $200+.

Read up on those Ultrasonic machines. Many people use them in conjunction with a vac-based RCM, so they don't seem to be a 100% replacement for one, especially if the records are quite dirty.

 

[Balifly]

In Malaysia records are not as commonly found as in the US, and secondhand ones are even rarer and the range is much more limited, plus the prices not as low as in the West, so my best bet is to go to buy in Hong Kong or Japan, or buy them online.

Thanks very much for the advice, I will use them certainly. How about buying from members here in the Barter Town?

How about Singapore, have a look there too!

Heard on the grapevine (internet vine) that there are now several new stores in town.

 

[heavyrock]

I don't have a lot of Japanese pressings, but the ones I have are simply excellent in every way. Especially the technical pressing quality seems superior, spindle holes absolutely spot on centered etc - often when I grab one of them, my first thought is this is how every record should've been done. But admittedly the sample size is rather small... still, I've yet to see a Japanese pressing that was substandard.

I don't know how many Japanese pressings I have, several hundred at least. I do have a couple though that do sound terrible. One is a Black Sabbath compilation. the other I forget at the moment, it just sounded muddy. In both cases I'm fairly certain it was not the Japanese mastering/pressing process at fault but the audio source used. In general Japanese pressings are always a pleasure to own and listen to. The quality is readily apparent once you have enough of them to compare them against the rest of the world.

That being said, records made in Germany tend to always sound fantastic. Over the years I've heard brasil get a bad rap but they knew how to cut records back in the day. Often the problem is the records were played on low quality gear, tearing them up. But clean examples can sound perfect.

 

[vmartell]

"Vinyls" controversy aside (my opinion, is wrong and the guilty should be flogged with an spaghetti noodle) - Two things I would like to add

1) Check for warp-age - either play it in the test tables, if the shop has them or do you best to look at it edgewise
2) If buying some pricier stuff, check the matrix number so you know you are getting what you are being sold - one time I decided to go for a supposedly japanese pressing of "Wind and Wuthering". Upon inspecting the record it did not look like a japanese pressing - the label was all wrong. Upon checking the matrix number, indeed american pressing, and not a very special one.. Took it back to the counter, and guy at the counter gave me a totally ridiculous condescending spiel about a little detail on the label indicating it was a japanese pressing... I had to put my foot down - guy, believe it or not, did not know about matrix numbers and how they can be used to identify records (not vinyls)..

 

[Ken Boyd]

I think Japanese vinyl is often over rated, Good European vinyl and good old USA is best.

And as far as looking at a record to see how deep the grooves are, that's a new one to me. Unless the poster was referring to scratches, and if that is the case, I would pass on anything with a scratch, period.

The slightest of scratches will be heard, if you have a decent system. if your needle won't pick up a scratch it sure wont pick up the smallest of modulations, and those are the details. The small modulations you won't see, so if you can see a scratch you should hear it.

And really experience is the best teacher, you can't help but learn over time with enough experience.