Young 78 collectors

meatyogremeatyogre 2,080 Posts
edited December 2005 in Strut Central
Whats the youngest dude you've met who collect 78's? I only know a guy who was like 35 or so.
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  • Whats the youngest dude you've met who collect 78's? I only know a guy who was like 35 or so.

    40s... but that was like 15 years ago.

  • canonicalcanonical 2,100 Posts
    I've only met one 78 collectro personally. He's about 50 or 60, owns the largest indy blues label in Canada, and has an array of 78's autographed by now-deceased blues legends.

  • meatyogremeatyogre 2,080 Posts
    the grading system for 78s is pretty wacky.


    E+ BEST Almost as new, very few signs of handling

    E Same, with a few scuffs

    E- Less shiny in appearance, some scuffs, plays distortion-free

    V+ Average, with scuffs and scratches, surface somewhat dulled

    V Moderate wear, dull surface, still playable

    V- Fairly playable, some distortion, numerous scuffs and scratches, serious greying of surface

    G+ WORST Grey throughout, music sounds muffled.

    [NB: grades better than E+ (N and N-) and worse than G+ (G, G-, F+, F, P) are not applicable to any of the records in this collection]

    In addition, the following abbreviations are used to describe record condition:

    ECAP= Edge Chip Affecting Play

    ECNAP= Edge Chip Not Affecting Play

    CAP= Crack Affecting Play

  • 78s are usually brittle, where's the grading for "a small pile of shards and dust"?

  • meatyogremeatyogre 2,080 Posts
    more importantly... whats going to happen in 30 years when all the 78 collectors are deceased?????

  • more importantly... whats going to happen in 30 years when all the 78 collectors are deceased?????

    We're gonna get old and start fiending for that shit...

    Laugh now. It's gonna happen.

  • SoulhawkSoulhawk 3,197 Posts
    What you know about this heat?








  • Whats the youngest dude you've met who collect 78's? I only know a guy who was like 35 or so.

    there's a dude here like early ta mid 20s

  • What you know about this heat?



    If you find a copy of 'Cats Squirrel' by Dr. Ross on Fortune, plaese send to me...




    Isn't this actually John Lee Hooker???

  • SoulhawkSoulhawk 3,197 Posts
    'Cat Squirrel' is kinda hard to find, I see it more on the internet than in dirt-under-the-fingernails type digging.

    'Johnny Williams' is indeed John Lee Hooker recording under an alias - I think he was under contract to Modern at the time.

  • 'Cat Squirrel' is kinda hard to find, I see it more on the internet than in dirt-under-the-fingernails type digging.

    'Johnny Williams' is indeed John Lee Hooker recording under an alias - I think he was under contract to Modern at the time.

    I saw a list somewhere once of all the aliases Hooker used to skirt his contract, including the incredibly unimaginative John Lee Booker[/b]...

  • SoulhawkSoulhawk 3,197 Posts


    this one is seasonal - not a 78 though...

    "blues for christmas, I haven't got a dime..."

  • meatyogremeatyogre 2,080 Posts
    heh, oddly enough that Spiritual Wonders is one of the only 78s I've ever bought.

  • SoulhawkSoulhawk 3,197 Posts
    heh, oddly enough that Spiritual Wonders is one of the only 78s I've ever bought.

    it's - I've rec'd some pretty good trade offers on it from JVB-collectros trying to 'run the label'

    the john lee hooker('house rent boogie') & one string sam( 'i need a hundred dollars') on JVB are holy-grail type rarities though.

  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,390 Posts
    Whats the youngest dude you've met who collect 78's? I only know a guy who was like 35 or so.

    there's a dude here like early ta mid 20s

    Why is that embarassing? I have some great 78s - there's a ton of blues, jazz and gospel that never saw the light of day on any other format and will probably never get a reissue. If you want to hear a recording you get it where you can. That's why I'm still into vinyl records.

  • Whats the youngest dude you've met who collect 78's? I only know a guy who was like 35 or so.



    there's a dude here like early ta mid 20s



    Why is that embarassing? I have some great 78s - there's a ton of blues, jazz and gospel that never saw the light of day on any other format and will probably never get a reissue. If you want to hear a recording you get it where you can. That's why I'm still into vinyl records.[/b]



    ...and that's why I'm not too proud to buy a reissue. Vinyl or CD.



    While I'll admit, I never really took the plunge into buying 78's, I totally agree with that statement in boldface.



    (I do draw the line at cassettes, though...)

  • I've only met one 78 collectro personally. He's about 50 or 60, owns the largest indy blues label in Canada, and has an array of 78's autographed by now-deceased blues legends.

    Is this Andrew Galloway (who runs Electro-Fi Records)?

  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Whats the youngest dude you've met who collect 78's? I only know a guy who was like 35 or so.

    there's a dude here like early ta mid 20s

    Why is that embarassing? I have some great 78s - there's a ton of blues, jazz and gospel that never saw the light of day on any other format and will probably never get a reissue. If you want to hear a recording you get it where you can. That's why I'm still into vinyl records.

    The only reason I'd smirk at a young 78 collectro is because I'd think it would be absolutely futile to expect to find anything quality out in the field... and round these parts, it would be... if you're finding the goods then get in where you fit in, I'd go nuts if I found a stack of blues 78s...

  • JLRJLR 3,835 Posts
    I like 78s, but at the same time they scare the shit out of me. I don't know, there's like a gothic thing going on those labels.

    Oh, and having a dedicated setup for playing them does not help either.


  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Oh and to answer the question I know a guy in his thirties who collects 78s... has the separate stereo set-up and everything... I don't think his collection is deep or anything though...

  • I do know a 22-year-old soul fanatic in Boston who has a few 78's lying around, but as far as I know his collection isn't massive. (During the short time he lived here in Chicago, he seemed to have more 45's than anything else.)

  • the grading system for 78s is pretty wacky.


    E+ BEST Almost as new, very few signs of handling

    E Same, with a few scuffs

    E- Less shiny in appearance, some scuffs, plays distortion-free

    V+ Average, with scuffs and scratches, surface somewhat dulled

    V Moderate wear, dull surface, still playable

    V- Fairly playable, some distortion, numerous scuffs and scratches, serious greying of surface

    G+ WORST Grey throughout, music sounds muffled.

    [NB: grades better than E+ (N and N-) and worse than G+ (G, G-, F+, F, P) are not applicable to any of the records in this collection]

    In addition, the following abbreviations are used to describe record condition:

    ECAP= Edge Chip Affecting Play

    ECNAP= Edge Chip Not Affecting Play

    CAP= Crack Affecting Play

    Slightly under-represented, here is a grading scale I saw in an old issue of 78 Quarterly:

    N = 17-year old virgin
    N- = 17-year old virgin who gave it up once
    E+ = 18 and engaged
    E = 21 and married to a decent guy
    E- = 25, divorced and living with third Mr. Right
    V+ = 35, three divorces, lives with motorcycle weiner and shows the wear
    V = 40, too many men, too many hangovers, too many psychos in singles bars
    V- = working the streets
    G+ = still working the streets at age 50
    G = too sick to work the streets at 50, has AIDS
    G-,F+, F = successive last stages
    P = terminal



  • SoulhawkSoulhawk 3,197 Posts
    "record has tight crack"

  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    I collected Rock & Roll, R&B & Jazz 78s for a while from my late teens to early 20s up until about 5-6 years ago, I then ended up selling most of them on ebay though. I still have a small pile in storage, I think I posted a pic of some of them on here about a year ago & clowned for it. Mostly UK & NZ pressed stuff. But yeah, not really my scene anymore, but I still wouldn't pass if something good came up at the right price.

  • FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts
    I been hoarding 78s for a minute. I like records.






  • this one is seasonal - not a 78 though...

    "blues for christmas, I haven't got a dime..."

    "sitting here wasted..." sings john...just played this!!! the flipside is dope dirty-ass detroit blues nastiness

  • p_gunnp_gunn 2,284 Posts
    I do know a 22-year-old soul fanatic in Boston who has a few 78's lying around, but as far as I know his collection isn't massive. (During the short time he lived here in Chicago, he seemed to have more 45's than anything else.)

    eli reed?

  • my friend jason is addicted to 78s, hes 23 and plays harlem stride and classical piano and has introduced me to alot of older 78 collectro's that are pretty off the wall. When we go digging he gets the 78s and i get everything else. works pretty well.

  • Personally, I think 78s are the new 45s. All the rage even. Detroit represent!





  • meatyogremeatyogre 2,080 Posts
    I plowed through a collection of about 5000 78s today. Absolute gahbage, but I have to say, it was kinda fun. There was a stack of about 50 good blues 78s, mostly local labels like Checker, Chess, Cobras, etc. Unfortunately they were all wasted. The owner let me throw away whatever was garbage, so I ended up throwing away about 14 big garbage cans full. A draining learning experience.

    I don't hate on this format at all, just not something I'm interested in really collecting at the moment.
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