Taking care of the music we love is almost as important as taking care of the people in our life that we love. And if she or he loves you back, they know that taking care of your precious music collection, no matter how small or large or diverse it is, is part of your every core and being as person and who you are. A little heavy handed, maybe, but a music lover is a passionate soul and passionate about how music is used and where it sits between the time we put the record back in it's sleeve to when we take it back out again, and then do it all over again.
While browsing the interwebs, searching for knowledge from both expert and amateur opinions on many things vinyl, such as (but not limited to) storage solutions, cleaning, handling, selling, and general people who share a love for vinyl like I do, I have found several videos that are unique and informative (or both at the same time!) and I am writing this blog to highlight and share some of the videos I have found that have helped me greatly when it comes to storing/using and selling my vinyl records. I hope you will enjoy these and get some value, or at the least be entertained. Please note, that these rankings are no particular order of "Best to Less Best", they are ordered simply out of necessity.
1. Taking Photos of Vinyl Records with Wolfie Rankin
This is a nice quick little video on our take photos of records, more specifically for colored vinyl, and how to do it on the cheap. Mr. Rankin is also friendly and easy to listen to, and has a cool sense of humour.
2. Vinyl Records || What to Buy & How to Sell it
I've enjoyed this gentlemen's videos before and the way he set up his records for photo prep is a big influence on how I set up my records for display in my store right now, as hopefully you can see. A nice calm gentle voice helps set the tone as well.
3. How I Buy Used Vinyl What to Look For
I noticed his video comments get some flack about the detail he goes into when inspecting records and what he looks for. I think it's great, and if you are vinyl collector, there are no official rules but more guidelines for what you look for and don't want in the records you are buying. Tastes are subjective. But if you are selling records and hunting for items for your inventory, this is the helpful video to watch
4. What to do with HYPE STICKERS on records?
I just recently stumbled upon this gentleman's YouTube channel, and this video when I was actually looking for something else. I can't remember now what I was searching for, but after recently receiving Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" as a Christmas gift, I noticed it came with the usual promotional stickers that are also found on CDs and the like. Normally, I would throw them out, but after seeing this video, well, I won't!
5. Hard to find Vinyl Records from popular artists
In this video, the focus albums are generally more on funk/R&B based artists but it's a good starting point to those who want to sell records what you can BOLO for in local record shop and thrift stores. If you want to add to your collection with these titles, that''s OK too but I would gear this video more to vinyl enthusiasts who are looking to re-sell.
6. VINYL 101: Make Your Own Vinyl Cleaning Fluid Using Household Items.
Now there are several and I do mean several upon several videos of different people using different methods for cleaning records, some similar, some contradictory, but here I present the first of two videos on this topic so you can get the general idea and knowledge quickly so you can move on with your listening enjoyment. I chose this one because it is simple, down to the point and shows you how to do it on the CHEAP.
7. The Best Way to Clean Records
And here's another one, a little more in depth and utilising a few other more expensive products, but it will give you a grander scope of how and with what methods that work for you and your personal record collection. Because every collection is a personal thing
8. Vinyl Music Collecting Highlights
What's more metal than the Metal Jesus? Cool name, but the real cool is his 80s and 90s hard rock and metal collection. Like the M.J., I am also truly passionate about hard rock and heavy metal, along with other styles and genres of course, but my love and roots will always go back to heavy metal. This video is for straight up geeking out on, and if I came across this collection, rest assured that it will not be sold!
9. How to Ship an LP Record
Danna Crawford, I could listen to your videos on anything, whether it be paint drying or shipping records. This video happens to be about how to ship records, so that it fits more in line with the theme of this blog. I chose her video for reasons. 1) She's awesome and 2) she outlines and demonstrations the packing process simply and effectively. And a bonus 3) reason, that is one of my favorite Pantera records (I Am The Night), some of you may not recognize it, but hardcore fans who've done a little homework and like their independent releases will know exactly what I am talking about. She talks about the United States Postal Service methods, but you can use similar shipping detail with Canada Post and the like, wherever you are based out of.
10. How to flatten a warped vinyl record
Just like the title of the video says, that's what he shows you. Similar to the cleaning records videos, everybody has an opinion and every one has a remedy, Some work, some sort of work and some that make you go "Hmmm..". This video seems like the most real and natural way to get the warps out of your favorite records, and he has a British accent. So, what's not to like here? Plus at the end I hear one of my favorite songs by Jermaine Stewart - can't beat that!
11. BONUS - Sebastian Bach's What's in My Bag?
A Vinyl Record Hunt with my favorite vocalist of all time, Seb Bach. (The inspiration for naming my son Sebastian). This is a cool video because you get a taste of his sense of humour, a sense of his musical taste and just the fact that he literally seems like a kid in a toy store is heartwarming and kind of inspiring. I had to add this video on a personal note, but otherwise it's just cool seeing artists geek out over other music that we as fans love to as well.
Thank you for checking out my latest blog post. These videos have entertained and helped me with my ever growing record collection, and if you are a vinyl enthusiast, I hope you will get something out of this too.
Would love to hear your comments and feedback. Send me an email any time at:
ChadVice@sebcamco.com
Here are some recent items we added to the Championship Vinyl store:
