NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

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Phonotom
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NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by Phonotom »

Hi, I had a friend pass that was a record collector and I went to look through his record collection on Saturday. He has over 500 records. A lot of the records are 1 sided Monarch, Columbia, Silvertone, Lakeside, Zonophone... I did look through some and did buy some. All of the titles sound interesting, coon songs, uncle Josh... Can someone give me an idea on what to look for and average price for a decent record??? Most all are 10" I have pictured a few that I bought for my display. Thanks, Tom
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Curt A
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Re: NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by Curt A »

"Can someone give me an idea on what to look for and average price for a decent record???"

Sorry if this seems like a short and evasive reply, BUT there are no "average" prices, what would constitute a "decent" record in your mind might be junk in mine and how can anyone but yourself tell you what to look for or what you might like? For example: the records you listed above would not be of interest to me, except for "Baby Face" and I already have one. That doesn't mean the other records aren't any good, they are just not interesting to me...

Music is a totally personal thing - what I like, you might hate and vice versa... It has taken me more than 30 years to decide NOT to buy records based on the titles, but how they actually sound and if they appeal to me. It also takes years to listen to various genres and types/titles of music that I wasn't familiar with to come to a recognition of the styles and genres that I actually LIKE... Price is another thing - some collectors pay enormous prices for stuff that I wouldn't even be interested in. There are thousands, if not millions, of records and the only way to familiarize yourself with them is to spend time researching them and listening to them (youtube is a great place to test your interests). As far as general pricing, most records are worth only a dollar or less...

To understand your question in a different light, consider this: "I'm looking for a car, what is the average price of a decent used one, what color would I like, what make and model would be the best for me to look for?"
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Inigo
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Re: NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by Inigo »

And the question is... How much did you pay for the ones you bought from him?
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Re: NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by edisonplayer »

The black and silver Columbia that you have of President McKinley's speech isn't by the man himself. It was recorded posthumously by either Len or Harry Spencer.Some people think it's actually McKinley speaking, but it's not edisonplayer.

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Curt A
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Re: NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by Curt A »

I hate posts where someone asks a question, answers are given, additional questions are asked AND... no reply from the original poster... :?
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
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john9ten
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Re: NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by john9ten »

edisonplayer wrote:The black and silver Columbia that you have of President McKinley's speech isn't by the man himself. It was recorded posthumously by either Len or Harry Spencer.Some people think it's actually McKinley speaking, but it's not edisonplayer.
I think the clue there is that the label actually says the speech was by the "Late" president...if someone thinks it was given by the president himself, it must have been via Ouija board! ;)

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Re: NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by phonogal »

I have found over the years that the same often heard saying for books, is true of records. You can't judge a record by it's title. I have bought many records that certainly had interesting titles but the contents were far from interesting. Edison records seem to be some of the worst offenders in my opinion. :roll:

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Re: NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by Curt A »

phonogal wrote:I have found over the years that the same often heard saying for books, is true of records. You can't judge a record by it's title. I have bought many records that certainly had interesting titles but the contents were far from interesting. Edison records seem to be some of the worst offenders in my opinion. :roll:
Absolutely right, especially on Edison.

A friend of mine paid a high price for an Edison cylinder titled "A Message From Mars" - it has to be great with a title like that... Right? No, it was some bland disappointing orchestral piece, as I remember, not worth listening to... We never could figure out what that title had to do with the content.

That taught me not to buy any record based on its title... Actually, some of the better Diamond Discs are the ones marked with a red star stamp, which Edison designated as poor sellers or potential losers... Why trust a deaf guy, who didn't like jazz, to make music decisions? :?
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
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phonogal
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Re: NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by phonogal »

Curt A wrote:
phonogal wrote:I have found over the years that the same often heard saying for books, is true of records. You can't judge a record by it's title. I have bought many records that certainly had interesting titles but the contents were far from interesting. Edison records seem to be some of the worst offenders in my opinion. :roll:
Absolutely right, especially on Edison.

A friend of mine paid a high price for an Edison cylinder titled "A Message From Mars" - it has to be great with a title like that... Right? No, it was some bland disappointing orchestral piece, as I remember, not worth listening to... We never could figure out what that title had to do with the content.

That taught me not to buy any record based on its title... Actually, some of the better Diamond Discs are the ones marked with a red star stamp, which Edison designated as poor sellers or potential losers... Why trust a deaf guy, who didn't like jazz, to make music decisions? :?
I agree. Some of Edison's best records are the Red Star records. I think I have an Ellen Coleman Red Star that'
s pretty good.

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Re: NEEEDING HELP WITH RECORDS

Post by john9ten »

Curt A wrote:
phonogal wrote:I have found over the years that the same often heard saying for books, is true of records. You can't judge a record by it's title. I have bought many records that certainly had interesting titles but the contents were far from interesting. Edison records seem to be some of the worst offenders in my opinion. :roll:
Absolutely right, especially on Edison.

A friend of mine paid a high price for an Edison cylinder titled "A Message From Mars" - it has to be great with a title like that... Right? No, it was some bland disappointing orchestral piece, as I remember, not worth listening to... We never could figure out what that title had to do with the content.

That taught me not to buy any record based on its title... Actually, some of the better Diamond Discs are the ones marked with a red star stamp, which Edison designated as poor sellers or potential losers... Why trust a deaf guy, who didn't like jazz, to make music decisions? :?
"A Signal from Mars" was a march and two step written by Raymond Taylor and arranged and published by E.T. Paull in 1901 (see sheet music below). Could that be what it is? It is much more collectible as lithographed sheet music than as a record, if you ask me.
John
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