The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The good thing about moving to a nice little South Carolina city, on my own, was that I was able to put my whole record collection in one room.

Unfortunately that room was the living room and the storage area was the middle of the floor.

The idea came to me to make a shelf for them. I don't think I can make that big of a shelf without spending enough to have bought yet another phonograph.

But I went to the thrift store and bought a large oak-veneer television cabinet. It was $45 and in very good condition. The shelf was strong enough to hold me sitting in it in the spot where you'd put a CRT television, and it was deeper than the usual bookcase.

The shelf went home with me. I am converting it with a 1" thick stair tread as a center shelf, and more storage below. Books can go in the top shelf, 10" discs in the middle, 12” discs in the bottom.

There's a spot in the middle of the cabinet for a VCR but I really don't need a VCR, so it's probably turning into a set of (working) library card catalogue drawers. I have a large book collection and would like to catalog it, and the records need to be better organized so I can enjoy them better. Also, card-catalogues are rapidly becoming a lost art, and the best thing about making a home library in my spare bedroom is I can make it the kind I want, with old books, a typewriter, green lamps, and of course a working catalogue.

The shelf at the bottom is enclosed, so I took off the hideous 1980s-1990s-does-the-1890s brass door pull escutcheons. The room is supposed to be furnished in Mission or Craftsman. I suppose my modern furniture makes it Craftsman Revival. No scrolly frilly things, the Victorian furniture is in the bedroom.

I will be a few weeks building this but should have my record collection, as well as some books, shelved soon in a homemade 78 cabinet. This solves the perennial problem of how to store a large record collection.

Congrats on finding a good solution to your dilemma!

I gather you're allergic to the idea of a computerized catalogue, and that's fine--but in case I'm wrong, let me recommend you have a look at a piece of software called Personal Knowbase https://www.bitsmithsoft.com/ , which is probably about as close to an old-style card catalogue in a computer as you're likely to find. Each entry is in effect an index card for free-form data entry, as much as you like in whatever form you like. Alphabetization is by first line, and selection of subsets is by tags assigned to each entry by the user. It's very much like an older program called SquareNote but without its limitation on the number of active notes. My own record database has more than 30,000 entries (yeah, I'm nuts), and because of the tags I've chosen I can select subsets of entries by composer, performers, label, format, record size, year of acquistion, record number, label, vocal vs. instrumental, and so on. Most entries are just the basic record data, which I consistently type in the format shown below--because of the way the program works, consistency is on the user and is important--but sometimes I'll add things like performer biographies, explanations of alternate takes or issue numbers, details about how I came to acquire a record, and on and on. Here are a couple of examples:

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Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana (Complete Accoustic Set, 1916). In Italian; all blk. lbl. Victors. Ermolli, Tuminello, Perna, Ravelli; La Scala Cho. and Or./Sabajno (quoth Opera On Record). Complete set, 10 mixed 10" and 12". NC 5/2001 12279-0110

Replacing the following ss. acquired earlier:

(1), (2) Prelude and Siciliana. Tuminello. Vic 35680-A, -B, 12". G save 2.5" crack, not open. CL 7/15/89
(3), (4) Introduction and Chorus of Villagers. La Scala Cho. Vic 35681-A, -B, 12". Exc. LSM 3/6/89
(5) Dite, Mamma Lucia (Scene, Santuzza and Lucia). Ermolli and Ravelli. Vic 35686-A, 12". Exc. BB 5/18/90
(7) Regina Coeli (Queen of the Heavens -- Easter Hymn, Part I). Chorus. Vic 35686-B, 12". Exc. BB 5/18/90
(11) Tu qui, Santuzza? (Thou here, Santuzza!). Ermolli and Tuminello. Vic 18558-A, 10". F. PB 4/22/86
(12) Fior di giaggiolo (My King of Roses). Ermolli, Tuminello, and Ravelli. Vic 35687-A, 12". Exc. BB 5/18/90
(13) Ah, No, Turiddu rimani (No! Turiddu! Remain). Ermolli and Tuminello. Vic 35687-B, 12". Exc. save scratch. BB 5/18/90
(14) Turiddu mi tolse l'onore (Turiddu forsakes me!). Ermolli and Perna. Vic 18558-B, 10". F. PB 4/22/86
(17) A Casa, a Casa (Now Homeward -- Scene, Lola, Turiddu and Cho.). Tuminello, Ravelli, and Cho. Vic 35688-A, 12". VG save nasty ding in rim, not into grooves. K&S 12/14/93
(18) Brindisi, Viva il vino spu meggiante (Drinking Song). Tuminello, cho. Vic 35688-B, 12". VG save nasty ding in rim, not into grooves. K&S 12/14/93
(19) A voi tutti salute (Come Here, Good Friends). Tuminello, Perna, Ravelli, and cho. Vic 35689-A, 12". G. 2/89
(20) Mamma, quel vino e generoso (Too much wine, my mother). Tuminello and Ravelli. Vic 35689-B, 12". G. 2/89

[end example1]

[begin example 2]

Beethoven: Symphony no. 9 in d, op. 125 ("Choral"). In English. Elsie Suddaby, Nellie Walker, Walter Widdop, Stuart Robertson; Or./Coates. (1) VicaO set M-12, 8 12". Exc. LA 5/17/89 (2) HMV set 31, 8 12". Exc. RG 6/6/2001

Rec. Oct. 14-15, 19, 1926

Both sets are missing music in the slow mvt. beginning with the second half of beat 4, measure 51, and picking up with the second half of beat 4, measure 58. In the Victor set, the record speed changes markedly after this break. It remains the same in the HMV, which uses different takes.

HMV copy: several sides present difficult warps, esp. 2, 7, 8; needed extra tracking force and max antiskate to play. First side of finale is at 81.9 RPM; remainder at 78.26.

7/17/2021 new transfer commenced. Selected Victor set. Ss. 9, 10, 11 (last 2 ss. of 3d mvt. and 1st of 4th mvt.) run at 81.9 RPM; balance of set runs at 78. 0 0 500 Shure V15Vx with 4.0 mil truncated elliptical stylus


[end example 2]