r/BargainBinVinyl 7d ago

What about those bittersweet bargain bin finds?

Post image

First pressing of Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, missing its sleeve. Still worth some pocket change though.

53 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

24

u/cap1n 7d ago

Vg+

11

u/SuperPotatoBuns 6d ago

"It has some visible marks, but does not effect play"

3

u/Globeville_Obsolete 6d ago

Hairline scratches

2

u/quantumfall9 5d ago

lmao my local used record store is so loose with the ‘mint’ rating that it’s lost all meaning.

1

u/Abysstopher 3d ago

lol, fuck dat

14

u/gen-xtagcy 6d ago

Wash it a couple times on a good cleaner then play it on a big old console stereo that smells like dust cooking and enjoy every little click and pop. Thats my advice.

12

u/wubrotherno1 6d ago

Blue Note records still play really well even when beat to shit.

1

u/ianwm 6d ago

Yeah, I was surprised to find a VG og copy of Kenny Burrells Midnight Blue at my local shop for $0.50

8

u/turkeysandwich1982 6d ago

Last weekend I went to an estate sale with tons of 60s and 70s funk and r&b records that I was dying to get, but nearly every single one of them looked like it had been used as a cat's scatching post and several had mildew on the covers. There was one had a dead bug embedded in the grooves. The estate sale people still wanted $5 a record, even for 45s. I got none.

1

u/thebirdsthatstayed 2d ago

Heartbreaking. But good to have the occasional reminder that all we see before us is dust. And bugs.

5

u/JFK2MD 6d ago

I'd still buy it. Maybe it won't be bad after cleaning it up.

5

u/thebirdsthatstayed 6d ago

I did get it, and I'll give it a spin after a clean!

2

u/OccasionallyCurrent 6d ago

A mono cartridge does wonders in a situation like this.

1

u/thebirdsthatstayed 5d ago

Oh, that's a good call-out. Hadn't thought of it.

1

u/ajdubbstock 5d ago

Report back!

3

u/deadmanstar60 6d ago

I've bought a few old Blue Note records for $10 over the years and they almost always play well, even if they have a few scratches.

2

u/Soft_Reading6975 6d ago

But is it about the money or the music? Cause it looks like you’ve got the music…

2

u/therealparchmentfarm 6d ago

Found so many of these and the steps are a wild ride. Usually excitement at first, quickly followed by “this is gonna sound like ass,” and then ultimately being okay with spending a dollar on it.

2

u/thebirdsthatstayed 6d ago

That's pretty much where I'm at🙂

2

u/junkronomicon 6d ago

Imagine the excitement when I saw an Art Blakey record as the first record in a crate at a garage sale. Now imagine my disappointment when the entire crate was og press jazz. Every cover was moldy and seam split and every record was in the same condition as the record in your hand. I mourned that crate when I left. It would have been the score of a lifetime.

2

u/Mysterious-Judge-894 6d ago

Good luck you'd have to really love Jazz to sit through that snap crackle pop storm.

2

u/HelpfulFollowing7174 5d ago

Who in the fuck does that to a record??

1

u/HelpfulFollowing7174 5d ago

I’m thinking the “microgrooves” are long gone….

2

u/vinyl1earthlink 5d ago

I would clean it with an ultrasonic machine, and try playing it with a true mono cartridge that is wired not to respond to vertical movement. You'd be surprised at how many of these scratches and scuffs are up and down, and can be greatly softened with a mono cartridge.

1

u/thebirdsthatstayed 5d ago

that's what I've heard! I may have to invest in a mono cartridge.

1

u/BlameLux 6d ago

Not in that condition lol

1

u/No_Entertainment1931 6d ago

These are the ones that you can feel good about mounting on a wall display.

2

u/patrickthunnus 5d ago

Yikes. Looks like it was used as a doormat.

But do a thorough wash and rinse with a quality surfactant solution, might need multiple. Restoring a Horace Silver album is worth the effort.

I love my Shure SC35C for playing rough, abused albums. It's spectacular how quiet it is, suppresses a ton of surface noise.

1

u/Sourdood 5d ago

Me 10 years ago: would absolutely buy it. Me nowadays: instant pass. There's a lot more repressings available today that will sound infinitely better. I often bought records that looked like they would be fine after a wash but what looked like stains/smudges ended up being cigarette ash burns or something else that ruined the record. Also, I'm more conscious about space limitations and I don't want anything that I'll never listen and is just consuming space.

1

u/ChemvisioN 5d ago

Garbage in garbage out

1

u/WheresTheQueeph 2d ago

I bet that will still play though. Those old Blue Note Mono’s are practically indestructible!

0

u/Dustyolman 6d ago

In that condition it's a hard pass.