Vinyl Prospecting – May 14 2017

Hi Folks,

I decided it might be interesting to write about my various exploits in hunting for used vinyl.

Stock Photo

Yesterday, I acquired 6 LPs from a gentleman via Gumtree.  The crazy thing is that he’d advertised 6 weeks ago, and he still had everything in his photos.  Crazy.

With that in mind, I stopped by and had a look at what he had on hand.  He had a Beatles box set from the 80s, a bunch of Black Sabbath (mainly compilations, but about 3 studio albums) and the odd rock/pop LP all in varying condition.  I skipped LPs I already owned, as I suspected that would fuel a higher price to bargain (I left an OP of AC/DC’s Flick the Switch and Bowie’s Scary Monsters). 

The two gems in the rough were an OP 1980 AC/DC Back in Black (with inner sheet) and an OP of the Jackson 5’s ABC from Tamla Motown (AUS press).  The Back in Black in VG condition is getting to $60+ at the moment, but more importantly.. I didn’t own an original pressing of this huge AC/DC album.

I bargained the lot for $100 which is a little pricey given the condition (i.e. risk), but if they came up OK after a thorough washing/cleaning, I was going to be ahead.

It took me about an hour once I got home to give each LP the proper cleaning.  To my distress, the Jackson 5 album had two large parallel scratches (and a number of fingerprints) running label to edge, but thankfully it did not in anyway effect playback.  The AC/DC cleaned up well, with a few hairline scratches which had minor effect on playback.  VG to both.  The Jackson sleeve was also a strong VG/VG+, but the AC/DC had come apart at the base – probably repairable.

The other 4 LPs were really just bonuses.  I’d been looking for Kansas for “Carry on wayward son” and at first I thought the disc might be warped, but it wasn’t.  All four LPs cleaned up really nicely, to at least VG condition, possibly VG+.  All are original pressings.