Guides
For vinyl collectors.
Practical answers to the questions collectors ask before, during, and after building a catalog. New guides added as the questions come up.
Pressing identification
Sgt. Pepper — mono or stereo.
Why the 1967 mono pressing is the Beatles-approved mix and worth significantly more. UK Parlophone vs US Capitol, catalog-number prefixes, and how to tell which one you have.
Pressing identification
Original vs reissue. How to tell.
The five signals that separate first-press from reissue across nearly every catalog: label, catalog number, matrix runout, cover stock, and inserts. The universal technique.
Pressing identification
Original Stax and Volt soul 45s.
How to identify 1960s Memphis soul singles on the yellow Stax label or the Volt fingerprint, and why Northern Soul collectors keep prices on these firm.
Pressing identification
Original Motown 45s.
Tamla, Motown, Gordy, Soul, V.I.P. — the five imprints, the label-era distinctions, and the Frank Wilson 45 that has sold for $25,000+.
Care and handling
Cleaning and storing vinyl records.
The brush-and-distilled-water method, what to never do, and how to store records so they survive — for collectors and the people who inherited boxes of them.