How many LPs is enough?


Right-- the answer is "Just a few more..." However, here is where I am and what I'm thinking: The last three times I was in my local used/thrift shops, I came across a few that I was not quite sure if I already had, or whether I had that pressing. I wondered if I need to carry a Blackberry (anathema to my analog way of life) with my collection downloaded so that I could avoid this kind of dilemma.
I only own about 700 or so titles, spanning classical box sets to recent limited-release albums. I realize that this is nothing compared to most of you, but I donate what I upgrade and I sell what I do not enjoy listening to. I maintain an Excel database of what I have, and enter each upon cleaning and test-listening; I don't just buy 'em and throw 'em in a bin. While it is rather engaging to compare, say, six versions of Bolero or Beethoven's symphonies 1-9 to determine which sounds best, am I really going to listen to the other five once this is determined? Likewise, while I own a stereo and mono version, and often an audiophile reissue, of most of my favorite late '50's through '60's jazz, surf, folk, and psych, it usually turns out that one or the other sounds significantly better. My overriding rationale is that I don't really need more than a one-year supply of one title per day. While building my collection, I have enjoyed making the comparisons or searching out the missing performance when it comes to classical, but nobody who I expose to this stuff is interested in making these comparisons-- they want to hear the vinyl magic, so I always pull the superior recording.
Maybe I only need about 300-400 titles of what I consider best of the best. Even when and if I retire and have more free time, I'm not sure that I would listen to more than one LP per day, and this gives me a year of no-repeats. Of course, my husk can still haunt the local thrifts and resale shops for that fifty-cent, mint six-eye Kind of Blue, so long as I immediately sell my two-eye... Has anyone else come to this conclusion? Am I to be immediately and henceforth banished from the Brotherhood of Crusty Vinyl Seekers after having my stylus bent?
morgenholz

Showing 1 response by rushton

After a similar frustration buying a few too many duplicates, I also started entering my LPs into a database/spreadsheet. Before the PDA era, I'd keep printouts of the list in a 3-ring binder to haul along with me. For many years now, I've kept everything downloaded onto a PDA (MS Access on the PC, downloaded to HandBase on the Palm). Since my collection is classical, and since I enter by individual work and not just LP, I have over 17,000 data entries (data records) at this point coming from 6-7,000 LPs: far too many lines to print out. The big advantage of carrying the list electronically is that it's searchable.

As to "how many records" - I can't bring myself to part with very many (except for the identical duplicates in different pressings). I figure I never know when I may want to go back to a piece of music after a few years and re-listen with "different ears". Also, I consider my LPs a library of music allowing me to pull out whatever I, or a guest, may in the mood to hear. There can never be too many records for that. ;-)

FWIW, until the newest Blackberry models arrived, the BB had limited data storage capability. The newest ones finally support a removable memory chip for added storage.
.