I bought the Goldmine Price Guide to 45 RPM Records and was really pissed off to find out that it doesn’t include jazz, which is pretty much all I have. Any suggestions?
Chefguy, I don’t know of a print work (speculation is that online guides are in the works), but the Record Collectors Guild Forum has a lot of people into both jazz and 45s. It’s a regular discussion forum, but your questions will probably get answered.
Also, use eBay search functions and look for completed auctions. That’s what they are really worth, what people are actually paying. Often price guides have VERY lofty prices that are never realized. Especially in today’s economy.
Good luck!
I’ve done the ebay thing many times before for other items; I was just hoping there was a pub out there. I’ve also got three boxes of jazz LPs to unload, so need to get some idea of price on them, as well. It was worth a shot, I guess.
There is a GM jazz guide for LPs. It pretty much cuts off after the early 1970s, but is a good guide nonetheless. It would at least tell you if you have something incredible (2-5% of a collection typically) or common (95-98% typically).
If your 45s are 1950s or 1960s, you may have some winners. It’s like the real estate saying: It all depends on condition, condition, and condition.
They’re pretty much all 50s vintage. There’s one by Lead Belly (or Leadbelly, depending on who you ask) that I think has some value for sure, and lots from the jazz masters. The best part is that almost all of them have been given the best of care over the years.