Collecting Vinyl Records: Determining Vinyl Condition

How valuable are your vinyl records? There are two factors that influence a record's market value, rarity and condition. The market determines which records are rare, but musical tastes often fluctuate as years pass. This affects which records are in demand. For example, I have Julie Andrews's 1958 first LP in NM condition, a rare album. Any takers? So this article will focus on the other factor, determining a vinyl record's condition.

I venture to say that seventy to ninety percent of a record's value is in the condition of its vinyl, rare or not. After all you want to play the thing, right? The record should sound clean as possible when you play it, without any distracting noise. The problem lies in that that a vinyl record is an imperfect media. There will always be noise. Even the most minute of dust particles can cause noise.

As time went on, vinyl was more refined to reproduce better sound quality. During the 1970's and 80's RCA was even making LPs so thin they looked like giant floppy discs. The result of this refinement was that most vinyl became susceptible to groove damage or dust particles. I am old enough to remember hearing light 'pops' from dust particles playing a brand new record fresh out of the package.

The point of this is that the market condition of a record is not determined by playing the record. It is a general understanding that you will hear some kind of noise, even from a record in NM condition. Again it is an imperfect media, and the reason why we went to digital CDs. Evaluating a record's condition is done visually. Among other things, the focus is on the grooves.

Visual evaluation is for practical reasons. Imagine going through a box of LPs playing one track at a time, knowing you are going to hear some light pops from dust anyway. When we rented a storefront it was a little easier to do, but still not very practical unless doing CD transfers for customers.

So condition is based on visual inspection. We will get to jackets and paper sleeves later. First let's concentrate on the record's grooves. First rule: only handle records by their edges with a finger holding the label to help balance it. Hold the record up to the light at almost eye level. You want the light to shine on the grooves. With a back and forth motion in all directions, slowly rock the record. The motion is sort of like panning for gold, except you are looking for any defects in the grooves.

While grading the vinyl keep a few things in mind. Newer records may have defects that are not actually audible ones you can hear. While they still lower its grade to a certain extent, these defects are sometimes acceptable to a collector.

Since newer vinyl is so delicate, the paper sleeve sometimes caused scuffing. These scuffs are very light and do not usually cause any audible noise. Occasionally you will see newer records with odd looking 'scuffs' on the vinyl, almost like stains. These too do not cause any audible noise and are normally acceptable to most collectors.

Grooves with needle scratches are of the most concern, but it depends on the degree of the scratch. What I mean is that some scratches can be acceptable ones. With newer vinyl a very light needle 'scuff' may only cause a minor audible 'flutter', but not enough to overpower the music. The grade will definitely drop, but a collector may sometimes buy it anyway. These are only occasional exceptions, not common.

Older records like 45s 78s and earlier LPs were a little more durable than later ones. You'd have to rake a needle across pretty hard to get a scratch, but when you have one you know it's there and it will definitely make a noise if not skip.

Then there is 'groove wear', more common in 45s. This is when the record has been played so much the needle's friction actually wore the grooves down. This is not to be confused with vinyl 'glossiness'. Glossiness has nothing to do with groove wear. Some older record manufacturers made vinyl that appeared dull and not shiny.

One other thing to look for in 45 and 78 grooves is overall record scuffing. This happened when records were played stacked on a turntable. Sometimes even LPs were played in this manner. When the next record played it was dropped onto the turntable, obviously landing on the one spinning underneath. This type of scuffing will cause what is known as 'surface noise', a continuous audible sound irritating to the ears. Better known as a scratchy record.

Then there are the record labels. This is not something to be overlooked. Some collectors of 78s and 45s are only interested in the labels. Label wear is the most common defect. The paper may be worn or scuffed. 45s may have indents in the center hole from plastic turntable adapters that were inserted. LPs may have light scuffs near the center holes from trying to place it on the turntable. So record labels are something to keep in mind when grading. They will add to or reduce a record's value.

Occasionally there are factory defects in the grooves or labels. I have seen ripples and tiny bumps in vinyl, as well as label misprints caused by the manufacturing process. Most of the time if you are honest about it, collectors will often accept these minor factory defects if they are not too extreme.

When visually grading the vinyl of a record any of these factors come into play, and they all have an effect on its market value. Defects in the vinyl grooves also have an effect on the collector. They want the best possible condition for their money, but depending on the record's rarity may accept a minor defect, or one that only affects a single track of an LP. Another thing that determines the value is what records are stored in, a cardboard jacket or paper sleeve. This will be the topic of our next article. Until then, happy hunting!