LPs or Shellack?

[pamina]

Do you have some LPs? and do you listen to them? or do you have every music on cds? i've got a player for those LPs because my dad collects them. i think he has over 500 ... ^^

my favourite LP

and this is i have to work with ( original from 2006 ;P )

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I have a huge LP collection from my dad's records from the late 1940s to records I buy today at the flea market. I've been a collector all my life (it runs in the family!) I have some older records, too, that I'm guessing are shallack (my grandmother gave them to me), but I have no means to play them so I couldn't tell you which I prefer.

 

[Flivver]

I enjoy all types of recorded music, from wax cylinders through shellac and vinyl discs to modern CDs.

And owning all these different formats of recorded sound gives me a good excuse to own a selection of really interesting period-correct equipment to play them on.

 

[Dismuke]

I have LPs - the vast majority of them being of pre World War II material originally issued on shellac. I also have a few boxes full of early late '40s and early '50s ten inch LPs that I got when I purchased a large collection of 78 rpms a few years ago. I haven't really done much work in terms of sorting through those 10 inch LPs - my guess is I will eventually put most on ebay.

The LP is actually my least favorite disc format to play. While they are not as fragile as 78 rpms in terms of being vulnerable to breakage, they are MUCH easier to scratch when played on modern equipment. I am alway a little nervous and cautious when I have to lower the stylus on to a track in the middle of a record. When I listen to music, I tend to like to jump all over the place and not just listen to particular collection of tracks someone else put together. Switching out 78 rpms or 45 rpms after every play is easy. You have to be careful when you switch out LPs is the particular track you want is in the middle of the record. In that respect, CDs were a big improvement - very easy to skip around, program the play order and, with a CD changer, you can do so even between multiple CDs.

Despite their disadvantages in terms of capacity and storing them, I have always found playing 78s and 45s to be FUN. And CDs are very convenient because of the ability to program them and their portability. The poor LP is kind of stuck somewhere in the middle.

Of course, part of it for me might be the fact that the CD did not become widely available until after I was an adult - so when I was growing up, the LP was the dominant format that was everywhere. 78s to me were "cool" because of their novelty and, of course, the wonderful music that so many of them contained. When the CD came out, I thought it was incredibly "cool" because of the many neat improvements the format offered. The LP - well, because that is what I grew up with, I guess it is something that I just take for granted and am not able to appreciate as much as those who are older and went through the 78 rpm to LP transition and those who are younger who cannot remember a world without CDs.

Now the CD is on the verge of being considered obsolete - and it won't be too long when we suddenly realize that the young adult we are talking to cannot remember a world prior to mp3s.

 

[RetroToday]

I enjoy all types of recorded music, from wax cylinders through shellac and vinyl discs to modern CDs.

And owning all these different formats of recorded sound gives me a good excuse to own a selection of really interesting period-correct equipment to play them on.

Took the words right out of my mouth Flivver, that's my excuse too! - I just bought a 1912 floor model Victrola to play and store my pre-1930s 78rpm records. It only seemed right to do so.

Here's a photo album link to a portion of my record collection:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremyhopkin/collections/72157601109407465/

I haven't got a phonograph yet for cylinders, but I came close to getting one last week.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm mostly a 78rpm listener myself -- I've got I-don't-know-how-many of them stored in milk crates, from the teens to the early fifties. Most of them came from two major acquisitions -- a buyout of old store stock I stumbled on a long time ago, and the discarded 78rpm library of a radio station where I worked. Between those two hoards I've still got records I've never listened to.

I also have a small collection of radio transcription discs of odd and obscure sorts of programs. I used to transfer such things professionally, and have the necessary equipment to do it right, so what I've done with most of my recordings is load them into the computer and use them to feed my SStran AM transmitter -- I've always got something to listen to, simply by turning on the radio!

 

[Fletch]

LPs, 78s, CDs, cassettes, even a big ole crate of 16" ETs!

I listen mostly on iTunes and iPod these days, but the 78s are closest to my heart.

Gypsy, Paul Whiteman, Columbia 12" 50095-D, 1928

 

[pamina]

when I'm working on my computer i also listen my music with itunes. the thing is, you always have to put the next lp on the player, it's somehow annoying if you have to run around in the room all the time

 

[RetroToday]

LPs, 78s, CDs, cassettes, even a big ole crate of 16" ETs!

I listen mostly on iTunes and iPod these days, but the 78s are closest to my heart.

Gypsy, Paul Whiteman, Columbia 12" 50095-D, 1928

Fletch, that is one sweet record sleeve! Is it from your collection? I love the bold colour graphic, goes really well with the record label inside.

 

[Fletch]

Naw, I swiped it from Bixography. I have a color Columbia sleeve, but it's a 10" with Ted Lewis on it.

 

[dhermann1]

When I was packing to move I finally did something about my record storage problem. I found that I had about 400 LP's, some old Rock n Roll from the 60's and 70's, but mostly classical and big band. They are now at least in boxes sitting on their edges, rather than piled flat. My 78's, maybe 200 or more, are also finally in purpose built plastic boxes. I have a decent 78 rpm (actually 3 speed, an old Garrard) turntable, and a good Thorens 33 rpm turntable. I hope to eventually digitize all of it. I saved most of the 78 sleeves, even if they were in tatters.
I'm from the vinyl generation. It was one of those generation gap shocks when I first realized that a younger person considered vinyl as something unusual and exotic. But the annoyances of vinyl are certainly annoying. The hilarious edge handling rituals we had to go through with LP's! Oy!
I have a number of the old 78 album covers, with or without contents. I've thought it might be fun to frame some of them. I also have a few little oddities that I almost consider a collection. That is, I have several 10 inch lo fi 33 rpm albums. They were only made from maybe 1950 to 54. I have a nice 10 incher with Mel Torme and Artie Shaw. Very tasty stuff. And another of rhumbas, with a totally anonymous band.

 

[Dismuke]

Here is a fun April Fools joke that NPR pulled back in 2003:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1216161

There is actually some truth to it. The lifespan of CDs is turning out to be MUCH shorter than was originally predicted. Tape has a very short lifespan and will, after a while, disintegrate and start to smell of vinegar. LPs supposedly have a lifespan of 100 years. I have 78 rpms older than that - and my guess is if they are stored correctly, they will be around giving enjoyment in another 100 years.

 

[Sefton]

I've only got about 300 or so LPs right now and an equal number of CDs. As for 78s it's about 20 or 30 and my turntable doesn't have that speed but my 1948 AMI Jukebox plays them fine. I wish I had more 78s,but it's been tough to find the really good 30s and 40s Jazz that I most want.If only I had a taste for Guy Lombardo. I seem to always find many of Guy's platters...

I don't mind the flipping/handling of LPs,it's part of the fun of it.

A bit O.T.: my receiver-an early 70s Pioneer-is on the fritz. Do any of the SF Bay Area Loungers know a repair shop that can fix old equipment for not too much $$$? Thanks.

 

[RetroToday]

It's amazing that 78s have about 20% shellac in them - I just thought of that because of the title of this thread.

More amazing is where shellac comes from and how difficult it was (and still is) to harvest it. Every time you play one, you can thank the brittle secretions of a Thailand insect called Kerria lacca that they still sound fairly good today.

The end of shellac use began in WWII when shellac supplies were very limited, the record companies began using vinyl more frequently. The rest is history.

 

[pamina]

imagine ther wouldn't be any CD's ! everybody would have about 1000 shellacs ... ^^

 

[lillielil]

I love my LPs! I have a good-sized collection of 60s and 70s rock. It started when I inherited (by that I mean "found in the attic) all my mom's Beatles records. After that I started buying them at flea markets and online. Throughout high school I used a record player that my father bought when he was 18 (1968). The connections were pretty corroded, so every now and then I'd have to take it apart and spit on/lick various things. I ended up having to retire it because I couldn't find any replacement parts. Now I have a reproduction "portable" Crosley.