Shady scams and other silly business ideas to take advantage of earnest new vinyl collectors

http://www.pilotpen.eu/en/media/catalog/product/cache/3/image/288x216/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/4/9/4902505308062_21.jpg

Not sure if this is the right thread but I just got dosed by a discogs seller whose "VG" copy of More Specials includes a Side B that appears to have been steeped in mayonnaise for the last six years. Is there any kind of record-cleaning goo or gizmo or method that *isn't a shady scam, and will let me hear Stereotypes Pts 1&2 in its proper glory?

I use this:

http://www.spincleanrecordwasher.com/

a lot of ppl I've seen on FB are reporting success with the wood glue method

Wow, $80? You could almost buy two new LPs for that.

Glue is a miracle worker, it definitely does the trick.

$80 won't even get you one new Neil record

i had several MFSL CDs over the years (and AudioFidelity/DCC Hoffman masters). some of them are amazing and some aren't as amazing. I sold most of them in the past few years for bank because I stopped caring.

Only MFSL I have is Tommy. It does sound great, and "Eyesight to the Blind" uses an alternate vocal take unavailable anywhere else.

I feel like my local Best Buy had the same MFSL copy of Dark Side of the Moon sitting out in the special items/box sets area for like five years. Who knows, though, maybe it was a steady seller. Anyway I think it's the only one of those I ever saw much in stores.

I've heard hand washing with dish soap in warm water works OK.

XP If you never saw a MFSL Atom Heart Mother in a shop in the late 90s you were doing it wrong.

Xx doesn't "VG" pretty much mean it skips and jumps? That's what I thought.

Hell no! Even regular Good records shouldn't skip, hopefully not even Fair

mayonaising is permitted iirc

VG means surface noise audible in quiet passages as a general rule. Wood glue is great for cleaning, but 9 times out of ten using a fresh sponge and lukewarm water with detergent will do the job.

You might try calling local record stores and asking if they have a VPI machine they clean records with and if they'd do one for you... seriously going to get a better result than (shudder) dish soap. And wood glue I'd leave as a last resort.

Thanks all - am gonna attempt gentle soap to begin with because tbh i could throw it in a wood chipper and it couldn't sound any worse!

Shudder all you want but I’ve cleaned a lot of records with washing liquid (Ecover brand is great) and have got great results. If it was a fairly valuable or rare record I might go straight for the wood glue. It is a bit more of an involved process, but at most is a one day job per side and is honestly the best way of getting a record as free of deposits as you can get.

This is...nuts. But apparently effective (shampoo/conditioner):
http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=79003

yeah,i use a spinclean. which is great if you have to clean a lot of records. which i do. just water and a liberal dash of isopropyl for me.

The Spinclean is surprisingly good, actually, to the point that we only use the VPI like once every six months now for really hard cases.

ah cool i've been really curious about the Spinclean, VPIs are so expensive

all I've had for ages is a DiscWasher brush, but it definitely doesn't get the deep-down trouble stuff. Something is oddly tempting me about the Spinclean today.

I highly recommend a Spinclean, it has done me right

More VYNL clusterfuck news please! I want something to happen to the perpetrators so I can get my schadenfreude on.

They've changed the wording of the FB ads from three "sealed" albums to three "new" albums, which is probably nothing, but one wonders if they're becoming a clearing house for unsellable new crap destined for remaindering/cut-out.

In other news, VinylMePlease just dropped a spiffy color disc with inserts edition of A.M. by (Love,) Wilco

this new business model is certainly less scammy than the old one.

Do you love vinyl? Do you love t-shirts? We do too, and we are launching September 15th! Get a unique t-shirt from record stores around the world delivered to your mailbox monthly.

http://vinylshirtclub.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptPfH_9MNXo&feature=youtu.be

great idea to wear two really hideous t-shirts to advertise their t-shirt business

still i appreciate that not everyone lives close to camden market, so good on them

it seems odd that there's not a single example of the shirts or logos.

What kind of dink would wear a shirt from a store they've never been to and have probably never even heard of?

Guys that go to record stores and want to seem cool. Marc Maron types.

Is this an extension of that company that does a dive bar tee subscription service?

All for people too proud to actually go to a thrift store for tees or vinyl.

How is the Record Store Logo Chosen?

The logos are chosen by the crack team of experts at the Vinyl Shirt Club. In other words, we know it when we see it.

it seems odd that there's not a single example of the shirts or logos.

It's to make you want them more.

Hmm... If it's not band/artist T-shirts, but record store logos on a T-shirt, then this business is wandering a few degrees of separation away from the essence of music itself. Not that that's bad. Music is so over.

There is a way to complete the circle, but it's not pretty:

http://s14.postimg.org/eg9if7d9t/vinyls.png

Possible business model right there. (Many apologies, of course, for calling them vinyls. It just felt right)

They are soliciting suggestions on Facebook. The four I checked looked terrible.

Which made me wonder what would make a nice t shirt. The hmv dog?

Rough trade is good. Sister ray is perhaps a bit simple. Maybe the defunkt aron's in LA, just AR in a circle.

Amoeba has a decent logo.

http://i.imgur.com/6jRXr78.jpg

Have these bozos actually got permission to use the logos of the record stores? Cuz, y'know, copyright.

For some, a vinyl record simply represents 30 minutes of incredible music

Have these people actually ever played a record?

No, but they saw some at Urban Outfitters once.

the Hairy Records logo would look nice on a t-shirt (RIP Hairy Records)

http://s3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/5vYZsXzb_ezFA8xec4PpjQ/348s.jpg

its death throes as 'The Vinyl Emporium' less deserving of t-shirt beatification

http://www.thevinylfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Untitled1-663x400.png

The Vinyl Shirt Club!

A shirt made of vinyl, who wouldn't want one

The Music Consortium's Vinyl Emporium is a Dr Seus, right?

unique t-shirt

i need to make more shirts. we sold a ton of them. and people still wear them. but i've been out of them forever. just black with our logo on the front.

http://johndoejunior.com/sign.JPG

https://lostcontinentbooks.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/john-doe-jr-books-and-records-exterior-1.jpg

I wish I'd bought one when they were still around. I'd wear the shit out of it.