[Elizabeth]

Hi,
I have room for only about 6,000 LPs (I promised myself after the last moved wherein I had to throw out over another 6,000 LPs (Mostly Classical) which were piled in closets, boxes, mountains of them.. everywhere.)
So I had about a foot of LP waiting to be added. So I had to weed out the filler junk still lurking in my stash.
Success!! About 150 or so ready to take to the local library selling area.
And maybe ten for the record store guys to look at.
I am getting down to very little junk left to toss out!
I have three sections.. One for Jazz (about 1,800 LPs) then one for Rock, (about 2,200 LPs, that include all the Jazz singers) and a third for Classical, about 2,000 LPs.
My Rock and Jazz areas are really in pretty good shape, with room for maybe a few hundred before the REALLY tough to discard situation hits. The Classical is just full, with every added LP means another good LP has to go.
I decide what to toss based on music ratings,  then condition. (I am pretty much completely scratch free at this point) also some of the worth.
So.. Do you just keep adding endlessly.. or do you have to weed out stuff to add more like I do?
Added: I like giving the tossed stuff away as it seems to me to be a sort of 'priming the pump' sort of: maybe I'll find some cheap stuff I want too...
Of course when the individual discards are worth a lot, i do sell them to a dealer to fund buying more records...

[decal]

Elizabeth,
Of these 6000 albums,how many do you actually listen to? Just curious.

[Elizabeth]

I would say i have listened to about two thirds of them at least once so far, A third of that more often, and a few hundred of those many times.
I still buy more than I can listen to....
I used to have at maximum, 15,000 Lps or so,( when i decided to go crazy buying tons for pennies.. and they WERE dirt cheap.) I had Lps in boxes EVERYWHERE... Then I had to move, and the reality of moving them hit. I sorted through all of them and got rid of all but 6,000. At that point I decided I would keep only what would fit on the shelving I owned (6,000). As time has passed, I get rid of some when i buy more. I tossed 300 Classical to make room for some more Rock last time i weeded.
So gradually I have piled up really good LPs instead of 3,000 Firestone Christmas LPs, and 3,000 Mitch Miller sing along LPs from Goodwill. (that is supposed to be funny).
Once one has more than a few hundred, it is about just collecting and not so much listening. Though it is nice to have such a huge variety to choose from.
I really wanted a big collection so when I retired (which I am now) I would have PLENTY to listen to.
I go in cycles for Classical, then Rock, then Jazz for weeks at a time. Right now it is Classical.. (and Rock is completely out) though the Jazz is calling....
I buy based on ratings... anything with great long term ratings.. then I learn to like it. (that is I learn why it is well received, and learn what is great about it)  Better than just buying what i already like.
I figure when I croak I will leave behind a big pile of clean, really nice perfect Lps for some other dingbat to enjoy.

[decal]

I recently pared my cd collection(rock,blues,jazz) down to 800 that I thought I couldn't live without.I probably only listen to about 100 of them on a regular basis.Trouble is,I buy new music at least once a week so the clutter never ends,does it?
BTW,a friend of mine just gave me his albums(300+/-) I pulled my old TT out of the closet and sure as %&*@,it does not work!! Now I want to buy another one.I was sure I was through with vinyl,it truely does not ever end!!

[BrysTony]

Elizabeth,
What does 6000 LPs look like?  How many feet?
Tony

[Elizabeth]

I own shelving with cubes of 14 inches by 14 inches. 13 of them across and six high, as one run of 9 across and the other of 4 across.  both runs in bedroom on two walls to save space in living room. So about 85 linear feet of records.

[BrysTony]

WOW!! 

[Elizabeth]

Yes, it is kind of impressive. But it is also why that is the top, absolute limit I have imposed on my LP hoarding!

[mjosef]

Good Gardener you are. May I one day grow up to be like you are. 
I find it rather difficult to get rid of music.

[Letitroll98]

Impressive to say the least, congrats on your collection.

One hopes you don't develop an affinity for cats.......   

[Elizabeth]

Lucky for me I have always preferred birds as pets. I have two now, A Cockatiel, and a Parakeet. The Parakeet never leaves his cage (even though the door is open) as he has been 'trained' by the Cockatiel as to whom is in command here. The Cockatiel is decently trained (by me) to never land on the Plasma TV, nor the speakers. Though the Cockatiel will chew on album covers if he is trying to get attention, also thin cords. The telephone wires are a favorite choice. He used to chew on thin AC cords, but learned better by getting zapped. It didn't kill him, but he never touched another one ever again... smart boy.
They enjoy the music. When I still was working, I had a CD changer with computer speakers playing all day for them while i was away.

[lazydays]

Hi,
I have room for only about 6,000 LPs (I promised myself after the last moved wherein I had to throw out over another 6,000 LPs (Mostly Classical) which were piled in closets, boxes, mountains of them.. everywhere.)
So I had about a foot of LP waiting to be added. So I had to weed out the filler junk still lurking in my stash.
Success!! About 150 or so ready to take to the local library selling area.
And maybe ten for the record store guys to look at.
I am getting down to very little junk left to toss out!
I have three sections.. One for Jazz (about 1,800 LPs) then one for Rock, (about 2,200 LPs, that include all the Jazz singers) and a third for Classical, about 2,000 LPs.
My Rock and Jazz areas are really in pretty good shape, with room for maybe a few hundred before the REALLY tough to discard situation hits. The Classical is just full, with every added LP means another good LP has to go.
I decide what to toss based on music ratings,  then condition. (I am pretty much completely scratch free at this point) also some of the worth.
So.. Do you just keep adding endlessly.. or do you have to weed out stuff to add more like I do?
Added: I like giving the tossed stuff away as it seems to me to be a sort of 'priming the pump' sort of: maybe I'll find some cheap stuff I want too...
Of course when the individual discards are worth a lot, i do sell them to a dealer to fund buying more records...

a couple years back I found an out of work finish carpenter that still had access to the equipment needed to build me a set of LP racks. I came up with several designs, but in the end I settled for one basic concept. The original plan was to paint them a gloss white, and make them about 46" long with a divider in the middle. Then I came up with the idea of doing them in rectangular boxes. I used 11.5" wide material instead of going a full 12" in purpose. Ease of access. I then placed them on a base unit that was made from 2" x 4" solid oak. The insides of them are 14.5" and overall higth is 16" a cube. The units are very strong when stacked, and hold about 3,000 LP's. The carpenter tells he can get the material I want covered in formica, and that's a lot better than painting all of them! They clean up nicely with a little Windex. But alas I now have out grown these units and need storage for another five hundred minimum, so now I need to build another five cubes!
gary

[jsaliga]

I find it rather difficult to get rid of music.

Me too.  And to make matters worse, I just started building a collection of 78s.  Already have a few hundred of them.

--Jerome