advertisement


Record collection ongoing maintenance

I have been on a long-term project to clean all of my records & finished it earlier this year. In the process, I've replaced all of the inner sleeves; like Tony, I have kept any inner sleeve that I thought would add to the historical value of the record & have used Nagaoka's inside them, though the Nagaoka's are a PITA, as another contributor said. Plain paper sleeves, I have junked. I use Mobile Fidelity sleeves for all of the others. The PVC issue is serious; luckily for me, it mostly affected my 7"45's, as some of them came in PVC sleeves. The chemicals can leach right through paper or cardboard. Most of these I have replaced from Discogs. It's not just that the vinyl loses it's sheen, it has a disastrous effect on SQ too.

Some labels like PAN, for instance, use PVC outers with artwork on. Luckily, mine have been ok, because I have junked all of the paper inners, and the chemicals seem not to be able to penetrate Nagaoka or Mobile Fidelity sleeves.

The other maintenance issue worth remarking on, is the poor sound quality of some albums, particularly those that have sold a lot of copies. One example is 10cc - Bloody tourists; checking on Discogs, I find that there were 49 different versions for this on vinyl. Mine is a US, RCA Music Service Club Edition release. I'll have to look out for a better copy. Likewise, some of my earliest, treasured LP's have covers that have seen better days. Finding LP's, sleeves or inners to make up a better set is often pot luck. One such example was Warm Dust - And it came to pass, 2 x LP, 1970. This was one of the few records that I have managed to scratch; I can't remember what happened, but it ended up with a long scratch across side 4. One day, I was checking something out on Discogs, and I found a copy with a wrecked sleeve & wrecked disc 1, but disc 2 was VG+. The Russian seller couldn't believe that I wanted to buy it, and sent me a message asking me if I was sure that I wanted it! So, it made up a set that was worthwhile having.

I quite like the idea of putting my LP's in good quality outers; I've seen some on You Tube that are very good, though it will be quite expensive.

The other issue with 7" singles is that often, they don't get put back in the correct sleeve; this has been the case with a lot of singles that were given to me over the years. In cleaning these, I have put any that didn't have the correct sleeve into a good quality generic one; they are all in anti-static inners too. I have kept all of the sleeves that are in good condition, and at some point, I'll try to mate them with their matching record.

It's all good fun & it never ends; all part of the hobby!
 
though the Nagaoka's are a PITA

No problem whatsoever here - they are used as liners inside standard paper liners as the records arrive in. Once in them, they stay in them. Pinch the sleeve and Nagaoka at the bottom and tip the record out gently into/onto the other hand.

I suspect that you are trying to use them as is, on their own? HORRENDOUS faff in countless ways.
 
No problem whatsoever here - they are used as liners inside standard paper liners as the records arrive in. Once in them, they stay in them. Pinch the sleeve and Nagaoka at the bottom and tip the record out gently into/onto the other hand.

I suspect that you are trying to use them as is, on their own? HORRENDOUS faff in countless ways.

I use them like you, it's not getting them out it's getting them back in, even if I get a good separation they still only go back in cleanly about 50% of the time, the other 50% they just squash it into a ball in the bottom of the inner and I end up taking it out to straighten it back out. I'm done with them when I've used them up.
 
Another type of maintenance…making space. I’ve just cleared out the equivalent of an Expedit cube. All stuff that I got via buying collections ages ago, such as later period Rolling Stones. All of which are bloody awful and I will never play again.
So…move everything else to the right thus freeing up space for the jazz that lives at the beginning of the storage as it is what I buy/play the most.
Delete from Discogs collection; list separately in Excel making a note of Discogs average values (Voodoo Lounge - who knew?!); work out strategy for moving them on; dust shelves.
Sit back and have a cup of tea.
Two things I love most about vinyl, the expense and the inconvenience!
 
I just love the use of capitalisation to prove a point & no, I don't use them that way.

So what is the PITA?
Something like 1400 in use here, another 200 waiting, essentially no hassles of any kind whatsoever in the 30 years or so that I have been using them. The LP slides out and slides back in after play.
 
Hmmmm. No problem 99 times from 100 here with that either. You have me puzzled as to why you get hassles.

Next LP to go back, I'll make a note of how I do it.

They get half way in and then the other half it just pushes the Nag sleeve into the bottom of the inner when by rights it should just slide down.

I much prefer the poly lined paper inners, no faff with them.
 
OK - I have just put an LP into the sleeve - normally auto-pilot so had to check.

The sleeve in the sleeve is laid to one side, I pull the Nagaoka about 1cm out of the paper sleeve. Lift the upper layer of Nagaoka about 1cm so that the LP can be slid in horizontally. Pinch the sleeve/Nagaoka/LP on one side. Lift to vertical. The LP is already past half way in, so pinch both sides of the sleeve at the top, above the LP to hold sleeve and Nagaoka together. LP drops to botom of sleeve. Job done.
 
I have been using them over 30 years, no problem AT ALL. Totally auto-pilot these days quite possibly I found it a PITA way back, but I sure as hell can't remember, one way or the other.
 
They get half way in and then the other half it just pushes the Nag sleeve into the bottom of the inner when by rights it should just slide down.

I much prefer the poly lined paper inners, no faff with them.

For me it's having to try to get the record back in left (and a little bit) handed. They're impossible - the extra support and stength of poly-lined paper just works. I've been buying the German made ones off ebay for a little while so we'll see how they hold up.
 
For me it's having to try to get the record back in left (and a little bit) handed.

Are you left or right-handed?
I am right handed. The sleeve lays flat of the top of rack, I hold the LP in my right hand - usual thing - fingers holding/supporting it at the bottom edge, thumb on the label. Left hand holds the sleeve slightly open.
From the grief mentioned here, I can only assume that I had grief 30+ years ago, but somewhere along the way worked out how to avoid it - as said - auto-pilot here.
 
Are you left or right-handed?
I am right handed. The sleeve lays flat of the top of rack, I hold the LP in my right hand - usual thing - fingers holding/supporting it at the bottom edge, thumb on the label. Left hand holds the sleeve slightly open.
From the grief mentioned here, I can only assume that I had grief 30+ years ago, but somewhere along the way worked out how to avoid it - as said - auto-pilot here.

I had a stroke and now have just marginal use of my right hand, which was my dominant hand. It's very hard to handle records in and out of the sleeve full stop without getting fingers on the surface. My little finger has a mind of it's own which is also a big nuisance
 
I had a stroke and now have just marginal use of my right hand, which was my dominant hand.

My commiserations. I can see that Nagaoka sleeves are going to be more than one step too far for you.
I have almost zilch knowledge/experience of the lined inners but they are going to be the way to go, I would have thought. I have aquired just a very few here (not bought), and they should make life far easier for you - little or no static and the sleeves themselves are reasonably "rigid", so don't flap around.
 
My commiserations. I can see that Nagaoka sleeves are going to be more than one step too far for you.
I have almost zilch knowledge/experience of the lined inners but they are going to be the way to go, I would have thought. I have aquired just a very few here (not bought), and they should make life far easier for you - little or no static and the sleeves themselves are reasonably "rigid", so don't flap around.

These are the ones I like at the moment

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/31198663...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
These are the ones I like at the moment

Look to be cheap enough - buy a pack and see how you get on would be my suggestion. As I said, I have no first hand experience of the different brands as they seem never to be marked, so I have no idea what brands I have here amongst the very few that have arrived with second-hand records, but I would bet that there isn't much to choose between the different poly-lined paper ones.
 


advertisement


Back
Top