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Vinyl Lovers

After a marathon session of ultrasonically cleaning some of my vinyl treasures, I discovered that a few of them had what I'll call "skip-scratches" on various cuts. I have many more to clean (i.e.  somewhere around 5 to 6 hundred, mostly original 60s & 70s LPs) and fully expect to encounter more bruised babies along the way, not all of which I'll probably replace with vinyl re-issues or re-pressings. Some of my all-time favorites, however, I definitely will want to replace, providing I can find good quality re-issues/re-pressings. I know there is much to learn about this, and I am just beginning to scratch the surface (no pun intended). For example, there are issues of so called "virgin vinyl", quality of the vinyl mix, thickness of vinyl, recording from original master tapes, if still in existence and in good condition, quality of the actual pressing process, etc., etc., etc.

So, I guess my question for you all who know much more about this than I, is where the best places are to buy the best quality vinyl re-issues or re-pressings. Local record shops are few and far between and most of them don't have much in the way of variety or stock in anything other than used records. I'm familiar with Discogs but, frankly, am reluctant to buy used records on-line because I don't entirely trust the purveyors' ratings and the endemic hassles of possible returns. Most of the re-issues/re-pressings I've purchased, thus far, have been from or through Music Direct. I've noticed that some of their offerings actually come from companies like:  Island Records; Impex; RHINO and other sources.

So, what are some of your go-to, solid, reputable standbys?

Thanks Much!

oldaudiophile

Showing 2 responses by vair68robert

vair68robert's avatar
vair68robert
592 posts
 

OLD ?  I'm 70 and having the time of my life .

Any Speakers Corner pressing , the only all analog reissue pressing and fantastic quality . 

I was buying most of my albums from Japan before the shipping rates increased beyond my limit but you might find your favorite pressing ther , facerecords on E-Bay has great quiality and you can bid so the album can be inexpensive ,  now I use mostly Discogs .  If you want to purchase NEW remastered or re-issues then I suggest using a local record shop making returns much easier  ( surface noise not flat ) . 

vair68robert's avatar
vair68robert
592 posts
 

@jacksky 

I had my collection sorted a little similar to your system for separating into rock , folk and jazz , while I was sorting my classical selections by conductor then by composer  since they were all were all conducting the Chicago Symphony .

First I rearranged the classical , first by composer then by conductor then I tackled the big job rock , folk and jazz . I use the alphabet minus the word The , so Beatles, George H. by the Great Society and Grateful Dead , John L between John Cougar and John Mayall . and Paul M by Pink Floyd .  Where to put Rod Stewart ? with Blind Faith ? Faces ? no under R . Dave Mason = D , Traffic = T .  This way I don't have to remember which group somebody was in  . Do you have Led Zeppelin with the Yardbirds ? or Jeff Beck or Eric Clapton with them also ? kind of confusing .

At least it's one way to think about it .

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