Thinking About Selling and Replacing My Pop/Rock Vinyl Collection

Not exactly like you, but I sold all my records  back in the 90’s and regret selling a few of my favorites which I have been buying back, sometimes at high prices, dire straits being one of them.

However, records are a pain compared to streaming or what I have digital and I do not listen to them that much. I did save my old AR turntable, so that cost was avoided, but a new cartridge was needed. 
 

overall, I plan to buy only a few more records to fill my desire for the good old days. But I do not plan on getting to 1,200 again, probably more like 100 or so of albums I consider great. Hope this helps. 

My LP library was started in it’s present incarnation in 1968 (that year I got my first adult turntable---a Garrard SL55 with a Shure M44e cartridge, and replaced all the LP’s I had ruined playing them on my kiddie record player with new copies. The following year I replaced it with the AR XA table and a Shure M91e cartridge), and still have most dating back to then (minus the music I "outgrew").

I always cleaned my LP’s (first with a Cecil E. Watts Disc Preener, later the original DiscWasher, then a Nitty Gritty vacuum machine, which I replaced with a VPI HW-17), and kept my stylus clean. So my LP’s remain in Near Mint condition, with no more noise now than when they were new (the noise of the vinyl LP itself of course varies according to record company).

I don’t keep them (I don’t know their number, but they currently fill sixty three 12.75" x 12.75" x 12.75"---interior dimensions---storage cubes) only because I love the music they contain, but also because they are a road map and history of my musical life. Pulling an LP off the shelf and putting it on the turntable is something I have been doing for over sixty years (I have been buying LP’s since before The Beatles landed in NYC), and I love that I still have them all. I also have about 3500 CD’s and SACD’s, and love them too (they also contain music I love).

I don’t consider playing an LP (or CD) a chore, but rather a pleasure.

@bdp24

Your succession of LP cleaning tools is the same as mine, except I’m still using my Nitty Gritty 1.0. Some of my old LPs that were cleaned with the Disc Preener developed a gritty surface noise that I have been unable to remove, having tried all manner of different cleaning fluids. I think the Preener may have been too wet when it was used on those; I don’t think all my LPs cleaned with the Preener are like this. Did you ever encounter this problem?

Thank God for the development of affordable record-cleaning machines and effective cleaning solutions.

Arguably, it means your LP reproduction setup isn't firing on all cylinders.

That requires some degree of obsession, devotion and wallet draining.

@drmuso: I well remember the surface of the Preener material (velvet-like) becoming too wet when I first started using one. I removed the end cap of the inner tube, removed the "wick" and let the foam rubber under the velvet covering dry out, and never again wetted it to the point of it being fully saturated with water. The surface of the Preener was intended to be humid, not damp.

The Discwasher was a big improvement over the Watts Preener, but it was the Nitty Gritty that was a game changer for me. Finally, really clean LP’s! But the design of the NG (which supported the LP in only the center label area) wasn’t optimum for allowing vigorous scrubbing of the disc with a cleaning brush, so I got myself a VPI (which of course has an 11" platter supporting almost the entire LP, allowing scrubbing to be done). I also prefer that the VPI has it’s suction tube above the LP, rather than under it as does the NG. And I found the NG needed more revolutions to completely remove all the cleaning/rinsing liquid from the LP. The HW-17 does it in no more than two revolutions, sometimes just one. I use a second VPI cork mat to place under the freshly-cleaned side when I flip the LP over to clean the other side.

In the late-60’s/early-70’s I briefly used the plastic-lined LP inner sleeves offered by a company named Recoton to replace the stock paper ones, but quickly learned that they, after a length of time, left a hazy film on LP’s. Bummer! So I of course got rid of them all, and deep cleaned all my LP’s. The modern plastic sleeves (MoFi, Vinyl Storage Solutions, etc.) are problem free.

I always stored my LP’s perfectly vertical (I wince when I see pics of stacks of LP’s leaning far from vertical), and packed them loosely, so the outer covers of my LP’s are ring-wear free. In the recent past I have placed all my LP’s in the great double-pocket plastic outer sleeves offered by the Canadian company Vinyl Storage Solutions, and love ’em! No more stuffing LP’s back into their cardboard covers, but instead inside a second pocket (one for the outer cover, a second for the LP).

I didn’t mention it, but I have also added an ultrasonic cleaner to my LP cleaning tools. I’d love a Degritter (I’m working on it), but for now make do with a DIY tank. The LP cleaning manual written by Neil Antin and published online by Bill Hart (whart on Audiogon) is an unbelievably deep dive into the subject, and absolutely required reading for serious LP owners.

As for the issue of static charges on LP’s, I got myself a Zerostat when it was introduced, but always found it "fiddly" to use. The pistol trigger has to be squeezed (and released) verrry slowly or it will "click". Then Nagaoka introduced a much better anti-static device (model No. 103), which is activated with a button. Easy to use, and very effective. I recently found a great deal on the even better Furutech DeStat III, which I love. Not cheap (retail list price $390, but available discounted), but REALLY good.

@bdp24

The way I've overcome the limitation of the Nitty Gritty machine you mention is that I clean the LP by having it rest on a rubber turntable mat inside the mat's cardboard retail box.  Place it on the NG, then remove it to clean the other side.  I find 2 rotations with the vacuum on and 1 more after the vacuum is turned off suffice.  A problem that's developed lately, though, is that the record turner doesn't grip the label well enough anymore to rotate the record during the vacuuming.  I've tried to rough up the bottom of the turner with sandpaper, but haven't been successful.  I may try using my heavier SOTA record clamp.

I'm still using my Zerostat and am learning to pull the trigger slowly.  Do you know the static test method of using a small piece of styrofoam taped to a piece of thread?  Works great!

I prefer rice paper sleeves for my LPs, but with classical LPs that originally came with poly-lined sleeves I just use those.  I used to slit two sides of the sleeves so the sleeve opens like a book--that helps to reduce static charge.

I've looked at the Antin manual and that's going too far for me.  Have you found that ultrasonic cleaning works any better than your VPI machine?

Nice to communicate with another LP fanatic.  I wasn't listening to LPs for a while after discovering hi-res streaming; but I recently got a new vintage cartridge (Benz Ruby 2) that has revived my interest in playing my old LPs.  Most of mine, like yours, are in great shape, especially those that I bought after stopping use of the Disc Preener.  If I bought them new (and didn't use the Preener on them), I don't find noise to be a problem on most of my LPs.  I use an Oracle carbon-fiber brush to clean each LP under a bright light before play, and play them with the dust cover closed on my SOTA Star Sapphire.  Most of my LPs are free of ticks because of this kind of diligence.

As strange a reason to keep material from performers early years at hand, as many are now no longer with us or quite aged and near end of life. The earliest mediums storing recorded Material is always going to appreciate in Value.

A work colleague in the last week went to see AC/DC Live, he thinks that this is the last chance, to see them with the health to endure a typical time allocated for a concert.

Probably makes sense to experiment with the PAVCR Manual Cleaning Method, to see what can be done for the replay quality.

Also makes sense to exchange the Inner Sleeves for Anti-Static Sleeves or another suitable type of sleeve, but do keep the original inner sleeve for the resale when it occurs, a collector of Vinyl might be purchaser and such things matter.

I have told the story about my 40ish years owned AC/DC Album on the Gon, where today following the PAVCR Manual Cleaning method, I would use this Album on any Vinyl Source of using a Cartridge of any Value. Not bad for a Album put into the must keep, but can't use any more Section on the Storage Shelves.

The Manual Cleaning Method has been to date has been very SUCCESSFUL at reducing Albums stored in the no longer to be replayed section in the Storage Shelving.  

50+ years ago I started to buy music, and as a kind of distinction from my brother I chose to buy it on cassette. Well, we all make mistakes!

Much of it was bought over again on vinyl, then on CD, then again as SACD, and now I'm back to vinyl as medium of choice, but accepting CD when vinyl is not available or too expensive.

The thought of dumping any of the mediums I own, just to buy it over again in another format is simply exhausting. Don't do it.