Record collections............

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 15 Jun 2014 6:52 pm

Since the early days of Eddy Arnold and Roy Wiggins, I have been collecting records featuring as many different 'players' as humanly possible. I selected only those musicians that measured up in my book; highly selective.

I've been blessed and have acquired the majority of the records that I've sought, some as long as forty years after first hearing them on the radio.

Still some have managed to elude me.
How about you? Are there any specific tunes floating around out there that you've not been able to get your hands?

Since JERRY BYRD has been my primary focus for decades, I do happen to have a couple LP's, duplicates if you will, that I'd be willing to sell for a fair market price.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 16 Jun 2014 4:01 am

I think Forum member Wally Pfeiffer has a huge collection:

I have over 1000 Hawaiian, Polynesian & South Seas LPs...

Me, I was also selective but years later than you Ray.
I was ordering LP's in the late sixties from a mail order service called "Tandys" in England. I've looked up their current collector's worth. There's two which I had that sell now for 800 pounds.

Thiel Hatt · Post by **Thiel Hatt** » 16 Jun 2014 4:49 am

My collection consists of 153 casette tapes, 8 LP records and 121 CD's. Not a world record by any means but still a pretty good accumulation.

Daniel McKee · Post by **Daniel McKee** » 16 Jun 2014 6:05 pm

I love to collect records. that's actually how I got interested in playing steel guitar. If I think a record is going to have a lot of steel on it I usually buy it.

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 18 Jun 2014 7:06 pm

Daniel McKee.........
I happen to have about ten albums, all by JERRY BYRD that are no longer in distribution.

For more details, drop me a line.

Wally Pfeifer · Post by **Wally Pfeifer** » 26 Jun 2014 9:06 am

Aloha Joachim and all Forum friends,
I was surprised to find the mention of my LP collection on your recent post.
In addition to my Hawaiian, South seas and Polynesian LPs from all over the world,- I also have these in my collection:
Santo & Johnny 30 LPs
Steel Guitar (all strictly instrumental) 161 LPs
Country & Western (primarily vocal with accomp)(Buck Owens, Marty Robbins, Hank Thompson etc etc) 169 LPs
Mood Music (Sax, Piano, Strings) 51 LPs
Orchestra, Groups, Solo & Misc(instrumental) 108 LPs
New Age (Vangelis, Enya etc) 30 LPs
Standards, Popular & Big Bands 54 LPs

I don't even keep track of my cassettes and CDs anymore as the LPs are the most important to me. They are all valuable to me but to anyone else,- they are probably considered junk. A friend has offered $5.00 for each Hawaiian LP that I have that he doesn't but so far,-he hasn't even checked them over. So if you notice a big black column of smoke from this direction,- it will be my wife and kids putting the final touches on my collection. May they rest in peace.
It's nice to see you posting again, Joachim. What's going on in your neck of the woods?
Wally

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 26 Jun 2014 11:00 am

Nothing much, Wally, working and practicing a little.
I found an album on Ebay by Roy Clark and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, which I'm looking forward to receive soon. Thanks for asking.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 26 Jun 2014 1:47 pm

I have about 3,000 albums. They take up a lot of space. I wonder where I'm going to store them when I have to move into a smaller place.

When I moved from England to California 34 years ago I had about 800 albums, but, instead of moving all that weight 5,000 miles, I spent months recording them onto cassettes, then sold the LPs. Since then I've transferred the tapes onto CDs. Wherever possible I've re-acquired new copies of many of the LPs that I was forced to sell, but there were some rare ones that I regret parting with.

I did have the presence of mind to hang onto all of our open reel session tapes from the 60s and 70s, and I still have them. I've since backed them up onto my computer, of course.

Jerome Hawkes · Post by **Jerome Hawkes** » 27 Jun 2014 3:27 am

i love LPs - I came of musical age right at the tail end of the vinyl era in the mid80's. at one time i wanted to build a nice collection and one of my favorite past-times was scouring yard sales, flea markets & goodwill stores back when everyone was dumping LPs for .25Â¢ (Nashville goodwill stores were a goldmine back then!). after about the 3rd time moving all these records, i realized it was a lot of hassle i'm just not into any longer.

now that i am getting into more hawaiian and early steel, i've thought about resurrecting my passion for collecting as these are hard to find reissued, but i keep looking at that huge stack in my "junk room" and second guess the idea.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 27 Jun 2014 6:32 am

i also accumulated alot of great records..mostly from used record stores. anytime i saw credits with myrick, rugg, hughey, jernigan, emmons...i'd grab it.
lots of conway, waylon, stewart...and semi-unknown artists...colleen peterson, jimmy rabbit, etc. some great playing was discovered by jaydee...and of course gram, emmylou and more.
it starts to get tedious moving them around. would be nice to find an appreciative buyer at this point.

William Connerley · Post by **William Connerley** » 28 Jun 2014 12:37 pm

When I moved from England to California 34 years ago I had about 800 albums, but, instead of moving all that weight 5,000 miles, I spent months recording them onto cassettes, then sold the LPs. Since then I've transferred the tapes onto CDs.

Over the years I have acquired a vast record collection, 78s, 45s, LPs, EPs, Transcriptions, cassette tapes, reel to reel tapes, even a large collection of 8 track tapes (I have no idea why).

After I retire I was going to digitize everything but now I am having second thoughts. I am now wondering if I should just place everything on quality 10inch reel to reel tape using a high quality tape recorder (I still have my Teac A6300 reel to reel tape recorder I bought in the 1970s). The reasoning is trying not to degrade the analog sound of the vinyl when converting to a digital file. How about some comments on the pros and cons sound wise. Maybe the plan should be to do both. The digital file for everyday playing on my ipad & ipod and the tape file for archive purposes. Or maybe I am over thinking this. My hearing is so bad that either way will probably sound exactly the same.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 28 Jun 2014 1:40 pm

Big collection go Hawaiian 78s. Need to hook up a turntable, get that "clean up" software, and transfer them to digital.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 28 Jun 2014 3:46 pm

William Connerley wrote:...I am now wondering if I should just place everything on quality 10inch reel to reel tape using a high quality tape recorder ... The reasoning is trying not to degrade the analog sound of the vinyl when converting to a digital file...

That's overkill. Firstly, reel-to-reel tape is very expensive nowadays and old tape that you already have will deteriorate if you use it for making new recordings. Plus, you will be introducing tape hiss in the background. The best way is to connect your record player's amplifier to the input of your computer, using a simple inexpensive converter box, and then recording your old records directly onto your hard disk. It also makes backing up very easily. An alternative method is to buy a CD recorder and connect that up to your record player, transferring your records to CDs. To back up the CDs you only need to put them in the CD drive of your computer and let Windows copy them. Whichever method you use, unless you have ultrasensitive hearing, which people over the age of 20 rarely have, you're not going to be able to tell the difference between your original records and the digitalised version. In fact, if you use a clean-up program, and there's a lot of software that will do this, your records will sound BETTER than the originals, because the crackles will disappear.

I used to use an 8-channel reel-to-reel TASCAM 388 Studio-8 Portastudio for my home recording of myself, building up the recordings one instrument at a time, but years ago I gave that up in favor of an 8-channel Minidisk Portastudio, and now I'm using a 24-chennel hard disk recorder. I defy anyone to tell the difference.

William Connerley · Post by **William Connerley** » 29 Jun 2014 7:49 am

Alan, Thank you for the input. To digitize my records I have two ways that I am planning on using.

I have an Audio-Technica AT-LP1240-USB turntable for a direct USB input into my computer. I also have a Peavey 16FX mixer which has a digital output that I plan on using when I want to remix the L&R levels. This is to mostly bring up the steel guitar where I can so that it is more prominent. Of course depending on the record this may or may not be able to be done.

I guess I will forget recording on tape. You saved me some money. Again thanks.

William Connerley · Post by **William Connerley** » 29 Jun 2014 7:49 am

Alan, Thank you for the input. To digitize my records I have two ways that I am planning on using.

I have an Audio-Technica AT-LP1240-USB turntable for a direct USB input into my computer. I also have a Peavey 16FX mixer which has a digital output that I plan on using when I want to remix the L&R levels. This is to mostly bring up the steel guitar where I can so that it is more prominent. Of course depending on the record this may or may not be able to be done.

I guess I will forget recording on tape. You saved me some money. Again thanks.

Ray Harrison · Post by **Ray Harrison** » 29 Jun 2014 8:57 am

I currently have 3,678 files of Steel songs on my external hard drive.
I'm sure that there are folks who have more, but it's a pretty good start on a collection.

Ray Harrison · Post by **Ray Harrison** » 29 Jun 2014 8:57 am

I currently have 3,678 files of Steel songs on my external hard drive.
I'm sure that there are folks who have more, but it's a pretty good start on a collection.

Larry Lenhart · Post by **Larry Lenhart** » 30 Jun 2014 6:38 pm

Several years ago I sold my entire collection of steel guitar vinyl records...probably for 100 bucks or so...cant remember...there werent a lot of them, but somebody on the forum got a good deal. Some of them I have regretted selling. I still have all the 45s my sister and I purchased together back in the 50s...she put in 50cent and i did too, and we bought every new recording Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry etc, put out. I still have a big collection of country records that I bought when stereo came out...the hi-fi records were cheap then and they were trying to get rid of them...various discount stores had them in OKC. Most of those I have put on my ipod...still listen to that golden era of music...or so it was and still is to me. I have always been a guitar fan and have a ton of jazz guitar records..Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Johnny Smith, etc. Love those recordings too !

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 6 Jul 2014 2:13 pm

BTW;
A friend is a collector and seller. I talked to him today, and he is going to give me a list of his steel guitar records. They will be for sale, and all are in excellent condition, including the covers.

Ron Page · Post by **Ron Page** » 16 Jul 2014 9:09 am

Not sure how many LPs, cassettes and CDs I have, but most all are now on my computer, and subsequently on the USB stick I play in my car. Ditto for my wife's collection. I did nothing fancy to get them there, just played the turntable or cassette into the laptop sound card and recorded with Audacity. CDs I ripped.

I still have my desk drawer at work filled with steel guitar CDs to record.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 16 Jul 2014 1:57 pm

One 45 that's always eluded me is "Shanty Street", by Texas Ruby. The steel work was nice for the time (1962, I believe) but I could never get over her voice, especially with a name like Texas Ruby! No big "draaawl", no phoney "suhthern ak sent", just a good strong voice with perfect diction, not unlike that of Timi Yuro.

Don't know who the steeler was, but here's a link to the YouTube...enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Z09ZlKXkQ

Graham · Post by **Graham** » 17 Jul 2014 5:34 am

Donny:
You will find the 45 here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Country-Promo-4 ... 53f1bee500

That song was put out as a sampler only after Ruby died in a fire shortly after recording it.

billchav · Post by **billchav** » 17 Jul 2014 8:42 am

Donny the steel player on the recording by TEXAS RUBY was probably OZZIE MIDDLETON. He was playing with her and Curly on their T V show in Houston. I last talked to him about ten years ago. Bought band instruments through him over the years.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 18 Jul 2014 5:20 am

Thanks for the info, guys! I well remember hearing that song almost daily on the radio back then.

Joe Goldmark · Post by **Joe Goldmark** » 18 Jul 2014 10:59 am

As many of you know, records (or "vinyl" as they're currently called) are enjoying a huge comeback. Kids are buying turntables and every artist now puts out a vinyl album as well as a CD version and of course downloads.

At Amoeba, S.F., where I work, new vinyl is outselling new CDs almost 2 to 1. And, what's really crazy is that this new vinyl lists from $14.98 to @$29.98. Many of these releases feature 180 gram vinyl, which helps justify the price.

In L.A. there's probably a dozen new record stores that have opened in the past two years, all that specialize in vinyl.

It's still a niche market, compared to overall music sales, but it's been growing for a number of years.

Does that make your old records valuable? Probably not, unless you have original issues of classic rock and jazz, in minty condition. Unfortunately country music has not had a value renaissance yet, with some exceptions. As part of my website, VinylBeat.com, I have rough price guides for collectible albums in specific genres. If anybody wants to check their C&W you can look here: http://www.vinylbeat.com/RareCWLPs.shtml Keep in mind that the prices quoted are for immaculate items; no scratches or wear and beautiful crisp covers. Also realize that what something is worth on a list and actually getting that price can be tricky. And I need to say, please don't contact me unless you have a large quantity of clean albums that you want to sell wholesale, as Amoeba Music is a retailer.

Joe

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