How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Discussions on Records, Recording, & Artists
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Frisco The Beagle
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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by Frisco The Beagle »

Inigo - thank you so much for taking the time to describe your system and providing a copy! I have spent the last year sorting through my "hoard" of records and realize that I will need a catalog in order to find a specific record. This system looks like exactly what I need to do. Perhaps I can spend the next year creating the database!

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Inigo
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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by Inigo »

If you want, I can explain later the contents of each field of the database. There are 28 of them, and each one serves a purpose. When cataloging the records, you'll find some ones are very easy and fast to do, but others take more time.... Especially the ones that have the mx no. handwritten under the labels! And those Victors without the mx numbers, you'll need to go to the DAHR database to locate them, to be able to fill in the missing data... Or those under pseudonyms, with which you have to do a real investigation work through Rust discographies and the like...
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Marco Gilardetti
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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by Marco Gilardetti »

Inigo wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 7:00 pmI found an additional personal charm in this : many times I took a bunch of records directly from the shelves to listen to them, and they are all a mixture of styles, which I enjoy very much for causal listening. I have stored them in the past in other ways (by label and record number, other times by artists) but I find this problematic and boring for my tastes in listening.
I fully second these sentiments, as I also like the "surprise effect" of going through the records and find what will come next. Otherwise, I would tend to repeatedly isten to the same bunch of favourite records, and will possibly never listen to - say - a waltz, but there are great waltzes that are worth being listened to. I also put the occasional spoken word comedy sketch record every 10-15 music records.

I divide records only by (grossly) decade of production, as usually when I begin listening to them with a specific machine - say a horn gramophone - of course I don't want late electrical recordings of the '50s to come across, and the other way around if I turned on a radiogram, but that's all.

As already said in previous similar threads I keep records in safety wooden boxes that I craft by my own, and I try to pair them with original, or more or less matching sleeves. I occasionally keep records in albums, but that's the quickest and most straightforward way to break them in my humble opinion.
Last edited by Marco Gilardetti on Mon Mar 08, 2021 12:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by Wolfe »

My micro-organization strategy is kind of gross too. I try, but it can be a bit of a jumble. I also like making FLAC files of my favorites, so instead of searching for the record I'll often just play the file of the record from my computer or a CDR.

I can't be bothered fandangling around with spreadsheets and stuff either. :monkey:

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Inigo
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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by Inigo »

Ok, each one has his/her own system. I find mine comfortable for my tastes...
Here's a couple photos of my IKEA Expedit shelf full of 78s, and a photo of the physical catalogue, which you can also see in the shelf. The small white cards you see 2500... 3000... help looking for the records very fast. You also see a photo of the corners of the record sleeves... with the artist, record number and filing number (the one that sorts the collection).
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Inigo

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Wolfe
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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by Wolfe »

Good to know those IKEA shelves are sturdy enough for the shellac. The IKEA are popular with vinyl collectors, but I had been wondering about their suitability for shellac.

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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by Henry »

That particular model of IKEA bookshelf (Expedit) has vertical dividers every linear 12" (+/-), so the weight is well supported. I have my 78 albums on IKEA's "Billy" bookshelves, which come in two widths (23" and 31"). The 10" albums do nicely on the 31" upper shelves, but the 12" albums need to go on the bottom shelf, which is supported by the floor along its full width. The shelves are particle board and will warp if overloaded.

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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by Inigo »

Note. My expedit was reinforced by adding a full tablex panel at the back, which was screwed to all the shelves. Without that, the shelf would collapse laterally, as it has no back, only four thick wire stiffeners by the corners.
Inigo

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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by HMVDevotee »

I envy you fellows with enough space to dedicate an entire room, or even an entire wall, to your collections. I just started collecting two years ago and have accumulated about 1000 records, but my "most requested," when I show my list to friends and guests, reduces the number to about 300. Since our gramophone of choice sits in the corner of a room frequently used for entertaining, a room that cannot easily accommodate new furniture, I'm experimenting with adapting some existing cabinetry to accommodate my "most requested" recordings.

Admittedly, I am trying to work around an entertainment setting, and retrieving albums, or even loose records in sleeves from another room, gets cumbersome, especially when it comes to handling the records with few work surfaces available to open up an album and ensure safe record handling. My best solution seemed to be one of the few vintage indexed record storage cabinets with record "ejectors" that held records vertically, between felted dividers; you can readily find records, handle them easily and don't fiddle with sleeves. The best for my application was made by HMV, but the probability of finding one on this side of the pond is slim.

My solution came from a local thrift store where I first laid eyes on a Pioneer Laserdisc storage cabinet. I find it so useful that I have accumulated a number of them, sufficient to house my "top 300." Pictured is one of the units temporarily installed in a built-in cabinet close to my gramophone. Some of the units I have will accommodate 12" 78s, some won't since a laser disc is about two millimeters smaller in diameter; my units were made by three different manufacturers with slightly different characteristics.

All of the "drawers" feature a few felt pads the size of a coin on either side of the record that keeps them from coming in contact with the the plastic and centered sufficiently that they do not scrape the sides or other records when opening or closing. As a precaution, I use round bottomed, very thin high density polyethylene sleeves that are numbered corresponding to their storage "drawer." If I get a number of requests, I'll pre-collect the records in their sleeves and stage them in a vintage rack close by (pictured below), for easy handling. While the sleeves are really not necessary given the construction of the drawers, they insure no scrapes or scratches while in the drawers, protect the records from hand oils and, being indexed, makes returning records to their corresponding drawers very easy. What's more, I can reorder the units, or reuse the sleeves without relabeling, since all my "Labels" are entries on an Excel spreadsheet that correspond to a unit and sleeve number and are easily edited. The "playlist" I show guests is sorted by simple genre classifications, 30's Dance Band, 40's Big Band, New Orleans Jazz, Jazz Trios, etc. The records are assigned to Units and Drawers as I acquire them. Using the numbered sleeves, all records of one classification don't need to be kept together since my spreadsheet keeps track of their individual location. This way, my "top 50" can reside in the most convenient Unit and be comprised of different classifications.

Again, my record handling requirements are designed to make entertaining easy, and an evening has yet to pass when a dinner guest hasn't asked "can we listen to some?"
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Last edited by HMVDevotee on Fri Apr 16, 2021 2:58 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Inigo
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Re: How do you prefer to store your records? Albums or Sleeves? Combo?

Post by Inigo »

You're fortunate to find friends that love this music!
Inigo

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