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Culling the vinyl collection is tougher than I expected

Mingo

Mingo

stranger in a strange land
Subscriber
A couple years ago I culled about 200 albums from my collection, leaving about 700. Since I rarely listen to vinyl any more, I figured it is time to get down to about 100 or so albums. The first 200 were easy, additional cuts are hard! Do I really need all my classic rock or anything that I can easily stream? I plan to keep any rarities or obscure titles but I'm finding it hard to get rid of albums that I've had for 40+ years. I know that it's just stuff but I keep moving albums from the 'go' pile to the 'keep' pile. I'm also debating whether to just give it all away or try to sell for a minimal value. Anyone else have the same problem?
 
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Mingo said:
Do I really need all my classic rock or anything that I can easily stream?
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No of course not. But this isn’t really about need, is it?

A persons record collection is a persons history, in a way.
And if I got rid of it all, what happens if I want to listen to the classic Los Almiradores album ‘Bongos, Bongos, Bongos’ on the Command label? Try finding that on You Tube!

I have records that have tics and pops, and I know why that noise is there, 35 years after the fact.
 
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Yep, same problem here. I'm trying to use Discogs to sort things out.
I have folders set up so I can move LP's around between them

LPs to rip - for anything I can't find a digital copy of

LPs to sell - for anything I have a digital copy of and no emotional attachment

Haven't sold anything yet. My first choice was to check with family members to see if any kids/grandkids were into vinyl. I would have given them away, but no takers. At some point I will probably drop off a pile at the local "Recycled Records" for pennies on the dollar (store credit). I don't want to go through the hassle of selling online, and figure it's time for someone else to enjoy them.

Good Luck!
 
I am down to about 175ish keepers, which will be culled some more. I use the friends and family route of disposal. Both of my daughters will always take something, then I move to my 2 nephews that are into it, then it's my daughter's friends.

I was the enabler for all those mentioned above. When I decided I did not need a bunch of shelf queen gears I gave away 6 complete systems.
 
kirk57 said:
No of course not. But this isn’t really about need, is it?

A persons record collection is a persons history, in a way.
And if I got rid of it all, what happens if I want to listen to the classic Los Almiradores album ‘Bongos, Bongos, Bongos’ on the Command label? Try finding that on You Tube!

I have records that have tics and pops, and I know why that noise is there, 35 years after the fact.
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You can always find Command records on my non-monetized channel.
 
TPettenati said:
Yep, same problem here. I'm trying to use Discogs to sort things out.
I have folders set up so I can move LP's around between them

LPs to rip - for anything I can't find a digital copy of

LPs to sell - for anything I have a digital copy of and no emotional attachment

Haven't sold anything yet. My first choice was to check with family members to see if any kids/grandkids were into vinyl. I would have given them away, but no takers. At some point I will probably drop off a pile at the local "Recycled Records" for pennies on the dollar (store credit). I don't want to go through the hassle of selling online, and figure it's time for someone else to enjoy them.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...
There is a new sub forum here for giving stuff away to fellow AKers.
 
Mingo said:
Do I really need all my classic rock or anything that I can easily stream?
Click to expand...
Big problem with streaming is that a person behind a keyboard has probably been tinkering around with the sound, isolating the vocals and then applying computerized vocal "improvements" that completely destroy the original sound/emotion of the vocalist. This abomination is then presented to you on a streaming platform.

Most modern music has had pitch correction/vocal tuning and other computerized effects applied. It all sounds fake to me.
 
jqp said:
Big problem with streaming is that a person behind a keyboard has probably been tinkering around with the sound, isolating the vocals and then applying computerized vocal "improvements" that completely destroy the original sound/emotion of the vocalist. This abomination is then presented to you on a streaming platform.

Most modern music has had pitch correction/vocal tuning and other computerized effects applied. It all sounds fake to me.
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Thats a pretty broad brush stroke :idea:
 
After sitting unused for years and years and years, I gave my entire vinyl collection to my daughter for Christmas several years ago. I'm not sure how much use they're getting now.

After deciding to cull my CD collection, I struggled to find many takers. Since most of what I listen to now is either streaming a couple of radio stations or MP3's, my CD's were turning mostly into dust collectors.
I managed to give some away to members of the Wednesday "old man's breakfast club" but still had a bunch left over.

I tried to donate the rest to the local library only to be told they didn't have an A/V section and they really weren't interested. The library in Belize City does but that's over two hours each way so that wasn't happening.
There is a guy I pass on my to/from town and he's always got stuff for sale in his yard. So I stopped one day, introduced myself and offed the rest to him gratis.
 
GChief said:
Thats a pretty broad brush stroke :idea:
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Any music that has been pitch corrected/vocal tuned etc. needs to have a discalimer stating such so that the user knows exactly what they are buying or listening to.

Any concert you are attending should have the same disclaimer.

Probably time for someone to begin teaching classes on how to identify non-pitch corrected versus pitch corrected music. I will be the first to sign up.
 
Mingo said:
I know that it's just stuff but I keep moving albums from the 'go' pile to the 'keep' pile. I'm also debating whether to just give it all away or try to sell for a minimal value. Anyone else have the same problem?
Click to expand...
It's a process of collecting everything under the sun, over a lifetime. Seems to take twice as much energy to thin things out as to collect the stuff in the first place.

:idea:
 
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Mingo said:
A couple years ago I culled about 200 albums from my collection, leaving about 700. Since I rarely listen to vinyl any more, I figured it is time to get down to about 100 or so albums. The first 200 were easy, additional cuts are hard! Do I really need all my classic rock or anything that I can easily stream? I plan to keep any rarities or obscure titles but I'm finding it hard to get rid of albums that I've had for 40+ years. I know that it's just stuff but I keep moving albums from the 'go' pile to the 'keep' pile. I'm also debating whether to just give it all away or try to sell for a minimal value. Anyone else have the same problem?
Click to expand...
I went from 1000+ to one crate. ...And I'm the custodian of one crate of 7" from a local dance club I used to dj at that went out of business 20 or so years ago. I still buy a record occasionally and there are a handful I wish I'd kept.
But knowing that people actually play my old records now is so much cooler than having them sit unused on my shelves.

I don't know what your options are, but over here there are definitely local used record shops that are interested in complete collections.
Most of my vinyl collection was electronic (dancefloor oriented) music, which created some particular options when I let it go.
Not all of these options are useable for non-dj music, but perhaps it gives ideas. This is what I did:
- Selected one crate with records that are important to me. (If I look at the same crate today half of that can go as well).
- Gave away 2 crates of good stuff to a talented starting dj.
- Sold half a crate of valuable pressings (that were not useable for the abovementioned dj) per piece through Discogs.
- Sold the rest as a complete set to a local record dealer who focuses on electronic music, that way the records stay in the (local) music scene.
 
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Apropos of nothing, perhaps, but I was sitting in the living room with my 29 yo daughter the other day and I mentioned I had an earworm of the song "Windy' by The Assocation. (no idea why) Of course she had never heard the song or the band, but I happen to have a copy of their greatest hits that I bought years ago and have played maybe once. I put it on.

She LOVED it, and forbade me from ever selling that LP. She loves this genre and I have more in the vault. This stuff is new to a younger generation and apparently there is some enthusiasm for it.

Then we started talking about early punk and I put on the Stranglers. She loved that too. And the Sex Pistols.

Now what?
 
kirk57 said:
Apropos of nothing, perhaps, but I was sitting in the living room with my 29 yo daughter the other day and I mentioned I had an earworm of the song "Windy' by The Assocation. (no idea why) Of course she had never heard the song or the band, but I happen to have a copy of their greatest hits that I bought years ago and have played maybe once. I put it on.

She LOVED it, and forbade me from ever selling that LP. She loves this genre and I have more in the vault. This stuff is new to a younger generation and apparently there is some enthusiasm for it.

Then we started talking about early punk and I put on the Stranglers. She loved that too. And the Sex Pistols.

Now what?
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Get her a turntable.

:thumbsup:
 
RVT1K said:
After deciding to cull my CD collection, I struggled to find many takers.
Click to expand...

I still need to go through my CD collection. I also have reel tapes (7" and 10"), a few DATs, and a bunch of cassettes. The cassettes are mostly home recordings and real mix tapes. I have a few boxes of 8-track cassette home studio recordings. I've kept the Tascam Portastudio recorder in good repair in case I ever want to go back and remix some of the old recordings.

I suspect that it will be a satisfying relief once I de-clutter and move a lot of the media to a new home.
 
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