I'll probably have about 200 bucks to spend on vinyl to start...

Should I:

a) Go on ebay and pick up some bulk used records?
b) Go to the record store and buy new ones?


Is there anything wrong with buying used vinyl, Im scared that it will all be in shitty condition. And I'm concerned that if I just amass a bunch of used records, I wont get to know the individual tunes well enough.. Should I start small or go big?

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Broken Beats: DJ B-Rock live on Techno.FM every Sunday 7-9pm
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I'm also starting a collection, I haven't bought equipment yet, still waiting for that piggy to cash out, but I have just ordered some records to start my collection with. I am thinking that I want to buy what I like, not just go big. I go to online shops and listen to sample tracks(Doesn't always give you what you want.. but anyway). I make a list of what I want giving each track appropriate stars for indicating which to choose over others, I also have a seperate list for tracks I deem absolutely essencial and work from there.
I'm abit scared of secondhand myself I have seen how some people treat vinyl. But sometimes it might be neccesary to get the really rare ones.

Only prob I see with buying a huge bunch of records just cause they are cheap, are that you might end up with stuff you don't like, and you end up spending more money on stuff you actually do like.

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Reader's Digest:

quote:

Buying something as uncool as a turntable takes courage and planning.

My Discogs.

Listen to tracks and find the ones you like.

ya but if i buy a whole bunch used, i can practice with more records rather than having only 5-10 records to mix over and over and over...

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Broken Beats: DJ B-Rock live on Techno.FM every Sunday 7-9pm
Past shows and Tracklists at http://broken-beats.blogspot.com

yeah but you'll be mixing shit you (possibly) wont like, so you'll get sick of it quicker

imo :O

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rewinding ; Terry Grant - 'I'll Kill You' (Bedrock)
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"Playing records you love to people that like them is probably one of the best jobs there is, and I wouldn't swap it for anything. Apart from inventing new lego, which is probably more fun and has less late nights and long aeroplane journeys"

- James Holden

start off with shitty records. Tunes go out of date anyway.

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When you start to criticize the times you live in, your time is over. ~Karl Lagerfeld

you can usually find some gems in the used pile at most record shops. I found some great stuff for $0.99 that i would never find in the new pile. Also one of my friends found Josh Wink's Higher state of consciousness origional whitelabel in vg+ condition for $1. That's the way to go record shoping; dig, dig, dig! and look for weird artists you never heard of b/c some of those unknown artists may have a floor orgy killer sexy track that nobody else owns but you. That's the best part!

Oh yeah, a good record does not go out of date. It may be a little old, but if done at the right time, it can explode into greatness. For example, you can bring kids w/ glowsticks in tears w/ robert mile's children, you can bring back memories of old school house by frankie knuckles' Your Love and i know of djs that can bust out gavin hardkiss' Party People and make people go mad.

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Last edited by dj chex on Jun-27-2004 at 04:45

Here is my advice. Sit down and right down are the titles you want to get. Then go online to EBay or some online stores and see if you can find any of these titles for a cheap price. If not go down to your local vinyl store and see if they have any of those titles in stock. If not see if they can order it for you. At the same time check out the vinyl there and ask to play them. If your into trance (or whatever kind of music) try to listen to as many vinyl as possible in the store, even if you don't know the artist or song. By doing this you will find that you actually like some of these tunes and you might purchase some of these new titles. Not only is this a good way or broaden your collection but it will also open your taste to new things. If all possible, ask if you can hear records on teh loud speakers. Chances are if the employee is not busy he will be more than happy to play it for you. This way you get to hear how the song sounds on big speakers. Always write down new tunes you love and will eventually buy. This way you regret not having that awsome tune you heard on the speakers and forgot to ask what that track was. This happened to me a few times and I do regret it.
The best part about going to the record store is, most of the employees there are DJ's in your area. You should get to know them and let them know what your taste is. This way they can give you recomendations on new tracks you may be interested in. Alsom eventually, if you going there often enough like I do they will hold you a lot of the new stuff if you become friends with them. This is what I did and I know a lot of the Chicago DJ's. This also opened my taste to different kind of trance. This is just advice that will spread your $200 to the maximun to own the most killer tunes your going to love playing a lot. Also, check EBay often because people always sells vinyl cheaper. As for used vinyl, there is nothing wrong with it only of the seller tells you the condition of the record. It's also a great way to get the rare gems cheaper.
My last piece of advice would be to not buy in bulk unless you are happy with most of the titles. Let's face it, some of the stuff may be great but there is also a lot of horrible music out there too. Just make sure you know what your getting when you purchase vinyl and know the remixes. Sometimes it's worth hunting down the vinyl that has the the remix you want than purchase vinyl with remixes you don;t care for. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Busy Child start off with shitty records. Tunes go out of date anyway.

Yeah, the instant ASOT trance shit goes out of date, but good tracks don't.

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For me its about Quality not Quantity, I buy only vinyl I know I will love to spin, if your spinning some music you don't like, you can't get creative with it very much and you get bored quickly.

The best thing I can surgest for finding out tracks you know you WILL love forever is, get the MP3, listen to it back to back over and over, if you get bored with the track, then delete the MP3 and don't buy it, but if you still love it after hearing it a million times, well its time to place your order, pretty much all of my vinyl are tracks I love, I do have some exceptions though, from my early dumb years of DJin, but the tracks I get now are MINT.

Anyway its upto how you wanna approach DJin, but for me ^^^This way was the best and in a way cheapest because I ain't spending money of records I will throw out in the future, what you could do for starting off, is so you don't get records that go out of date fast, buy the ones already out of date, but get classics that you can still drop in a club or in a set and people will love it, like PVD - For An Angel or Armin - Communication, just a surgestion, good luck.

/me agrees with prodigy child:
quality over quantity!

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i don't have any tune in my collection that i don't think is awesome. why would you ever get a record that you don't like? i would also go into the record store and search it out...i mean you'll be able to get more because you won't have to worry about shipping and you'll get to hand pick them...