I just posted a list of my recent TS finds in the "music score" thread and know that a number of us only hunt TS's for their records because of the thrill of the hunt and the very affordable price.

In the thrifts we buy what we find and in record stores we buy what we want.

Got to wondering who also shops in record stores for their albums?


We do. My teenage son has become a record collector and we go to look for those albums that don't turn up in the TS's or are hard to find in good condition. Of course the prices can be much more than the thrifts but I'm willing to spend some of my money on albums and postpone the next amp if I have to.

Terry

I spend good money for the ones that matter to me. If they have a scratch, I don't buy. :yes: The GW's here are NG anyway 3-4 for scratched junk so I don't bother. Some yard sales turn up some hole fillers cheap.

Last night I was up in Berkeley spending a Xmas cert and had a coupon too. Found they had turned 75% of the basement into the record section where it used to be @15% of the main floor space, about tripled the size. :) Blues and jazz 3 and up, classical 1 and up, rock 2 and up. :) Collectables higher of course.

I bought 2 sealed Coltranes, and a sealed copy of Frank Zappa Guitar. Used
an import Oscar Peterson and an import Mother's comp., 2 Turk Murphy's and a Miles Davis Bitches Brew. 3.95 to 14.95 for them and worth every penny.

Carl

I go to shoppes as well....I stoped going to GW and SA....although in a GW I found once 7 RCA Living Stereo's....i was sweating with excitement..

I regularly go to the local GW for record searching. I usually find mint copies of classical works; sometimes on Living Stereo, Columbia Masterworks and Angel labels -- usually . There are some amazingly abused records to be sure, but I just scored a mint copy of Steve Howe's Beginnings for $1.50.

We have two small record shops here that I check about once a month. I'm on a first name basis with both owners and have bought regularly from them over the last three years or so.

GW and SA are about useless here but I still check em. Sometimes find some 8-tracks. Yeah, I know, I still collect those. It's just for the package, I swear.

Have had pretty good luck at yard and estate sales. Picked up Ike and Tina Turner "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" on Sue label yesterday. Not perfect but fine for a bedroom system. I'm going back to an estate sale today and see if their 45's are still there. They had a box with a couple hundred kinda hidden behind other stuff. It's half price or less today, so I'll give it a go.

Best
John

I have only bought a few LPs at other than at TSs. Went on-line to get a few Jim Connor LPs. I kinda like the hunt at the TSs. The classical records and box sets are most always in NM condition down where I am at. They also (for the most part) get left alone and not chucked all over the store. I have a number of classical that I got just becaue of their condition. Have not got into the classical listen level yet, but when I do I am ready with the LPs:)

I do both. I have been having good luck at the thrifts lately. Lots of clean vinyl, tons of Fusion/Jazz. But I check a lot in order to up the success rate. However, when I get a craving for some minty vinyl of a certain band or artist, I head to the local used shop. Though it is hard to pay 3-7 bucks for something when you are used to paying 1. Though it is fun to find oddities and if I want a Reggea fix or a Santana infusion, I gotta go to the used shop to scratch the itch.

All TS for me. All the used record shops round my way tend to price at the upper end of the scale so I go in and just look for the copies I scored to see how much I saved and laugh. :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

never had a good score at a thrift here in Little Rock, i troll ebay and audiogon and try and buy lots... just scored all dire straits LPs for 19.00, not bad for 8 mint LPs.

All TS for me. All the used record shops round my way tend to price at the upper end of the scale so I go in and just look for the copies I scored to see how much I saved and laugh.

I did quite a bit of that today at the record convention that they have here in Austin twice a year. Probably 30,000+ sq. ft. of records, CDs and memorabilia. But I also will pay more if there are specific things that I want. Today I left the convention with The Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall, Will the Circle Be Unbroken - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Last of the Red Hot Burritos - The Flying Burrito Bros for 23 bucks, all in very nice shape.

These were all on my list to acquire or replace. The TS and GW are great to pick up a lot of stuff but if you are looking for something in particular, the wait could be a long one.

Alan

abpeep: When we lived in Austin in '79--'84 I went to that record convention at the Civic Center. That was a gold mine back then. Austin has got to be one of the Top 5 music cities in the U.S. Sixth Street was getting amped up then. Never bothered with TS for records because there were so many used record stores.

Sometimes find some 8-tracks. Yeah, I know, I still collect those. It's just for the package, I swear. John

What is it about the 8-Track that still carries that moped/fat girl image. You know fun to ride just don't let your friends see you on it. I have never understood that vibe at all with the 8-track. I had a great time when eveybody thumbed there nose to them and I could get great albums for 25 or 50 cents. I still pick them up from time to time now. I like popping one in while I'm working around the house and don't feel like flipping albums. Through the years I have learned how to repair them which is more than I can say about ANY other form of music media. I guess you could repair a cassette tape. I could care less about cassettes myself. I'm also not saying 8-Tracks are some great engineering marvel because they are not. That is why I repair them. Basically many of them need foam tention pads and all of them need a trusty piece of Scotch tape on the back of the splice where they break. Other than that many of them play endlessly and like I have told others I'm not going to spend my hard earned money replacing my library everytime the money makers decide its time for the next planned obsolescense. I have always thought it is rediculous how quick most Americans are to run out and spend tons on the latest trends and turn our noses up to what was just fine up to the point of everyone else having something different. Then we act as if we can't imagine ever having used the previous trend/device.

I must admit I do like the DVD better than the VCR. The thing is that FOR ONCE they didnt try to keep the price of owning a new DVD player rediculous for the first few years to make their quick millions. Remember $300 VCR's? Really they went reverse psychology on us this time. This time they introduced affordable players that are cheap and troublesome right out of the box. I know people who have been through 6 or 7 DVD players already. This way the masses can all own that "must have" home entertainment device. Not just the fewer and fewer well to do, but people on wellfare or whatnot have a DVD on the tube and bought their kid the latest video game for Christmas. Funny how that works too. Times are definitly hard in WORKING America now but still everyone has the latest creature comforts. Can you say cell phone? That is an American birthright it appears. Now I have to get used to people walking around talking to themselves at least apparently with their headset. As if there arent enough distractions and pressures in life now we need a telephone plugged into our brain 24-7. I dont want a phone anywhere around me in my spare time personally. I am not a Doctor or an Emergency Services worker. Hell, I turn the ringer off and turn the volume down on the answering machine many times. Darn, now everybody knows I still use an answering machine. Thats probably out of style by now. Mine still functions and there it will stay.

I think the awfull gas prices are going to teach many of us that creature comforts are not a given or a right, they are a privilege.

Andy Rooney
Just kidding!

I mainly hit the local thrift where LPs are 50 cents. I have a nice Zappa on the TT now and that was worth the $7 I spent for 14 LPs. Herb Albert, Alabama, Aerosmith.......and I only buy good looking vinyl. Most have been very good. Pink Floyd, Yes, Iron Butterfly some nice classical and things I like to listen to on occasion like Flamenco guitar (nobody else probably gave that a second glance), Spanish Classical Guitar, assorted weird stuff. I need some Strange Combo, there is something about jazzy rockabilly done with accordian that is strangly appealing.

As if there arent enough distractions and pressures in life now we need a telephone plugged into our brain 24-7. I dont want a phone anywhere around me in my spare time personally. I am not a Doctor or an Emergency Services worker. Hell, I turn the ringer off and turn the volume down on the answering machine many times. Darn, now everybody knows I still use an answering machine. Thats probably out of style by now. Mine still functions and there it will stay.

I think the awfull gas prices are going to teach many of us that creature comforts are not a given or a right, they are a privilege.

Andy Rooney
Just kidding![/QUOTE]


I couldn't agree with you more :yes: - and I'm IN the telephone hardware bidness.

Ron.

abpeep: When we lived in Austin in '79--'84 I went to that record convention at the Civic Center. That was a gold mine back then. Austin has got to be one of the Top 5 music cities in the U.S. Sixth Street was getting amped up then. Never bothered with TS for records because there were so many used record stores.
Those years were definitely great years to be here. The record convention started in '81. It's a great place to just look if nothing else. I generally go with the idea of picking up a few items but you see dealers there from all over loading up - they even open on Friday pretty much exclusively for dealers although anyone can get in that day for the $25 admission (it's only $4 for both days on the weekend).

There are still some good places to buy used vinyl but they know what the going prices are. I mainly hit the thrifts because I find things I may not particularly be looking for, generally at $1. At that price, I am much more adventurous in my selections than paying dealer prices. Really starting to get a respectable jazz collection that I wouldn't have otherwise.

My experience with the thrifts is closer to Wornears, I am building an excellent mostly classical collection at $.25 - .50 a pop. I prolly go 2-4 times a week on a 5 store circuit.

For rock I routinely go to record stores. I don't often spent more than $2.00/ea, but it happens (the other day a mint Wish You Were Here $4.00).

Sad, but once I move shortly I'm going to be a LOT further away from my thrift store/ record store area :sigh: . Right now, 15 minutes from any of my regular stores, I'll often come home with 20-30 "new" lps.

When I get an itch for a certain lp I will go to eBay expecting to spend sometimes quite a bit more. I have had some success (and occasional losses) gambling on new sellers.

Pete

I buy allmost all my LPs from the charity shops. There are maybe 10-12 spread around my town and I often pick a day and just got round them all.

Like many others have already found. There's a fair amount of junk to sift through and LPs that are totally ruined by water damage/scratches/mold etc but it's surprising to see just what does turn up at times.

Thjis weekend, between the s/h store, the local boot sale and eBay i've picked up maybe 45 decent LPs for the equivalent of $60. If i'd gone to the high street CD stores i'd have been lucky to come away with three CDs for that price.

Don't forget your thrifts are full of UK pressings! :yes:

Carl

We don't seem to have any thrifts close by, but then out here in the boonies nothing is close by. There is a record store up the road about 1/2 hour from here, but it is all rap, hip-hop, etc. If I was to ask them where they keep the classical records they would probably die laughing. So I have cleaned all our vinyl and am slowly converting it to CD. Currently working on the Smitsonian collection of Classical Jazz. It starts with music recorded in the late 20s, so it is not all Hi-Fi, but interesting all the same.

Rob

TS's, garage/yard/estate sales with surprizingly good luck!
Darrell

I've actually been thinking of doing a thread on my local Goodwill. The place is astonishing. The parking lot holds about 80 cars, and it's usually 3/4 full, at least. They just added another cashier line, making it four. With three lanes the lines would get too long.

The lp section gets new stuff all the time, although they just raised the price from .49 to .99. Damn!!

I've probably picked up over 100 lp's in the last year alone. Everything from vintage rock to standards to classical. If it has a single scratch I pass. I was just there yesterday, and they must have had 100 new ones that weren't there three days ago!

Plus the stereo equipment I've found!

Not to mention a complete set, 1-iron through pitching wedge, of Ram Tour Grind Forged irons with Precision FM shafts for $0.49 each. $4.90 for the whole set!!

And a Schwinn Varsity 10-speed with the complete original generator and headlight/taillight set for $6.99.

And everybody's friendly!

Props to my local GW!! :thmbsp: :thmbsp:

Clay