After 31 years without a turntable, I just went and bought one and set it up. This decision was largely the result of
trying to decide what to do with the record collection I’d already winnowed down from 1,500 to say 250 over the last 30 years
those speakers I got as a work anniversary gift (because all the other gifts sucked) that I had stuck in a closet
that pre-amp I had bought to run our TV sound through those speakers, but everybody disliked the sound so the pre-amp was sitting useless on a shelf in the closet with the useless speakers
Coming out of retirement for six months to consult and making some money
So, now all those records are coming out of storage boxes…but where do I put them? I used to keep them in Coke crates, which are fantastic for that, but they’ve become expensive collectibles [one thing I do know, I want the spines visible, none of those view-from-the-front, flip-through-the-albums holders] I’ve looked at a bunch online, but it’s hard to tell how sturdy, or durable, or visually appealing they are from a 2x3 thumbnail.
Also, has the state of the art of cleaning records changed at all? I used to have a kind of fat lint brush and tiny bottle of fluid for cleaning.
I’m very excited about this, not because I think of vinyl as superior, but because I’ll be able to access a lot of fairly obscure albums, and play them very, very loudly.
I had a similar problem when my son gave me a turntable and a delightful bunch of LP records from my youth. Most (not all) were available digitally or on CDs, but the tangible original article was wonderful! Some of them were recent vinyl remasterings, but some were originals releases.
My solution was to get a little table from Amazon that was exactly the right size to support a turntable, and had a bottom shelf with enough clearance to support LPs. With more than 80 records now, though, that shelf is starting to get full.
Back in my youth, I mostly stored my records in a wall unit with compartmentalized shelves. It’s important to keep them more or less vertical.
I also still have all my LPs, ca. 250. I switched to CDs in 1989 and later to streaming, but I keep them as always in a compartment of one of my several Ikea Billy bookcases. They’re still good, though I rarely play them today.
Another Bookcase Billy (Ikea) user here. BUT, I reinforced the shelves to support the weight of the LP’s (and overcome cheap Ikea construction). The bookcase is black. I trimmed a 1 x 10 board to size, painted it to match, and wedged it in at about the 1/2 width way point of the shelf. No screws or nails needed if you cut it right. Without going downstairs to measure I think my shelves are about 36 inches wide. Possibly a bit more but not any narrower. Shelves are 11 or 12" deep.
My support is a good tight fit - had to tap it into place - so it also acts as a book end (LP end?) of sorts to keep the records from leaning too far if the shelf isn’t filled.
Another IKEA user here, but I use another unit that has shelves 16 inches deep, 32 inches wide and 3/4 of an inch thick. (LPs weigh a lot and you need sturdy shelves that won’t bow under all that weight.) I also bought the doors to keep the dust out. They don’t make this particular unit anymore but have something similar. If you don’t have an IKEA nearby, you can order on-line, but they really rock you for shipping. This is just an example, though. Just make sure they’re good, solid shelves that can handle the weight, and deeper shelves let you display your records with a few inches to spare between the spines and the edge of the shelves.
Kudos to you guys who were smart enough to keep your old LPs. I threw out hundreds of mine when I mistakenly regarded them as obsolete and thus useless. They’d be worth a fortune today.
Records mean so much to me that I never could bring myself to throw or give away any of my records, I still have all the records (LPs and CDs) I ever bought, even the ones I don’t like and never listen to, with the exception of a few I lent to other people and never got back (though I remember them all and still know whom I lent them to). Though I gave up buying physical music media about 12 years ago and went to streaming (mostly because of economical reasons, but also out of convenience), my record collection is an important part of my life and is linked to many memories.
A friend of mine told me about 20 years ago that he had dumped his LP collection by just putting it in the trash (that was a time when old vinyl was worth nothing), and knowing his collection, I recounted some of the great (and sometimes rare) records that were among them. He immediately regretted it and checked his trashcan, but it already had been collected. Nowadays, I’m not allowed to remind him of that…
I’m at the other end of the cycle with my 1500-ish collection. I’ve paid up to $35 for some of the records, but now 30-40 are worth over $100, and adding to the collection or damaging expensive records is too costly for me and my collection is starting to feel like an albatross around my neck. I’ll probably sell the expensive ones on eBay, and throw lists up on Kijiji for the others.
The records are stored, organized and displayed in IKEA Expedit storage cubes that are discontinued, but the newer version is called Kallax. They come in 4, 8, and 16 cube sizes and each cube is 13" across and will hold about 85 records (many with 3 and 4mil polypropylene oversleeves and not too tight, which is the way.)
As for cleaning, I still have that thick brush with the cleaning fluid bottle as well. My record store refills it about every two years with their homemade cleaner which they make vats of. Distilled water, light detergent and a wetting agent. I use that for visible dirt or fingerprints, which is not often. Mostly I just handle records carefully and brush them with a carbon fiber anti-static brush before play.
You’ll hear all sorts of astounding advice from hobbyists about cleaning records and any number of accessories which, if you were around when records were how people listened to music, you should be able to judge the merit of adequately. Avoid anyone who calls themself an audiophile and you should be fine.
Looking up “lp cases white cardboard box” I can’t find what my local used record shop has.
It’s a 13x13 equivalent of a comic book box without the lid, turned on its side. Closest I could find was this. But that’s $50, and the shop (Mad City Music Exchange) sells them for less than a quarter of that.
Anyhow, I have them stacked two or three high, and they’re plenty sturdy. They helped me convert my closet into Vinyl and Comic Book Storage (the clothes… pfft, who cares about those?).
eta: I found my vintage Discwasher, but my LPs are so old that I washed most of them in isopropyl alcohol, distilled water and a touch of Dawn For Dishes™.
There are a lot of good ideas here, plus also good to hear from other owners of records (including those of you who, like me, now regret getting rid of some of them).
The Expedia/Kallax particularly gave me some consideration - I actually have a bunch of Kallax shelves, currently full of board games, but with all the gameplaying kids moved out maybe I could start getting rid of some of those? That would be both inexpensive (i.e. free) and would be an incentive to start reducing game inventory (though of course I might regret that in 10 years as well). I do also have some Billy bookcases, but those are already buckling under the weight of books, and as someone suggested upthread I’d have to do some additional bracing to use those.
I’m also looking at those box record holders.
I never would have thought to put even a touch of dishwashing liquid into a cleaning agent, but it makes sense.
