stock thread...SF/Bay area digging spots
hammertime
2,389 Posts
So me and my girl are planning a May trip to San Francisco...we'll be in the downtown area for 4 days without a car, and then we'll be renting a car on the fourth day, driving to Sequoia National Park, and then on to VEGAS!So I know about Groove Merchant, Amoeba, and Recycled, but would appreciate info on any other good spots in SF and surrounding areas.Also regarding Aquarius, do they sell any used vinyl or anything or is it basically just what's on the website?
Comments
Why do folls always post, "Yo me and my girl are going to _________, are there any super out of the way and time-consuming spots to dig where I will royally piss off my girlfriend for taking too long?"
If you are feeling like spending time on foot and public transport take BART out to the Ashby flea market in Berkeley (in the BART parking lot Sat & Sun), and walk it over to Amoeba & Rasputins also in Berkeley. Kind of a long walk but if it's a nice day it is chill. This is kind of co-ed activity because your girl will probably find stuff to occupy her time the flea and the surrounding area on Telegraph Ave.
But honestly I would spend the spare time with my chick and go hit up Cool Chris, who's done most of the work for you already.
And I'm pretty sure I didn't ask for "super out of the way" spots...but other than that thanks.
One day my wife and I were at Ashby swap meet and we were honored with the opportunity to watch some dude dancing near the drum circle take a minute's rest to drop a marathon-bar terd out of the hole in his pants.
Great family fun!!!
Look, talk to Jinx74/Justin on this board and he will sell you records out of his house. Go to Amoeba, Groove Merchant, Open Mind Music on Divisadero off Haight, Jacks Record Cellar which is like around the corner from GM, I think there are some junks/thrifts on Mission but I don't keep track of which ones have stayed open, there's that one place in North Beach that is like endless digging for 12 hours and you'll find seven $2 records or some shit, hit the flea in Berkeley, hit the shops in Berkeley.
Beyond that, you can take the BART out to Rockridge and go to Groove Yard, Saturn, and DBA Browns. Shit, you can go out to San Jose and hit Streetlight, Rasputins, and Big Als Record Barn. All of these shops are in the phone book. You can scour the depths of North/west Oakland for that one shop on Telegraph/41st or Funky Soul Stop. Say hi to the crackheads at the bus station. None of these are really worth the time IMO though except Berkeley.
Everything else is gonna be arduous/impossible for you to get to on public transportation.
What I'm saying to you is there are stores all over the Bay Area but it will take you the better part of a day to do anything outside of SF (without a car).
i thought funky riddms opened up on ashby right at the edge of the flea market!
haven't been inside but saw de signs.
this sums it all up. dude's chill, fair with pricing and yeah, basically you don't have the scour ebay/moldy basements for teh raer and hey you might discover something you never heard (and subsequently drop 50 on...happened a few times).
buuuut if you really want to travel the yay, yeah there's the crazy old-time record shop a block up from haight (at the level of groove merchant) and open mind music which is not quite as "boutique" as groove merchant but carries a fair share of good reissues for cheap. dude is cool too.
groove yard in oakland is a great jazz store. mind you their organization is kind of bizarre, and i spent about forty minutes looking through 6 dollar duke ellingtons and stan getz records before finding out that the "good stuff" had its own section in the front.
in the south bay/silicon wasteland (if your girl drags you here...god forbid) you can hit up streetlight on bascom. great place which has had a few interesting wall pieces, and i've also grabbed some cool shit out of the dollar bin.
big al's record barn has been so picked over (at least the lps, i didn't even dare venture into the 45s...there's just too much there). It's a constant "everything half off" sale, and you gotta deal with (the person i presume is) big al and his annoying bird. I spent a good two hours flipping through the disorganized mess that is the shelves to come up with one private press jazz from santa cruz (which admittedly is nice), and a shrink copy of donny hathaway's everything is everything (not bad for a total of 15 dollars, but not worth the time...it's not the *fun* kind of digging experience).
there's also the record man in redwood city, which is another one of those places you can check out if you have too much time on your hands. highly organized shelves (a pain for digging), but just too much stuff, and most of it is crap...overpriced crap. but among that crap, you'll find some real crazy private press stuff or a
He had to close again.
and yeah gabes store was kinda wack and thats why it closed down... again. hopefully he does better at the bart station... which is right across the street from his closed down store.
wow yall are pretty good on the record locations... but i can think of 9 record stores here in the bay (not including sac, gilroy (oops...), and monterey) that you havent mentioned... and im not talking bout no reggae, rap, or alt-crap stores.
i think you kids are slipping...!!! oh buddy... cant wait til i can drive again... MUHAWHAWHAWHAW.... then all the records will be mine once more!
Here's one: jinx's garage. Straight heat up in there!
There are some I haven't mentioned. I'd prefer it be kept that way
Worth the drive to the city every time
Speaking of that... when's the next one?
DJ Ferrari
ahhh... if there was only a wild goose chase graemlin... oh well.
there will be a next one whenever yall want to do it... record sale i mean.