Friday, February 29, 2008

Back to the Turntable, I've regressed back to before my youth

Quick Note: I've added myself as an Amazon Associate - so most of these links will refer to products on Amazon's website. I figured if anyone was getting any use out of my thoughts they might want to know where to start.
I'm not sure how I got here, but I'm now the owner of a restored turn table (or record player as I used to refer to them). I was just a little too young to own any real vinyl albums besides the occasional single or Star Wars adventure story. I remember my sister had a few, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and "Celebration" by Cool and the Gang. My first real vinyl record purchase came in college when I started buying old Led Zeppelin albums to hang on my wall as artwork. It's those albums that led me to eventually end up purchasing a record player a couple weeks ago.
I have always wanted to find a cheap record player to play some of those albums I still have lying around, and my wife had a couple as well. I regularly visit my local Goodwill store to find deals on various things, so I decided to start looking for a record player as well. A couple weeks ago I found one - a BIC 960 for $6 dollars. I had no idea if it would work, but I decided it was worth the money to try.
After I got it home I discovered it was missing a needle and needed some cleaning, but it worked! I looked up places to get it repaired and found a Mom and Pop store called JNS Phonograph Needles near the U-District on 65th (almost a block East of Roosevelt on 65th). The guy there told me I had done really well - he usually will sell the model I found for upwards of $250 dollars. So I went ahead and had it cleaned up and now I have a working record player (turn table) connected to my stereo.
I've been pretty happy with my purchase thus far: I've been playing those older albums I already owned and I even picked up a few new ones. I'm listening to "A Kind of Blue" right now with my BIC 960 hooked up to my Harman/Kardon AVR 310 (with a pre-amp, see notes). Kind of nice to play - no pause, rewind, just Miles Davis. There are a few shops in the area that sell new and used albums, and I noticed Amazon.com also has a vinyl section as well. Some albums in the local stores include a coupon to download the songs in mp3 off the internet, a great idea if you ask me.
My first new album purchases were the Blue Scholars "Bayani" and U2: The Joshua Tree (remastered edition). I'm hoping to get more classic hip-hop albums in the future, but they seem to be pretty expensive. The Joshua Tree purchase was kind of a mistake. It was a gift for my wife, who is a big U2 fan. I noticed that the re-mastered album came with some extra tracks, and thought buying the album would be a great way to get the original album and the extra tracks. However, I was mistaken - the extra tracks only come with the CD Version, not the vinyl. Fortunately she still liked having the album sans-extra tracks, but I still feel kind of jipped. Bono, if you're listening, please send me one vinyl version of your extra tracks :)
If you're thinking of getting a record player (turn table), here's a list of things to consider:
  • Find out if you're going to use it. Vinyl really isn't cheaper than CD or mp3, and not as portable. Though some artists include a coupon to download the tracks if you buy their album on Vinyl (a great idea). Goodwill has some records, but most of that stuff is thoroughly searched through well before you get there.
  • You need either a stereo with a phono (RCA) input jack, or you have to pick up a Turntable Pre-Amp. They are not too expensive, about $20-30 dollars. I have one for my stereo and it works just fine.
  • If you grew up with CDs or mp3's (or it's been a while), keep in mind that you can't play an album straight through on vinyl. Each side of a record can only hold a few songs, and I don't know if anyone has ever invented a mechanism to physically flip a record for you (besides a jukebox). For example: if you think of a 13-track CD, on a record player (with 2 records - one stacked) expect to hear songs 1-3 (1st record), then 7-10 (2nd), then flip both over and hear 4-6 (1st), then 11-13 (2nd). The format lends itself to playing the entire album, but not in the order which you may be used to.

For those interested, here is a list of my albums on Vinyl:
  • Led Zeppelin I
  • Led Zeppelin IV
  • Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti
  • Led Zeppelin Presence
  • Led Zeppelin In Through The Out Door
  • Led Zeppelin Coda
  • Led Zeppelin Kashmir (Live bootleg)
  • The Beatles Please Please Me
  • The Beatles Abey Road
  • Miles Davis Kind of Blue
  • Blue Scholars Bayani
  • U2 The Joshua Tree