Going to try a little experiment this spring.
We have a storefront office for the station on mainstreet. It's a very small office, about 10x8, but it has a big display window and front door and I have an 8 foot wide sign with the call letters on the facade above the door. Been there for over 2 years. It doesn't generate any revenue but is perfect for advertising. Also have a neon sign with the call and frequency in the window as well.
Now, this is a little town. Downtown is 4 blocks long. Restaurant, bar, grocery store, City Hall which houses the library, senior center, clerks and city offices, etc, an antique mall with small coffee shop, a thrift store, and about 5 other antique and collectibles shops. We get quite a few tourists on the weekends in the spring/summer/fall. Many of the antique shops only open on a Friday/Saturday and only one or two weekends a month. They advertise on social media and generally have the main street lined with cars full of shoppers on these weekends.
After standing in the basement and attic after Christmas and taking mental notes, I have well over 40,000 records. Many of which I don't want or need. Heck, some records I have 6 or more copies of. So, I'm going to open a very tiny record store in the station "office". See if this little spot can generate some revenue on the weekends. I have no doubts I can stock it with several thousand like brand new 45's from the 50's through the 80's. Maybe add in a bin of two of LP's, a few record players, etc. Maybe a few related collectibles, etc.
Also plan on stocking a few music supplies, guitar strings, clarinet reeds, valve oil, cork grease, etc. There is no place within 80 miles to buy such items in the area unless people mail order them. Nothing fancy, mind you, just a few basics. How the heck kids in the area school bands get things like reeds when they need them, I don't know. They probably order them on Amazon. But this way, when they run out they can quick pick one up.
We'll see if it works out. If not, nothing lost since I already lease the space, and 95% of the merchandise will come out of my basement! I actually had a record store in Wadena, Minnesota back in about 1979-80 or thereabouts. So, we'll see how it goes.
Working on the sign addition now. We have "KEBS" on a 8 foot wide sign above the building now, going to add an additional sign in smaller letters under that that will say "Radio -- Records -- Music" And I ordered a neon sign that says "Records" with a turntable/tone arm design above it. Neon is where it's at! LOL.
TIB
Vinyl of all types is making a come back as you know. If nothing else it will give you something else to do (if you are like me, you already have plenty).
I hope this works out for you!
Make sure you stock some Pond's Cold Cream and WeeGee squirt guns. Back in my HS band days I used the cold cream on the slide and the WeeGee to keep it moist. Works and smells much better than oil. Course, nowadays you would need permission from God to carry a WeeGee at school but they might be OK with the Pond's.
Neil
If you are going to do vinyl, what kind of turntable do you prefer? Basic consumer, HiFi Audio, Pro, or Ultra-Audiophile? Rim, belt or direct drive? How important is startup time (cueing)? Also, slip-cue capability, yes? No? Myself, the best turntable I ever owned was the Stanton STR-100.
But my favorite has always been the Russco. Nothing cues tighter. The direct drive SP-10 comes close. But I can adjust a Russco Studio Pro to cue approx 1/4 inch with no wow! Try that with the $10,000 SP-10! LOL! But, if cueing is NOT important, speed accuracy and cartridge ARE.
But cueing is important to me. Start-up time must be within a quarter turn. I can get a BSR to do that! But I have been looking at turntables where NOTHING is stated about startup time! Like this Pro-Ject Elemental:
It reminds me of the old Presto units I saw in the 60's in California. Remember these?
But I like the belt idea. Seems it would start quickly on 45. Dunno. Only us pro radio DJs ever cue a record. I used to get shocked looks from visitors to the air studio when I was working. So, I understand the scarcity of info on it...
Rek-O-Kut. Similar to the Presto units. Not great in the cueing dept, though. Sluggish. Thoughts?
Doug
I have a direct-drive technics that seems to get up to speed quick enough. Takes a good several seconds to slow down though, I get a kick out of killing the power to it as a long vocal comes up. The Lion Sleeps tonight is particularly hilarious when I kill it at "a-wee-mum-mum-away"
This is funny - my son plays the sax
and needs new reeds.
But he lives in Denver, CO so I think
he'll buy them there.
Brooce, Part 15, Hartford, CT
I enjoy many turntables on a regular basis. I have a Philips GA 212 here in my office. An older Technics in the living room (Don't recall the model number off hand). Up in the studio I use a pair of current Stantons to produce my polka show (all vinyl) and some other programming, but I also have a Dual 1219 up there that I use for archiving 78's. I also have a Technics DD up there something like a 1900 (maybe) that had auto play and return/off features and I removed all the auto parts inside and made it into a fully manual turntable. The basement has an Akai, a Pioneer and a vintage 1950's era Califone Director with 100% variable speed from about 10 - 100 rpm, tube amp and a 15" speaker.
At the full power every morning I use a 50 year old Russco on the air. Been using that same turntable at the station for 29 years.
I cue everything a half turn back, whether I need to or not. It's what I've been doing for more than 40 years. Never used a machine that wasn't up to speed in half a turn. most much faster. The new Stantons I swear are up to speed nearly instantly -- and they stop instantly when you hit "stop" too.
I've never been concerned about start up speed as when you're working live with the same turntables day after day your technique and timing adapts to what is needed and you don't know or care if it's fast or slow. you run 'em as necessary.
What is the cartridge/stylus do you use for 78's?
Half a turn. LOL! My first experience was with the Gates CB-500 16 inch. Half a turn! Yep! I prided myself on a tight board. Thanks Tim!
Doug
Just a plain ol' Shure M91ED with a 78 stylus sold by Shure, can't remember the number off-hand. It's got a 3.0 mil stylus. I know they have another cartridge specifically for 78's that comes with a 2.5 mil stylus.
I run 'em through a KAB Vintage Signal Processor that makes old records sound pretty darn good. I made a short demo showing how a vertically cut Edison Diamond Disc sounds through the KAB unit, uring the Dual and the Shure setup. I believe it's still posted here:
http://www.ironrangecountry.com/edisondemo.mp3
if you haven't heard it.
TIB
I saw the demo what a difference!
Well gang, tomorrow is the day. KEBS Radio and Records opens to the public as the worlds smallest record store. All the antique and specialty shops, coffee shops, restaurants, etc in main street in Bovey open tomorrow for the "Vintage North Shop Hop". Hundreds will converge on our little town Friday and Saturday.
Will anyone possibly care that vinyl records are available?
We shall see.
http://www.ironrangecountry.com/kebsrecords.html
TIB
A live remote from the KEBS record shop would top the day off!!
I hope it goes well for you!!
Tim said in Post # 7: "I've never been concerned about start up speed as when you're working live with the same turntables day after day your technique and timing adapts to what is needed and you don't know or care if it's fast or slow. you run 'em as necessary."
Did anyone else 'slip-cue'? Start the TT running and as the song starts, back it to the exact spot where it starts, holding the record in place with the TT running. When you released your finger or thumb from the record with the pot up, instant music. Of course, once in a while it would jump, but not often. Those were fun days, weren't they?
I HAVE slip-cued, but very seldom.....I found 2 caveats:
1. You need a VERY SMOOTH felt /fiber pad for the TT -- otherwise, the record will "catch"; you won't be able to hold it in place....
2. Depending on the type of TT felt/fiber....it CAN cause some real abrasion on the "B" side of the disc you're "slipping".....!!!:)
LOVED those old Gates 20(?) inch platters, with the "gear-shift" speed changer!!! They COULD be a tad slow to start.....but once they got up to speed, they were nearly IMPOSSIBLE to STALL!!:)