The wrong people are getting into vinyl for the wrong reasons.
Reason one, it is trendy. Well so is breeding Cockadoodles, but it doesn't mean that everyone is good at it.
Reason two, it seems easy. That would make sense to those brought up on the silver disc, but it could not be further from the truth. Back in the day, when I sold hi-fi in high school, in the forgotten 1970s, there were very few people with the skill, knowledge, tools and dexterity to properly set-up a turntable. Not to mention, properly match arm, cartridge, turntable and phono preamp or stepup. You know what? There are even less now. Everyone thinks that they can watch Mikees setup video and become an expert. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is no more likely than watching a porn flick and becoming a porn star.
Reason three, all of those albums that I have in the garage are like free music, man. Wake up. You are never going to develop the taste for Donna Summer and Simply Red ever again. If you do, you will find that those old albums are scratched beyond recognition and moldy from improper storage. If you think that you can just stroll into the used record store and score great stuff, forget it. It takes time, patience and you will be going hand to hand with old bastards like me who never gave up their turntables. And if you wish to pay the princely sum of $30.00 per LP for new stuff, you will find that a large chunk of it is sourced from digital masters and pressed in places like the Czech republic where they are still trying to figure out how to make a vacuum tube, never mind an LP. That was your three strikes. You're out.
Reason one, it is trendy. Well so is breeding Cockadoodles, but it doesn't mean that everyone is good at it.
Reason two, it seems easy. That would make sense to those brought up on the silver disc, but it could not be further from the truth. Back in the day, when I sold hi-fi in high school, in the forgotten 1970s, there were very few people with the skill, knowledge, tools and dexterity to properly set-up a turntable. Not to mention, properly match arm, cartridge, turntable and phono preamp or stepup. You know what? There are even less now. Everyone thinks that they can watch Mikees setup video and become an expert. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is no more likely than watching a porn flick and becoming a porn star.
Reason three, all of those albums that I have in the garage are like free music, man. Wake up. You are never going to develop the taste for Donna Summer and Simply Red ever again. If you do, you will find that those old albums are scratched beyond recognition and moldy from improper storage. If you think that you can just stroll into the used record store and score great stuff, forget it. It takes time, patience and you will be going hand to hand with old bastards like me who never gave up their turntables. And if you wish to pay the princely sum of $30.00 per LP for new stuff, you will find that a large chunk of it is sourced from digital masters and pressed in places like the Czech republic where they are still trying to figure out how to make a vacuum tube, never mind an LP. That was your three strikes. You're out.