The Official Thrift / Discount Store Bragging Thread Part III (Sept 2018-)

[sandfourman]

Oh hey!

Oh.hey.

 

[Sartoriamo]

Yesterday was pretty busy. I started sorting through the electronics but got sidetracked with these. Looks like the guy taped a bunch of concerts he went to in the early 70’s. Sound quality is much better than I had anticipated. I’m pretty thrilled about these.

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Awwww man. This stuff is like gold. Potentially unobtanium. I have a handful of bootlegs, and they are amongst my most treasured possessions, as let's face it: no-one else has them! My first career (well, the first that wasn't just random casual work) was as a BBC newsman, and my chief recording engineer used to bootleg all kinds of things: from hiding a Walkman Pro (I still have mine) in his jacket at a concert, to plugging into a sound board (that he was controlling and mixing), and everything in between, so I do have some amazing recordings. But the most wonderful thing is that I have broadcast-quality recordings of performances I actually attended.

But for concerts I did not attend, for me, the great joy of this kind of find is that it gives us entry into a different time, different place in a visceral way. Amazing.

And from a thrift/flip perspective, you have to believe that there's someone out there who was at that concert who would pay bonkers money for a memento of that show, especially if it was unobtainable elsewhere. The question is: how to figure that out? And where/how to post? And how to stop the artists' labels from filing suit?

You surely know this, but there is some concern with vintage cassette recordings that the tapes can degrade on first playing (aka the magnetic coating can desiccate and fall off), so every time you play a vintage cassette, you should be digitizing it at that moment "just in case". I kinda poo-poohed that advice at first, until I permanently lost a tape.

So yeah, amazing find, and hopefully there will be some real treasures in there. Awesome stuff! . . .

 

[starwarsocean]

Well someone at Saks screwed up

 

[Letric]

Good point to note about the risks of playing vintage cassettes.

On the subject of older hard media - Do any of the vinyl collectors have a preferred plastic sleeve? I've got enough now that I should invest in a 100 or 200 lot of plastic slips but I imagine amazon has tons of options and who knows what's a good one.

 

[mskis]

Good point to note about the risks of playing vintage cassettes.

On the subject of older hard media - Do any of the vinyl collectors have a preferred plastic sleeve? I've got enough now that I should invest in a 100 or 200 lot of plastic slips but I imagine amazon has tons of options and who knows what's a good one.

Any of the Mofi style plastic with rice paper insert sleeves seem to do really well. I bought these last and they are great.

https://www.amazon.com/Hudson-Hi-Fi-Anti-Static-Record-Sleeves/dp/B07FWCHLKD/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=STEMATOMXJ2Y&keywords=hudson+hifi+inner+sleeves&qid=1688657803&sprefix=hudson+hi%2Caps%2C279&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

 

[Nataku]

That looks like an amazing collection right there. Were concerts all recorded back then or could some be the only extant copies...?

The further back you go, the less of a chance that there is to have a recording of a performance. Back in those days, you had to lug around a portable cassette recorder or even a small reel to reel recorder into the show. Most folks didn’t do this, so the number of recordings are pretty limited (there are exceptions, like The Grateful Dead, who did not mind the fact that people were taping their shows). Then factor in the passage of time and how many of those tapes got thrown, worn out, etc. It is entirely possible that some of these tapes may be the only existing recording of those performances.

Is there a chance these were recorded directly from the soundboard? I wonder if the person worked for a venue or something?

That’s possible. I’ve listened to a couple and the sound quality was surprisingly good. I don’t know if he worked for the venues. From what I could gather, he was just a college student living in the SoCal area at the time. He was a musician, though. Great guitarist. I found some of his reel to reel tapes of some jam sessions he did.

Awwww man. This stuff is like gold. Potentially unobtanium. I have a handful of bootlegs, and they are amongst my most treasured possessions, as let's face it: no-one else has them! My first career (well, the first that wasn't just random casual work) was as a BBC newsman, and my chief recording engineer used to bootleg all kinds of things: from hiding a Walkman Pro (I still have mine) in his jacket at a concert, to plugging into a sound board (that he was controlling and mixing), and everything in between, so I do have some amazing recordings. But the most wonderful thing is that I have broadcast-quality recordings of performances I actually attended.

But for concerts I did not attend, for me, the great joy of this kind of find is that it gives us entry into a different time, different place in a visceral way. Amazing.

And from a thrift/flip perspective, you have to believe that there's someone out there who was at that concert who would pay bonkers money for a memento of that show, especially if it was unobtainable elsewhere. The question is: how to figure that out? And where/how to post? And how to stop the artists' labels from filing suit?

You surely know this, but there is some concern with vintage cassette recordings that the tapes can degrade on first playing (aka the magnetic coating can desiccate and fall off), so every time you play a vintage cassette, you should be digitizing it at that moment "just in case". I kinda poo-poohed that advice at first, until I permanently lost a tape.

So yeah, amazing find, and hopefully there will be some real treasures in there. Awesome stuff! . . .

That is a great point. I’ll definitely be having these digitized. As for value, I’d think a big record show would be your best bet. Not as great as an international marketplace like eBay, but I know artists still have people lurking on their flagging bootleg recordings of theirs. I had a vinyl copy of Neil Young’s 1972 performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and that got pulled about 3 times before I gave up (this was back in 2007 ish). Good thing too, because I ended up keeping it and really liking it. You’re right though, the value of these recordings to some folks could be off the charts.

Good point to note about the risks of playing vintage cassettes.

On the subject of older hard media - Do any of the vinyl collectors have a preferred plastic sleeve? I've got enough now that I should invest in a 100 or 200 lot of plastic slips but I imagine amazon has tons of options and who knows what's a good one.

I have all my albums in poly sleeves. I get mine from a local record store. They have them in bundles of 50 for like $5-$6. They’re 3mm, which I found to be the ideal thickness.

 

[goatamous II]

They’re 3mm, which I found to be the ideal thickness.

🤐🤐

 

[impuntura]

 

[MrRaves]

Any tips for removing stains from an Hermes tie?

 

[Letric]

Was that SMEG Toaster really there since 05/07/23?.. Or was it there since 07/05/23 lol

 

[Purplelabel]

5th July is the correct way.. you americans with mm/dd/yyyy is confusing.

 

[WoolyLamb]

5th July is the correct way.. you americans with mm/dd/yyyy is confusing.

I wholeheartedly agree. DD/MM/YYYY is the way. I also cannot understand the time change nonsense either.

 

[txwoodworker]

Was that SMEG Toaster really there since 05/07/23?.. Or was it there since 07/05/23 lol

USA and former protectorates are almost the only ones that use mm/dd/yy. Most of the world uses dd/mm/yy

 

[Zerase]

5th July is the correct way.. you americans with mm/dd/yyyy is confusing.

Yes!! Can America just stop being a ******* emo kid that wants to be special. Use the metric system, use Celsius, use DD/MM/YYYY.

 

[impuntura]

Yes!! Can America just stop being a ******* emo kid that wants to be special. Use the metric system, use Celsius, use mm/dd/yyyy.

And when they went with a gallon they had to invent their own not the imperial one,because you know British.