Vinyl Me Please Classics

[dhodo]

sadly the sly album was so scratched up it was 40% crackle even after a spin clean,

this is why buying used is frustrating to me

I'm sorry, that's a bummer. I get why you don't like used. There's nothing wrong with that preference either.

I try to always check with my phone light when I'm buying in a store, but it's easy to miss stuff. Or sometimes it looks perfect and still sounds like shit. They might take it back, I'm not sure.

I find it less stressful to buy graded albums from good rep sellers off of eBay/discogs and if there are issues, complain to the seller for return or partial refund. I haven't had great experiences confronting my local with issues even with new records.

Hope your other grabs are in good shape.

 

[duke86fan]

I try to always check with my phone light when I'm buying in a store, but it's easy to miss stuff. Or sometimes it looks perfect and still sounds like shit. They might take it back, I'm not sure.

oh you could see the scratches on the record... i just assumed it was like "oh hey i have some used records that sound actually more comfortable with the crackle like my joni mitchell"

so i expected better from all that crackle.. not blurring the entire sound

 

[NathanRicaud]

Hope your other grabs are in good shape.

Yeah, same here! I’m really hoping your other grabs are in perfect, immaculate shape @duke86fan !

Also, I feel you on buying used records. My experience has been very mixed and I usually don’t buy any used records, unless it’s an 80’s funk/disco album I love!

Again, all the best with those four disco records you picked up! Really hope they sound excellent, are flat and don’t have any scratches!

 

[duke86fan]

Yeah, same here! I’m really hoping your other grabs are in perfect, immaculate shape @duke86fan !

Also, I feel you on buying used records. My experience has been very mixed and I usually don’t buy any used records, unless it’s an 80’s funk/disco album I love!

Again, all the best with those four disco records you picked up! Really hope they sound excellent, are flat and don’t have any scratches!

good news is that though sister sledge LOOKED super scatched up when i first inspected it... doing a random test of just dropping the needle on a certain random place, it sounds wonderful (and its mostly on the first song on sly where its too much or maybe its because i dunno how this album is supposed to sound)

 

[gregathon]

sadly the sly album was so scratched up it was 40% crackle even after a spin clean,

this is why buying used is frustrating to me

That’s a shame - There’s A Riot Going On is one of my all time favorites. Although that album has a notoriously poor master recording with inherent tape whooshing a plenty. Even a super clean copy has parts that sound like they’re recorded off the radio.

I am surprised that “Spaced Cowboy” ends up being my most frequent ear worm despite all the other great cuts on that album.

 

[NewsFedora]

Hmm this sounds familiar

 

[Tortured Diaper Baby Dept]

oh you could see the scratches on the record... i just assumed it was like "oh hey i have some used records that sound actually more comfortable with the crackle like my joni mitchell"

so i expected better from all that crackle.. not blurring the entire sound

Will your record store not put on a record for you? In my experience, most (good) independent record stores will put a used record on for you to hear. I remember one time I was picking up a used copy of Prince's Parade and there were 2 copies that were graded differently and with ~$15 price difference. I couldn't visually see much of a difference so I asked the guy and he offered to put on the less expensive one to see how it sounded. Out of maybe 6 record stores I frequent in my city, I can only think of one that probably wouldn't play a record for me - not cause they're junk but b/c they're larger, a chain, and may not even have a set up for it (I don't know, I've never asked there - this is speculation).

 

[Joe Mac]

Yeah, same here! I’m really hoping your other grabs are in perfect, immaculate shape @duke86fan !

Also, I feel you on buying used records. My experience has been very mixed and I usually don’t buy any used records, unless it’s an 80’s funk/disco album I love!

Again, all the best with those four disco records you picked up! Really hope they sound excellent, are flat and don’t have any scratches!

That’s a pity, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Yes ive had the odd one thats not great but man do those old pressings sound so much better when you get a clean copy and most that I buy are clean copies. Most of my dispointment in this hobby has been with new records: warps; bad masters; bad pressings; etc

 

[NathanRicaud]

That’s a pity, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Yes ive had the odd one thats not great but man do those old pressings sound so much better when you get a clean copy and most that I buy are clean copies. Most of my dispointment in this hobby has been with new records: warps; bad masters; bad pressings; etc

Mmmmmm I feel you there! When you get a clean copy an old pressing, it is the best most of the time!

 

[Joe Mac]

Mmmmmm I feel you there! When you get a clean copy an old pressing, it is the best most of the time!

You should hear some of the old Van Morrison original pressings, and some 80s represses, that I’ve got hold of this year. They blow the VMP Veedon Fleece, done DMM from 24/192 files, out of the water and it’s not a terrible sounding press by any means!

 

[Tortured Diaper Baby Dept]

That’s a pity, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Yes ive had the odd one thats not great but man do those old pressings sound so much better when you get a clean copy and most that I buy are clean copies. Most of my dispointment in this hobby has been with new records: warps; bad masters; bad pressings; etc

This. 100% this.
New pressings (which I buy too) have a few things going for them where old ones just don’t compete: flashier packaging and more colors/variants, a consumer pool that wants to buy all of them b/c saving & moderation has become a secondary priority, and a dilution of the term audiophile that’s been swallowed up whole without chewing.

None of these benefit the listener.
Fist meet cloud

 

[Joe Mac]

This. 100% this.
New pressings (which I buy too) have a few things going for them where old ones just don’t compete: flashier packaging and more colors/variants, a consumer pool that wants to buy all of them b/c saving & moderation has become a secondary priority, and a dilution of the term audiophile that’s been swallowed up whole without chewing.

None of these benefit the listener.
Fist meet cloud

I mean I’ve bought plenty of good new pressings too it just seems that, and this is particularly prevalent with indie labels and VMP, that colours and manufactured rarity has become more important than the quality of the master and the quality of the pressing.

Also hype seems to have replaced curation and the actual music. You must have this album that’s never been repressed by this artist you’ve never heard of over the one you know is good. Whilst there are undoubtedly hidden gems lots of stuff gets forgotten and hasn’t been repressed for a reason...

 

[Tortured Diaper Baby Dept]

I mean I’ve bought plenty of good new pressings too it just seems that, and this is particularly prevalent with indie labels and VMP, that colours and manufactured rarity has become more important than the quality of the master and the quality of the pressing.

Also hype seems to have replaced curation and the actual music. You must have this album that’s never been repressed by this artist you’ve never heard of over the one you know is good. Whilst there are undoubtedly hidden gems lots of stuff gets forgotten and hasn’t been repressed for a reason...

No doubt about it. I’ve some spectacular recent pressings.

Really, it’s a specific instance of how we consume and are influenced in a lot of what we buy. Companies are great at selling us what we don’t want or need, and convincing us the opposite.

VMP and other co’s/labels are using the same plays as countless businesses. I’m not saying it’s necessarily so nefarious but they are here to part us with our money. And if they can produce cheaper at the cost of quality then they will in the hopes that it’s still good enough for us to come back for the next thing.

Edit: tangential to my post but not really this thread, I am reminded of the 2002 BBC docu-series "The Century of the Self"

 

[NathanRicaud]

You should hear some of the old Van Morrison original pressings, and some 80s represses, that I’ve got hold of this year. They blow the VMP Veedon Fleece, done DMM from 24/192 files, out of the water and it’s not a terrible sounding press by any means!

Omg they must sound absolutely incredible because the VMP Veedon Fleece sounds really good!

 

[Joe Mac]

Omg they must sound absolutely incredible because the VMP Veedon Fleece sounds really good!

It sounds good for what it is Nathan, it’s no audiophile pressing by any stretch. All the ones that rhino did represses of sound better as do all the OGs of the stuff that hasn’t been repressed recently that I’ve sourced.

 

[MikeH]

Also hype seems to have replaced curation and the actual music. You must have this album that’s never been repressed by this artist you’ve never heard of over the one you know is good. Whilst there are undoubtedly hidden gems lots of stuff gets forgotten and hasn’t been repressed for a reason...

This sums up my feelings on a lot of recent VMP releases better than I could have...they are trying to pass off cheaply licensed records that are deep into artist back catalogues as hidden gems. Sometimes they are great--I really enjoyed Veedon Fleece and as a Van Morrison fan, I had never listened to that one, nor do I really recall seeing it in record shops and I ended up loving it. But then they have other stuff like Patrice Rushen which I see everywhere for $5. I'm glad people liked Patrice and I'm sure it sounds great...but I don't need audiophile pressings of every album known to man. And the marketing works. It's funny to see the guess threads and see people trying to convince themselves and others that the dollar bin remasters are great picks...

With that, I'll say that I think Sahara was a really really unexpected pick. I never would have guessed that VMP would reissue that as a classics pick, so that was a pleasant surprise. I don't think it's anywhere close to Tyner's best album but it's more out of left field than usual for them and I am glad more people are being introduced to that album and his music.

 

[dhodo]

This sums up my feelings on a lot of recent VMP releases better than I could have...they are trying to pass off cheaply licensed records that are deep into artist back catalogues as hidden gems. Sometimes they are great--I really enjoyed Veedon Fleece and as a Van Morrison fan, I had never listened to that one, nor do I really recall seeing it in record shops and I ended up loving it. But then they have other stuff like Patrice Rushen which I see everywhere for $5. I'm glad people liked Patrice and I'm sure it sounds great...but I don't need audiophile pressings of every album known to man. And the marketing works. It's funny to see the guess threads and see people trying to convince themselves and others that the dollar bin remasters are great picks...

With that, I'll say that I think Sahara was a really really unexpected pick. I never would have guessed that VMP would reissue that as a classics pick, so that was a pleasant surprise. I don't think it's anywhere close to Tyner's best album but it's more out of left field than usual for them and I am glad more people are being introduced to that album and his music.

Totally agree with you, except that I'll definitely say it's close to his best album.

 

[MikeH]

sadly the sly album was so scratched up it was 40% crackle even after a spin clean,

this is why buying used is frustrating to me

Bummer that the records were too scratched up. As others have said, sometimes you can sample the records at your local and they have turntable stations set up. Aside from that, I had a lot of similar issues to you with thinking certain used records would be fine only to get home to spin them and find them unlistenable. You really gotta inspect them before buying and the more you buy, the more you learn about what kind of visual imperfections will really affect the sound vs what you can get out with your record cleaner. You can even see it in pricing of used records sometimes. I have found records for $1-$2 that should have cost $30 used but the seller thought they were in bad shape because they had some dirt or paper sleeve scuffs on them. After a good clean, they sounded great.

 

[MikeH]

Totally agree with you, except that I'll definitely say it's close to his best album.

Fair enough! Maybe I shouldn't have said anywhere close...it's top 5-10 of his for me maybe...I just don't find myself spinning it quite as much as others. Off the top of my head, I like The Real McCoy, Inception, Nights of Ballads & Blues and Extensions more.

 

[dhodo]

Fair enough! Maybe I shouldn't have said anywhere close...it's top 5-10 of his for me maybe...I just don't find myself spinning it quite as much as others. Off the top of my head, I like The Real McCoy, Inception, Nights of Ballads & Blues and Extensions more.

Definitely top 3 or so for me, but it's hard to compare albums across his whole discography. Depends on what you're in the mood for. I should spend more time with some others and maybe I'll change my mind.