Which is great until it’s time to buy a record sight unseen on eBay, Discogs.com or elsewhere, and then suddenly those vinyl grading terms mean a hell of a lot more.

This video is one point of view on grading vinyl records, and the background music is fun, too. There is a great amount of personal preference built in to grading vinyl records, but once you get used to the grading systems and know what to look for this whole topic is much easier to deal with. Again, some of this is really down to personal preference–how much wear is acceptable to you?

–Joe Wallace

One recent question had to do with grading vinyl records. How does a newcomer to record buying and selling accurately judge the quality of a record or get a good idea of the record album’s condition as described for sale on eBay, Discogs.com or Etsy?

An Introduction To Vinyl Grading

Many record sellers use the Goldmine standard or a variation of it. Basically, Goldmine standard grading runs from Good, Very Good, and variations of VG (Very Good Plus, VG++. etc.) to Near Mint, and Mint.

Grading applies separately to album covers and the vinyl records themselves–or at least it SHOULD.

Some use an alternative system of vinyl grades like “Clean” or “Exceptionally Clean”, but some of us in the vinyl collecting and selling community distrust such descriptions because they seem to be trying to hide something.That is obviously not true in every case but for some buyers it can be a red flag.

No matter–nobody forces you to buy vinyl without inspecting it and if you’re uncomfortable with a seller’s grading system, don’t buy unless you can inspect.

Mint condition records are generally those that have never been played or seem to have never been played. A conservative grader is your friend when it comes to buying records on line, and those who claim that a vinyl record is “Mint” are usually saying it’s never been played or played once.

That does NOT mean “still sealed” but obviously sealed records are in Mint condition unless there’s been poor storage and handling.

Rather than take the time to run down the entire list of possible record conditions and hope it’s been communicated properly (we WILL do that in another post, this is a GETTING STARTED guide) there is an easier way for you to begin learning what record grading is all about.

Find a record store that sells used vinyl and lists the condition of that vinyl on a label on the sleeve. Study what that record store considers to be a “Good” condition record. Records in Good condition are often anything but.

Now compare what that store considers to be in Near Mint condition. See the vast difference? Once you get an idea of what the extremes are–again, according to THAT STORE–have a look at the Very Good condition records and compare them with the Near Mints.

You may begin to notice less difference in some cases between Very Good or Very Good Plus and Near Mint.

That’s because every record grader, like it or not, has their own pet peeves. Some will decide one vinyl LP that is considered Near Mint by one grader is actually Very Good Plus album because of a certain type of scratch, nick, or other type of wear.

Conservative record album graders–the fussy ones, the people who don’t give away Near Mint status very easily–are your best friend when it’s time to buy online. Near Mint records are not always pristine and perfect, but Very Good records aren’t always scratchy or obviously worn, either.

What you’re after is a better idea of the range of tolerances in your own purchasing and/or selling habits.

What does Very Good or VG+ mean to you the buyer when you play the record? Do you care if the album is NM or NM-?

Some do and some do not. It’s all down to personal preference. In another blog post (several, I expect) we’ll tackle the more in-depth complexities in record grading. In the meantime, the more records you study yourself, the better you’ll get at determining condition and whether you’re personally comfortable buying an album in the specified condition.

Don’t forget that this is NOT an exact science and your preferences have much to do with how you interpret the grading system. I’ll be writing much more on this subject in the weeks to come.

–Joe Wallace

Jack White started Third Man after his recording contract expired with V2. The White Stripes signed with Warner to record Icky Thump, but Jack White pulled off a shrewd deal to keep the rights to vinyl pressings…and Third Man wasn’t far behind with reissues of the back catalog, plus new releases by bands like The Dead Weather.

If you’re into learning about the entire saga of Third Man, have a look at this excellent interview with one of Third Man’s major players, as published by Collector’s Weekly. It’s a pretty interesting look behind the scenes at Nashville’s prime iconoclast labels/record stores.

There are many reasons to obsess over the work of Mike Patton, not the least of which is his love of insane songwriting, Italian cinema, and maximum chaos. But for every fan of Patton, there’s an army of people out there who just have no…idea…what kind of madness awaits.

This article on Patton’s early work in Mr. Bungle is just what a newcomer needs to learn the ropes. It will become instantly clear as you read this whether you should run-not walk-to the nearest record shop to find your new obsession OR run away screaming for the safety of a Josh Groban record.

Some will cry blasphemy, but round here the California record is a huge favorite–probably because that was the gateway drug to the rest of Bungle-land. But no matter. Mr. Bungle, Disco Volante, and California are all records worth checking out. And that’s one of the things that makes a seasoned, jaded collector truly jealous–you can ONLY experience Mr. Bungle for the first time ONCE. So if that’s you, TREASURE IT.

There should be a brain-wipe machine so you can repeat those first-time ever experiences again and again, truly.

Oh, and:

In the 80s, “Home taping is killing the record industry!” was the battle cry of many suit-and-tie candyassed record company execs who felt threatened by a bunch of teenage kids trading cassettes of their favorite vinyl records.

Sound familiar?

Today’s version of that whiny nonsense has culminated in the Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA for short, plus its evil cousin, the Protect IP Act or PIPA.

The biggest pro-SOPA/pro-PIPA crybabies include the MPAA and RIAA, who have caused plenty of grief for musicians in the past with their blinkered, pee-pants fears of piracy, file sharing and the like. They basically seem to hate any activity that doesn’t result in the cash registers chiming.

That sounds a bit extreme, a bit knee-jerk reactionary, to be sure. But it’s an impression that can’t be avoided in an age where six-figure lawsuits are brought against college kids for file sharing in their dorm rooms.

Here in Chicago in a measure totally unrelated to piracy, SOPA, or the alphabet soup agencies, rumor has it that one elected genius tried to introduce legislation that would make the sale of used CDs illegal.

Why?

With news like this, plus reports of the MPAA crying over the blackout of websites in protest of SOPA/PIPA as an “abuse of power”, it gives me great pleasure to see a resurgence of attitude against legislated censorship (which SOPA and PIPA clearly would bring).

The sad thing about all this is that the hue and cry that brought SOPA and PIPA legislation into being has more to do with the fact that these record industry dinosaurs (who are so afraid of the 21st century verision of home taping) are basically making their final bleating cries as they sink into the music business La Brea tar pits.

The dinos are going down, but they keep on bellowing for dear life.

Once upon a time, Steve Albini wrote, “The future belongs to analog loyalists. Fuck digital.” And now, after MP3s, file sharing and all the rest, damn if he didn’t turn out to be exactly right, albeit in a sort of collector-y way. MP3s and the collapse of the CD market have driven people back to vinyl. Which proves a point.

File sharing, piracy, and the rest of the yellow underwear issues the MPAA, RIAA and the corporate giants are afraid of? They all drive people back to buying music. Actual purchases. Let the file sharing kiddies have their illegal Metallica and Britney Spears downloads. The rest of us–people who actually BUY music, and GOOD music to boot–are still spending money in spite of the sharing.

None of this is news, not to us. But these record industry types need to take a weekend to wring the urine out of their trousers and re-think. Not that they will. They NEVER will. In fact, they’re just going to keep sitting there in their own piss, shivering in fear that another 99 cents won’t be spent on the brain-dead utterances of 50 Cent or Adele.

And they are right–crap music will be pirated forever and ever, because somewhere deep down inside, even the most vacant, uncritical fan of what I call Hollywood-core knows they shouldn’t spend money on that shit. Piracy? No, friends, let’s call it what it is–EVOLVED PURCHASING HABITS. People spend money on Radiohead records offered for “whatever you wanna pay”, they shelled out for Nine Inch Nails four CD sets after getting a full album of the stuff for nothing.

Those stunts–which WORKED–coupled with the piracy of USELESS, STUPID MUSIC should tell us something, shouldn’t it?

One of the most enjoyable as of late? Waxidermy, a vinyl blog dedicated to out-of-print rarities and oddities that has an outstanding section called Incredibly Strange that will not only change your life, but might actually ALTER it substantially. It’s MIND BENDING.

Proof? The too-short-by-a-mile post on the vinyl record titled “Fist” Goodbody’s Traveling Torture Show, which has sent Turntabling on a torched-earth bughunt for this WTF record. It cannot be said that it must be owned, “whatever the cost” but there is a definite interest in procuring this vinyl freakshow for permanent installation in the Turntabling Collection. If you own a copy of “Fist” Goodbody’s Traveling Torture Show you want to sell, by all means get in touch.

Waxidermy is a massive, massive site and there is so much to explore that you might just fall over dead before getting through it all, which is never a bad thing. Waxidermy must go on and on forever, because it’s simply too awesome not to. Done gushing now…just get over there and have a look. You won’t be sorry. Your brain may be damaged forever by the Incredibly Strange section, but that just means Turntabling will have plenty of company.

–Joe Wallace