Very good advice. Once these discs are gone, they're gone, and never will be available again. Might I suggest "Bags Unlimited" in Rochester, New York They have a website. Their array of archival materials is something to see. In addition, they are wonderful people to deal with. They have all sorts of storage materials for your records. <P>I have about 6000 78 RPM records, and I've bought record sleeves from them in 500 piece lots. The product quality is superb. Check them out. <P>------------------<BR>

<BR>Does a diamond stylus with a tracking force of 2 grams or less really only last 50 hours playing LPs? I thought they could go at least ten times that.<P>Tom<P><P>------------------<BR>

If you want to keep those LPs in good shape, I'd rule out playing them on antique turntables. The tracking force on the antique ones is very high, and there is likely some damage to the LP with every playing, particularly to the loud transients with lots of high frequency energy.<P>Old turntables and record changers often have steel or osmium needles, and those do wear out pretty quickly. Sapphire was also used in some of the newer inexpensive ones, and this holds up quite a bit better.<P>If you've got any mint condition LPs, I'd recommend playing them on a post-1965 changer with a maximum of 2 grams tracking force and a diamond needle. The LPs will last a lot longer, and the needles only need replacing every 10 years or so, even with pretty heavy usage.<P>Tom<P>------------------<BR>

What about Juke boxes. I bet they play hundreds of platters before being changed.<BR>koot<P>------------------<BR>

<P>Probably not enough high frequency response in a juke to show up the wear much since I believe the wear affects primarily upper frequencies first?<BR>Malcolm<BR><P>------------------<BR>

Something else that I've found is that usually you're better off buying from a dealer you know and trust-even better one who specializes in the artist you enjoy (if possible).<P>I've bought LP's on eBay before that were described as being in great shape only to find out they weren't! As it stands, I try to buy all of my Hank Williams LP's (a big fan of his) that are not available on CD from a dealer in California that I've known for many, many years-never had a letdown yet from him!<P>------------------<BR>

Ronald;<BR>Are you speaking of Hank Sr. Or Hank Jr.<BR>I have everything ever recorded by hank Sr. on CD.<BR>If it's Hank Sr. let me know what you don't have.<BR>Koot<P>------------------<BR>

Handeling : i handel mine just like normal people would unless moveing them around thay are on a vertical angle,i store mine in a cool cabnet some vertical some horizontal , and for playing i use a diamond needle and a unused 1970's BSR changer<P>------------------<BR>In a time before spacewalks<BR>moonshots<BR>and cyberspace<BR>when television was still an unrealized dream<BR>the king of imagination was a piece of furniture<BR>about the size of a picnic basket<BR>and every day<BR>shortly after sunset<BR>Canadians would pull ther chair up to this little box<BR>and spend a delightful evening as<BR>magically<BR>fiction was made to come alive on programs such as<BR>Escape, The Shadow, Suspense, and The Whistler<BR>In this way<BR>those who lived during the Golden Age of Radio<BR>received a dish of excitement that they have remembered<BR>ALL THEIR LIVES.<P> <A HREF="http://www.Radio-Years.tk/" TARGET=_blank>Radio-Years</A>

I`ve always read & heard that the record should be wiped in a clockwise motion when cleaning and that they should be stored vertically. <P>------------------<BR><BR>gator

Yes, good question, which way do you store records?<BR>Is there a way to flatten warped records?<P>------------------<BR>Cliffs Radios, I free their smoke. Poof! See I told ya so. Now their smokee free. LOL<BR>The Great1poohbah retired

<P><BR>Storeing 78's Should be straight up and down because the weight of others will crush them 45's and 33 1/3's are ok to store vertacally or horizontaly BUT NOT DIAGNOL that will cause them to warp , To unwarp a record put it on the window sill on a sunny day but watch it or u can put a hair dryer and heat gun on it , i prefer the window method. works too<BR><P>------------------<BR>In a time before spacewalks<BR>moonshots<BR>and cyberspace<BR>when television was still an unrealized dream<BR>the king of imagination was a piece of furniture<BR>about the size of a picnic basket<BR>and every day<BR>shortly after sunset<BR>Canadians would pull ther chair up to this little box<BR>and spend a delightful evening as<BR>magically<BR>fiction was made to come alive on programs such as<BR>Escape, The Shadow, Suspense, and The Whistler<BR>In this way<BR>those who lived during the Golden Age of Radio<BR>received a dish of excitement that they have remembered<BR>ALL THEIR LIVES.<P> <A HREF="http://www.Radio-Years.tk/" TARGET=_blank>Radio-Years</A>

BCD (Before Compact Discs) I had an extensive collection of vinyl. I tried evrything to keep them clean, always used a high quality turntable and pro quality cartidge at a gram or so with diamond needle, of course. They still always got scratchy. Some kind of Murphy's law with dust.<BR>Just BCD (before CD's) I had gotten into the habit of making a Cassette Tape copy on a quality machine with the best tape I could find the first time I played a new album, then just storing the vinyl. This worked well, until CD';s came on the scene and, God forgive me, I embraced this kind of digital (no clicks pops and scratches) technology and never looked back. I keep the old vinyl aroound, and equipment to play it (and my 78's) on, but mostly only for historic and nostalgia value.<BR>I do love my old reel to reel tapes though...<P>------------------<BR>OZ

33's should only be stored vertically, 45's can be stored horizontally since the lable part is thicker-therefore ensuring that the grooves never touch eachother<P>------------------<BR>

Years ago I read in a Pfanstiehl stylus cross reference that a diamond was good for around 1000 hours of playing time and a sapphire for around 65 hours. I used to check mine on a stylus inspection microscope and you could see where the stylus comes in contact with the sides of the record groove that flat spots would develop on the sides of the stylus tip. <P>A 3.0-mill 78-rpm stylus can track much heavier than a 0.7-mill stereo stylus because the larger tip radius exerts much less force on the record at the point of contact.<P>The mass and compliance of a stylus tip also have a great effect on record and tip wear. Those old flip over styli were like playing records with a 16d nail because the record groove had to lug over twice the mass back and fourth.<P>Early 1940's RCA Victor phonographs had a mechanism called "Tone Guard" on the playing compartment lids that helped to quiet the needle chatter caused by the low compliance, stiffly suspended styli of the time.<P><BR>------------------<BR>