Led Zeppelin original vinyl

[Annamilia]

Hi guys! 

I know there is some true experts out there and I need your help. 

Being a university student, my budget is obviously limited and my vinyl collection is small (around 150 LPs all together, only 11 of them being Led Zeppelin) - but my passion for both collecting vinyl and Led Zeppelin is growing and so is my ambition to add some "authenticity" to my collection. 
I want to celebrate finishing my engineering degree by treating myself to one or more special records that are not just another European reissue pressing from 2014 but something a little more "real" if you understand what I mean? 

So my question to all the vinyl experts on here would be:

- Where is the best place to find these kind of records? 

- What should I be aware in order to pay an adequate price? 

My dream record to own would be a UK 1st pressings of the debut album, really doesn't have to be mint condition or anything, just something that makes me feel like I own a tiny piece of the time where the best band in the world was born. 😉

Any help would be much appreciated!
 

[zeplz71]

Ebay is good option. You can get good deals sometimes especially if you don't mind poor quality vinyl & artwork.

[zoso_jobes]

-Discogs

-eBay

-Your local record stores

I am still on the hunt for a LZ1 turquoise pressing! I had a few opportunities to buy a few a couple years ago but turned them down. Kicking myself ever since then. The only OG LZ pressing I own now is the Zep II RL. The rest of the studio albums are the Classic Records 200 gram AAA reissues that came out in the 2000s with the exception of the MoFI copy of LZ II. 

[scdfndr]

As some of you know, I’ve Been recreating my LZ vinyl collection. This forum has proven invaluable in the process. I’ve now done my own research and listening and can share the results. IMO, any non-remastered vinyl (I’m still learning the vocabulary and hesitate to say “original”) beats out any remastered vinyl, including the Classic Records remasters, which sound very, very good. The problem lies in finding clean copies of records produced 40-50 years ago. I now own 6 Classic Records remasters. They sound great. But, aside from the surface noise that usually accompanies old vinyl, my beat up used purchases from the 80s sound better (although not cleaner, or quieter) than the CR reissues. They just have more punch. I obviously have not compared every pressing, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. (Where does that expression come from, anyway?) So, I guess I’m advocating for clean copies of non remastered vinyl, if you can find it. After that, the CRs. Out of curiosity, I picked up a new copy of the recently remastered LZ One. Sad to say, it’s pretty anemic. I’ve listened to the other newly remastered albums, but only via streaming. I cannot advocate for the new remasters over the others, unless budget is a concern, as it very well may be. 

I’ve found almost all of my recent purchases on EBay and Discogs. But not all. I find just googling what you’re looking for will bring up what you need, not only on Ebay and Discogs, but also smaller, online vendors. 

Good luck. Most importantly, have fun in this exciting, sonic journey. 

[Annamilia]

Thank you guys so much for your advice and opinions. ❤️ 

I am currently trying to organize my vinyls and document my collection in Discogs (so thankful for that website) and I will keep looking out for good records on eBay as well  as @zeplz71 suggested!

@zoso_jobes I feel your struggle, that turquoise one isn't the easiest one to get for sure it seems! Hope you will get the chance to get one again!

Thanks for sharing your experiences @scdfndr, that definitely helped a lot! My dad knows a lot of good record vendors around Europe so maybe I should ask him to keep an extra eye on the market to see if there's some Led Zeppelin gold out there 😊Hope your recreated collection turns out just the way you want it, hope to read from you on here 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scdfndr]

1 hour ago, Annamilia said:

Thank you guys so much for your advice and opinions. ❤️ 

I am currently trying to organize my vinyls and document my collection in Discogs (so thankful for that website) and I will keep looking out for good records on eBay as well  as @zeplz71 suggested!

@zoso_jobes I feel your struggle, that turquoise one isn't the easiest one to get for sure it seems! Hope you will get the chance to get one again!

Thanks for sharing your experiences @scdfndr, that definitely helped a lot! My dad knows a lot of good record vendors around Europe so maybe I should ask him to keep an extra eye on the market to see if there's some Led Zeppelin gold out there 😊Hope your recreated collection turns out just the way you want it, hope to read from you on here 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course. It’s fun and interesting to share in each other’s musical explorations. Your post inspired me to post a request — a basic tutorial on record identification. (What do all those letters and numbers mean?) I definitely need a lesson. Will do that soon.

Be ware of this scam, when looking for the turquoise label. I came across what purported to be one on Ebay for $200. Too good to be true, right? Yes indeed. The label actually isn’t turquoise but blue and it’s a fake. There’s a brief discussion on it on the Steve Hoffman vinyl forum, which is a gold mine of information, if you haven’t come across it.

Good luck and happy listening! 

[Annamilia]

On 1/10/2021 at 10:11 PM, scdfndr said:

Of course. It’s fun and interesting to share in each other’s musical explorations. Your post inspired me to post a request — a basic tutorial on record identification. (What do all those letters and numbers mean?) I definitely need a lesson. Will do that soon.

Be ware of this scam, when looking for the turquoise label. I came across what purported to be one on Ebay for $200. Too good to be true, right? Yes indeed. The label actually isn’t turquoise but blue and it’s a fake. There’s a brief discussion on it on the Steve Hoffman vinyl forum, which is a gold mine of information, if you haven’t come across it.

Good luck and happy listening! 

Good point! Knowing the price range for this particular record 200 seems way too good to be true. Hope no one gets tricked into buying stuff like that... Oh and please post that request, I would love to have a lesson on that as well ☺️

[scdfndr]

On 1/10/2021 at 3:02 PM, Annamilia said:

Thank you guys so much for your advice and opinions. ❤️ 

I am currently trying to organize my vinyls and document my collection in Discogs (so thankful for that website) and I will keep looking out for good records on eBay as well  as @zeplz71 suggested!

@zoso_jobes I feel your struggle, that turquoise one isn't the easiest one to get for sure it seems! Hope you will get the chance to get one again!

Thanks for sharing your experiences @scdfndr, that definitely helped a lot! My dad knows a lot of good record vendors around Europe so maybe I should ask him to keep an extra eye on the market to see if there's some Led Zeppelin gold out there 😊Hope your recreated collection turns out just the way you want it, hope to read from you on here 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course. It’s fun and interesting to share in each other’s musical explorations. Your post inspired me to post a request — a basic tutorial on record identification. (What do all those letters and numbers mean?) I definitely need a lesson. Will do that soon.

Be ware of this scam, when looking for the turquoise label. I came across what purported to be one on Ebay for $200. Too good to be true, right? Yes indeed. The label actually isn’t turquoise but blue and it’s a fake. There’s a brief discussion on it on the Steve Hoffman vinyl forum, which is a gold mine of information, if you haven’t come across it.

Good luck and happy listening! 

[scdfndr]

On 1/11/2021 at 6:35 PM, Annamilia said:

Good point! Knowing the price range for this particular record 200 seems way too good to be true. Hope no one gets tricked into buying stuff like that... Oh and please post that request, I would love to have a lesson on that as well ☺️

I’ll try to remember to do it tomorrow. Thanks for the reminder.

[scdfndr]

On 1/11/2021 at 6:35 PM, Annamilia said:

Good point! Knowing the price range for this particular record 200 seems way too good to be true. Hope no one gets tricked into buying stuff like that... Oh and please post that request, I would love to have a lesson on that as well ☺️

Posted this to main forum yesterday. It’s still early, but no replies. I’ll post here also. 

A request: Record Identification Tutorial (Vinyl 101)  

So, what do all those letters and numbers mean? Another newbie and I thought it might be helpful if some of you experts would be gracious enough to pass on some of your knowledge in this area. On the label and in the dead wax there are codes. (For example, I’ve noticed many of my LZ records have “SD” followed by numbers in the upper half of the label, ST-A- followed by numbers beneath the track listings.) Anyone willing to give us a brief lesson on what these mean and more importantly what we should look for as vinyl collectors? Much thanks!

 

[Annamilia]

8 hours ago, scdfndr said:

Posted this to main forum yesterday. It’s still early, but no replies. I’ll post here also. 

A request: Record Identification Tutorial (Vinyl 101)  

So, what do all those letters and numbers mean? Another newbie and I thought it might be helpful if some of you experts would be gracious enough to pass on some of your knowledge in this area. On the label and in the dead wax there are codes. (For example, I’ve noticed many of my LZ records have “SD” followed by numbers in the upper half of the label, ST-A- followed by numbers beneath the track listings.) Anyone willing to give us a brief lesson on what these mean and more importantly what we should look for as vinyl collectors? Much thanks!

 

Thanks for this, I hope there is some good answers we can check out ☺️

On 1/10/2021 at 10:11 PM, scdfndr said:

Of course. It’s fun and interesting to share in each other’s musical explorations. Your post inspired me to post a request — a basic tutorial on record identification. (What do all those letters and numbers mean?) I definitely need a lesson. Will do that soon.

Be ware of this scam, when looking for the turquoise label. I came across what purported to be one on Ebay for $200. Too good to be true, right? Yes indeed. The label actually isn’t turquoise but blue and it’s a fake. There’s a brief discussion on it on the Steve Hoffman vinyl forum, which is a gold mine of information, if you haven’t come across it.

Good luck and happy listening! 

Good point! Knowing the price range for this particular record 200 seems way too good to be true. Hope no one gets tricked into buying stuff like that... Oh and please post that request, I would love to have a lesson on that as well ☺️

[Pb!]

My biggest mistake as a new collector was overpaying for records in poor condition. Check out popsike.com and gripsweat.com to determine the prices of the records you want, and pay attention to the condition. And see if there are issues in the seller's feedback - many will look at their inventory with a 20-watt bulb from 10 feet away and declare that it's 'Near Mint'. 

Also pretty much any Zeppelin record that sells for $200 or less will turn up for sale online once every 2-3 weeks, so there's no reason to get into a bidding war because another will come along soon enough.

 

[Annamilia]

16 hours ago, Pb! said:

My biggest mistake as a new collector was overpaying for records in poor condition. Check out popsike.com and gripsweat.com to determine the prices of the records you want, and pay attention to the condition. And see if there are issues in the seller's feedback - many will look at their inventory with a 20-watt bulb from 10 feet away and declare that it's 'Near Mint'. 

Also pretty much any Zeppelin record that sells for $200 or less will turn up for sale online once every 2-3 weeks, so there's no reason to get into a bidding war because another will come along soon enough.

 

That's GREAT advice, thank you so much!! Didn't know any of these two sites you named so that'll be very interesting to look at 🙂 
Have a great weekend!