Comments on: A Trip to a Well-Stocked Record Store

By: zarabeth47

zarabeth47 — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:36:58 +0000

I bought some FELA records from WAXWELL in amsterdam about a year ago. I gotta say they were pretty rough. I had never bought from him and his VG was more G- so no return purchases from this buyer. Buyer beware on original FELA records however! I guess to certain sellers RARE means you can up the grade!
Regarding MICHAEL’s experience in the Record Collector: I would think if you had an LP shop in Bev Hills it would be quite expensive and you would have clients who would just pay whatever the guy rang up with no questions asked. Probably smoking cigars and drinking wine! It does not, however, mean that you need to yell to someone to take their hand off of a speaker. I had a same experierience.
I was in a store – TRACKS AND WAX – in downtown Phoenix about 3-4 years ago. After shopping about an hour I did find 3 or 4 records I was interested in that was probably $200 or $300 buckeroos. I carefully laid them on a turntable top that was for sale for maybe $60-70 to inspect the goods I was about to invest in. Well, the owner suddenly shouts out, in a very, very stern voice to not put records on the turntables. I simply placed the record I was looking at back into the sleeve and handed them to him and said that I was sorry for placing the records on the turntable and left! I’ve never been back!
Now, this is important for sellers, you never treat someone like that in a retail store! That is rule #1. If someone emails me something stupid, or makes a ridiculous offer on a record, I always reply with a professional manner NO MATTER WHAT! The thing the owner of TRACKS AND WAX didn’t realize is that I had $3000 in cash in my back pocket. I had just sold a TMOQ 10 lp LED ZEP boxset of multicolored vinyl as well as other colored TMOQ records that month and was “reinvesting.” After I was going to buy the lps, I was gonna ask him if he had any B.N. stuff or REGGAE etc etc. as I always do with new record store owners. That way you get to know them and they just start showing you what they have when you come back!
I had been to this guy’s store when I was a teenager but had never been back because I had forgot about it! I know every other store owner in town but this guy! First impressions man! A must if you do retail!

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:14:03 +0000

The Record Man description reminds me of The Record Collector in Beverly Hills. More shelf space than circulation space, ladders to reach the higher shelves, incredibly large and varied stock and NO PRICES marked. I also had the uncomfortable feeling I was being ‘sized up’ for the size of my wallet. If you spend too much time in the store, the owner will complain about the cost of real estate in Los Angeles. Worst of all, I had my hand slapped for touching a JBL Hartsfield! “Hands off the Hartsfield,” he shouted. But it’s a great place to visit …

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:25:42 +0000

That’s a drag about Village Music, I picked up my mono copy of The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery there some years back.

By: maartenkools

maartenkools — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:09:42 +0000

The other day we mentioned the idea of posting guides to record stores in various cities to help traveling jazz collectors all over the world. Our first response is from Maarten Kools with this guide to shopping for jazz vinyl in Amsterdam and nearby environs. Enjoy.

Hi Al,

These record shops are downtown Amsterdam. With collector’s items I mean LPs worth $50 and up:

Concerto Amsterdam
Utrechtsestraat 52-60
Amsterdam,The Netherlands
Tel: +31-206235228

Large shop. Also CDs(large collection!) /DVDs/books: New LPs audiophile, japanese pressings, second-hand jazz/rock/punk/pop/classical. Good store, some collector’s items.

Record-Palace
Weteringschans 33-A
1017 RV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
+31 20 6223904

Only secondhand and japanese/audiophile: Large store with rock/pop/jazz and collector’s items

http://www.recordfriend.com
Sint Antoniesbreestraat 64
1011 HB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
+31-651643022

Only LPs. New lp’s/audiophile and second hand.: Box-sets, audiophile, Japanese second-hand pop/rock/sixties/jazz/punk/classical. Good jazz department. Lots of collector’s items, especially sixties

Waxwell Records
Gasthuismolensteeg 6
1016 AN Amsterdam, The Netherlands
+31-206271600

Small shop only second-hand LPs. Pop/disco/soul/jazz. Lots of collector’s items in jazz and soul/disco

FLESCH Records
Noorderkerkstraat 16
1015 NB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
+31-206228185

Beautiful small shop with beautiful second-hand LPs. Avant garde/european/jazz/classical. Jazz collector’s items and maybe the largest collection of rare collector’s items regarding classical music in Europe. Knows almost anything on record/label history (and also sells biological fruit from his own land and restored hi-fi gear from the 50’s and 60’s)

RECORDMANIA
Ferdinand- Bolstraat 30
1072 LT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
+31-206209912

Only second hand large store with rock/pop/jazz/latin/classical: Some collector’s items

Swingmaster
Kruitlaan 21
9711 TW Groningen, The Netherlands
+31 50 3124020

This one is not in Amsterdam but in the city of Groningen (northern part of Holland) but they have a large collection of blues and jazz collector’s items. Specializes in old jazz and blues, also 78’s

De Zwarte Schijf (the black disc)
Hogestraat 13
4001 ET Tiel, The Netherlands
http://www.zwarteschijf.nl
Tel: +31 344-635333

This one is also not in Amsterdam but in the centre of Holland. They have about 50,000 78-RPM discs, jazz and classical

By: dottorjazz

dottorjazz — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 09:42:11 +0000

as we JC readers are sparse all over the world,a jazz shop guide should be appreciated.The last time I was in SF I discovered just in time that Village Music in Mill Valley had closed.I’ve been goin’there the last 30 years.More recently read on JC that also the The Jazz Quarter closed.For foreigner collectors it would be great to have an updated list of shops in USA,Europe and Japan.
We all will be happy to contribute.

By: Erich Schultz

Erich Schultz — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:05:28 +0000

Al, if you are interested, I would be happy to do a shoppers guide for you. As you know I live in the SF Bay Area, and there are some great jazz records stores, including the Groove Yard, Needle to The Groove, and Down Home Music. Sorry I didn’t know you were coming out, otherwise you could have stayed with us. I am in the SF East Bay, about 30 miles from SF.

By: blipp

blipp — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 05:18:05 +0000

$25 for an “Empyrean Isles”? Good score… the copy I see there now is almost four times that price 🙂 Like most record stores, you can find great deals at the Groove Yard if you’re patient (not to mention lucky!).

I’ve found some amazing records at the Record Man. I love the fact that there’s actually a jazz “room”, with it’s own player. Just throw something on, and browse to the music 🙂

By: Aaron

Aaron — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 03:50:11 +0000

I think Groove Yard is great, I’ve always found some great records there when I lived in the East Bay a few years ago. The owner was always friendly (even to us then twenty-somethings just getting into jazz) and the pricing was very fair ($25 for a VG+ mono copy of Empyrean Isles).

By: dedboi

dedboi — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:23:27 +0000

I’ve never been to Record Man, but sometimes a store gets in so much stock it can be tough to get everything priced. The fact that nothing is priced makes it suspicious. Bagatelle in Long Beach is a place to dig and then have it priced, but I have gotten great deals there and he puts a price on it right when he tells you, so if you don’t buy it the next guy will have it priced. Always a pleasure to go there.

Not a fan of Groove Yard. I’ve always found them to be overpriced with unremarkable titles. Pretty sure anything interesting ends up on ebay.

By: andy

andy — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:59:12 +0000

If you happen to find yourself in Chicago visit Hyde Park records on 53rd.. it’s where the Japanese go first when they come to town.