yes i would also like to know |
Hello David it's Mike who sold you the WTT. How things hope there well and I hope the TT is working fine. I would think you have a great opportunity to find some great Lps up in the West Point area. With the road side summer garage sales and also ever think of putting an ad in a couple of town news papers. Also would think you can advertise with ads large supermarket bulletin boards and do not forget the estate sales. Besides vinyl you can find great gear to. So I really think you have a great opportunity in your area to find more than LP gems.Take care and be well.. |
In NYC there are a bunch. There's at least 2 on 1 block of St. Mark's in Manhattan. |
Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton,NJ |
You should be able to find some annual library book sales (which include records and CD's) since this is often a fund-raising tradition in any community with a library in New York and nearby Connecticut.
Use Google to look for "book sale" and the national lists of the major league book sales will keep you busy when you are not rummaging through the commercial treasure troves mentioned already.
Just remember to get a record cleaning machine like the VPI 16.5 to use with cleaning fluids such as Paul Frumkin's Audio Intelligent if you want to rescue the sound pressed into the vintage vinyl. Also, be prepared to get some solid book shelves to store your records.
The records are the bargain, and everything else that goes along with the vinyl addiction, I mean hobby, sneaks up on you. |
In New York City, you don't want that 99 cent record. You are however in good garage/flea territory.
Gregg |
There's a little shop not too far from you in New Paltz. Might be worth the ride there some weekend. Nice little town and great hiking up at Mohonk.
Enjoy,
Bob |
The fall edition of the twice - yearly WFMU Record Fair is this weekend in Manhattan. Depending on who's making the claim it's either the biggest such event in the US or number two after the Austin fair. There's usually not much classical music for sale but just about every other musical genre you can think of (and some genres you can't!) is well represented. Take a look at www.wfmu.org for details. |
i have been to both on st marks and actually there are 4 on that block as well as the princeton record exchange, but none of these offer the 99 cent albums he spok of. or the hunt for some obscure lp. all of these are record shope 20 bucks a pop, kinda like drugs. |
So there have been lots of great suggestions here on where to find vinyl, but most of them are used record stores with prices higher than I'd prefer to pay if I can avoid it. Garage and estate sales can be goldmines, but finding the ones with vinyl is difficult, and the season is over now.
Listener57, library sales is something I hadn't considered, but will any of them have any vinyl left? I don't think I've seen an LP in a library in 10 years or so. I only buy CDs when I can't get what I want on vinyl. :-)
Robdoorack, the WFMU Record Fair looks *very* interesting. Have you been to one? What are the prices like? Are things cheaper on Sunday? It might be worth taking the train into the city.
But back to my original question, where's all the thrift shop vinyl? I lived in Eugene, OR, and there were probably 7-8,000 pieces of vinyl among all the thrift stores, and more than that before St. Vincent De Paul dumpstered their entire cache of classical about 2 years ago - broke my heart! If a town like Eugene has that much, there has to be some in NYC - or is it a very well kept secret? :-)
Thriftily,
David |
There is nothing "thrift" about NYC. QUite the opposite. You will need to travel to NJ, or CT or Long Island to find any vinyl stores with reasonable prices. For any "thrift" in NYC you need to find the Salvation Army stores and such and trust to your luck.
Enjoy,
Bob |
I haven't been to a WFMU record fair in 2 or 3 years since I moved to the Boston area (I recently moved to the New Haven area so I might go to this weekend's show). Before that I went to the shows religiously. My memory is that the prices were usually reasonable, although there is always that dealer who wants $20 for a "rare" Mantovani LP. For me the attraction was the dealers who specialize in certain kinds of music. If you're obsessed with, say, obscure '60s bachelor pad music, there's likely to be a dealer with a table full of those records. I had spent a decade looking for a copy of Canadian punk band The Subhumans' "Incorrect Thoughts" LP and found a VG one for $10 at the WFMU fair. Prices are usually lower on Sundays, especially later in the day, but the downside to the waiting strategy is that the copy of "Mr. Magoo in Hi - Fi" that you're desperate to find was sold on Saturday. In any case it's a fun event, there's live music, WFMU DJs broadcasting from the show, and more used records and CDs in one place than you'll find anywhere else around NYC. |
Bob/Ptmconsulting,
I'm willing to drive to NJ, CT, or Long Island if that's what I need to do to find what I want. Do you have any recommendations in those areas?
Robdoorack,
Thanks for the details of the WFMU show. Looks like a Sunday afternoon trip to the city may be in order...
David |
I would definitely recommend a trip to the WFMU show this weekend (starting tonight, actually, for the $20 admission--tomorrow and Sunday are only $5). Don't expect to find many great bargains there, but do expect to find a lot of rare LPs priced reasonably (usually). I think I spent $250-$300 in about two hours last year...
The "little shop" in New Paltz is, I assume, Rhino Records. It recently moved from its former location on Main Street to a smaller space off Main Street further downtown. I haven't been to the new one yet, but have been told that they sold off most of their LPs before moving and don't have as many in stock at the new shop. I think this shop tended to be overpriced anyway, though they did have a lot of old jazz & classical LPs at the old shop, with very little turnover. Maybe some of these made the move? The rock/etc. sections were only occasionally interesting.
If you're willing to drive all the way up to Red Hook (on the opposite side of the river from W. Point), there's a small but very well-curated shop called "Left of the Dial Records" there, in the back of a collectible card shop. It has no sign and no phone number, but is open from 2-7PM every day, I believe. Very good prices considering the rarity of some of what he sells. Right at the main intersection in downtown Red Hook, on the west side of Rt 9, just north of the traffic light. Look for the card shop in a row of brick buildings there.
There's also supposed to be a place up in Hudson with 1000s of used LPs, but I haven't been up to check that one out yet. A lot of the used bookstores up and down the river have some LPs too.
There's also Last Vestige in Albany, which I've been to only once, but made out pretty well at.
Hope this helps,
Joshua |
Am_dial,
Those are all great suggestions. Gives us plenty of places to seek as we explore this beautiful area where we live now. I'd heard about Rhino (any connection to the record label?) in New Paltz but hadn't made it up there. Too bad they've already downsized, but probably still worth a look - we occasionally get up to the Rosendale Theater for art films, and frequently get sushi in New Paltz.
I'm still amazed that the thrift stores here in NY are so bereft of vinyl...did I just miss the market here by 15-20 years, and the northwest was that far behind the times?
|
Just got back from the WFMU Record Fair, and now I know where all the thrift shop vinyl goes! There are so many record dealers in the NYC area that it all gets snapped up before any end user ever sees them.
Luckily, there was tons of $1 (even some 2/$1!) vinyl at the fair, along with $10-50 (and more!) pieces of every imaginable genre and sub-genre. I'm sure that the Internet marketplace has serious affected sales of the higher priced stuff, but if you're the type who likes to grade the LPs yourself, or you just don't like paying shipping, this show is a must.
They used to do it twice a year, but it looks like they're going to a once a year schedule. It runs Fri/Sat/Sun, and lots of dealers go to half price/make an offer at about 5pm Sunday. If you wanted to do a thorough scouring, you could easily spend all three days there.
Oh, there were CDs there too. I didn't look at a single one.
:-)
David |
I missed the WFMU show this weekend, unfortunately, but I'm glad you made out well. Perhaps you met the guy who runs the little shop in Red Hook; he had a table at the WFMU show. As far as I know, Rhino in New Paltz has no connection to the label.
I don't know why there's so little good thrift-store vinyl in these parts, since I just moved here about a year and a half ago myself. I think thrifting in the northeast, in general, has been pretty poor sport for about a decade. Too many people all looking for good finds?
If you're up in Rosendale on occasion, the shop there called Cakewalk has a tiny vinyl section inside--mostly rock, from oddball to mainstream, but other genres as well. I just picked up an LP there last weekend.
Josh |
