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Do you cull your collection of LPs? How do you decide?

J

JohnVF

Lunatic Member
Banned
I'm about to go through and cut down my number of albums by hopefully 1/3. I think, if I have only listened to Led Zeppelin's "Presence" one time since I bought it in 1991, I could probably part with it, as it's just getting in the way of what I really want to find and listen to.

We spend a lot of time talking about what to buy, and what to get. So..what do you get rid of? And why?
 
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gregswaim said:
I keep every LP that I buy. :)
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I've done that, too, since 1990. But there's a lot of crap in there now that really makes me wonder why I keep it around. I have several thousand albums but mostly listen to only about 100 of them.

I should add that I really hate looking for an album and not being able to find it because of the clutter (and I'm also becoming very anti-clutter in general).

I figure if it hasn't been played in 5 years, its not going to get played in the next 5. And if I have the desire, I'll just stream it or something. (Sacrilege!)
 
I see no reason to keep anything you don't really want to listen to. I took a box down to the record store yesterday and told them all I want is store credit. If I get one record for every five I give it's still a win, at least I will enjoy owning them.
 
grillebilly said:
I see no reason to keep anything you don't really want to listen to. I took a box down to the record store yesterday and told them all I want is store credit. If I get one record for every five I give it's still a win, at least I will enjoy owning them.
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That's what I plan on doing, too. I'm losing money probably but that money is already gone. Might as well get something I want out of the records I don't listen to.

Some of the collection is basically worthless...its going to the Salvation Army.
 
I'm with you.
Anti-clutter is good. :thmbsp:

When I get my own listening room, my plan is to cut down my LP collection to fit a 4x2 Expedit.
That size should be just right for me - considering my age and listening habits. :yes:
 
JohnVF said:
But there's a lot of crap in there now that really makes me wonder why I keep it around. I have several thousand albums but mostly listen to only about 100 of them.

I figure if it hasn't been played in 5 years, its not going to get played in the next 5. And if I have the desire, I'll just stream it or something. (Sacrilege!)
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Agreed!!

I buy a lot on whim just to see how they sound and if one play doesn't get me, I put the in the For Sale box for SMAC meets and AKFests. What the heck, most of the time they're only a buck or so; why not snag a copy ??

I went through some a few weeks back and pulled out a bunch I hadn't listened to in years basically because I figured that wasn't going to change soon. Like John, I have a good selection of albums, but maybe only 100 or so get played.

Than being said, I do archive some stuff because it just was part of my youth and I've regretted selling it in the past. Plus it's just nice to go over and pull out an old LP every now and then...
 
I sometimes clean out copies as I get better copies. That's it, though. I keep almost everything. I've learned that you just never know what you might want to pull and play someday.

To me a collection is a collection, not "clutter"--unless you let it get messy and disorganized, or don't take care of it.

At the same time, I don't buy or collect just anything. I buy what I'm truly interested in, and even so, there's a lot of stuff I still want to collect.
 
I have the same problem, and yet I keep frequenting the area Goodwills for obscure classical LPs and have a $100 credit at the local vintage vinyl store. My daughter's old bedroom has become the netherland for undesirables.
Put me in any store with a dollar used LP section and I'm in deep trouble!
 
I also need to get rid of dups. I hate to sell them in Barter Town without RCM'ing them first. Takes up time and product.
 
grillebilly said:
I took a box down to the record store yesterday and told them all I want is store credit. If I get one record for every five I give it's still a win, at least I will enjoy owning them.
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How'd that work out for you? I did that once and after getting about a nickel on a buck for store credit, I decided that was the last time that was happening.

We do garage sales every now and then, I'll just keep some more of mine and do a buck-a-rama or something with them: that's actually more than the record store offered overall. Most of them are decent titles, but skirting the edge of playable for some folks. I guess I just view some of them as samplers or placeholders to see if I want to spring the big bucks for better copies...:dunno:
 
JohnVF said:
I figure if it hasn't been played in 5 years, its not going to get played in the next 5. And if I have the desire, I'll just stream it or something. (Sacrilege!)
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Good thread. I hate the idea of storing stuff that I know I will never listen to and seems to be valueless ...so that stuff if it shows up, never makes it past the entryway of the house. But I also hate the idea of purging titles or even a genre that I will grow to like. So I hold onto stuff that I think is interesting but that I'm not interested in listening (at this time) to including 80s punk/garage stuff and nice classical titles on DG and Angel labels.

I also hold onto clean duplicates of favorite titles and genres because its good to have backups. There is still an amazing supply of most common records out there, but at some point the stuff is going to be hard to find. Basically I guess I'm saying that I don't cull my collection, I'm afraid to get rid of something that I'll regret later. Streaming won't cut it. If it's interesting I keep it whether I'll get around to listening to it or not.
 
No, that 5 year rule is not good! I used to do something like that, and that's how my first pressing copy of Modern Lovers "went missing."

I go through too many phases in what I like to listen to for me to trust a rule like that. Right now I'm really into jazz and just about everything in the rock part of my collection has no appeal to me. Right now. Maybe not even 5 years from now. But there is no way I'm dumping it.
 
I put most of my collection in Discogs recently and this has me thinking there are about 1/2 that I don't and never will listen to so those will be going to make room for what I consider more rare and more listenable albums.
 
I don't buy just anything but over time stuff accumulates and tastes change. I've been culling my collection on a constant basis since the 80s and it still has grown to more than 2000 titles. Thinking back the first thing that went were keeping records I had no interest in playing, then not being a completist, and not long after that not owning different releases/versions of the same recording and then most of the "collectables" had to go. Lots of ways to cull - just need to practice the greatest of care as almost certainly something will slip away that shouldn't. Good luck!
 
I guess there are different ways to cull and reasons for culling.

I think I've already gone through enough culling of the truly lame stuff. Everything in my nearly 1,500 LPs are what I'd consider essential, and even at 1,500 it feels pretty bare bones, i.e., there's a lot I'd like to add yet.

Basically I don't have anything to cull.
 
I had 9 LP copies of Sticky Fingers, by way of example. I'm down to 3 (UK, US "MO", and my sister's copy).

I gave one of the more valuable Japanese pressings of Sticky away. Stones and Beatles are about the only artists where I keep more than one LP.

I cull about once a month, taking my unwanted LPs to the local shop and getting store credit. If I pick up two CDs (yes, digital CDs) of music I want to hear for 10 LPs, I'm OK with that. My collection is not really about the money.

Do I really need that Cotillion LP of Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends? Will I ever play Echo and the Bunnymen again?
 
Damn right! I culled my collection about a month ago. I got rid of every single Ted Nugent LP I had. Threw 'em in the trash. The Journey, I gave to a friend.
How much brains does it take to write a song titled "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang"??
Sheeeeesh.
 
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I keep multiples of favorites. Six copies of the white album right now, I think. Four copies of Modern Lovers.

I have doubles of a few Stones and other Beatles LPs. With the Stones, I felt it was important to have UK and US versions of Sticky Fingers and Exile. When I bought a second copy of Goat's Head Soup just because the vinyl looked better than my copy, the record store owner called me on it: "Gary, I KNOW you've got a copy of that already."

Sometimes I'll have multiples for the different format (mono and stereo) or differences in cover art. Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, for example--stereo and mono, and a copy of one before the woman's photo was deleted.

And I admit a weakness for colored vinyl.
 
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JohnVF said:
If it's "Porcupine", I most definitely will. And did last week.
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I believe I have the Ocean Rain LP and numerous Echo CDs.

I'd put Echo in the category of artist that I hold onto since I'll likely revisit them. I just revisited Pulp and am re-exploring Soundgarden because my wife is on a Chris Cornell kick as of late.

The first LP I ever got rid of was Cheap Trick's Budokan. I have never regretted giving that LP to a bigger fan.
 
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