Where to get second hand LP record in Bristol (UK)

Sorry to state the obvious but........do you not have oxfam /pdsa/britsh heart foundation etc etc charity shops. Of course you do,search them out.

I got to say that all charity shops have loads of records in, and some good bargains to be had as well.  Try them out and see what you can find for pitance.

Pop along to the Bristol hi-fi show later this month - there's usually 2 or 3 stalls selling new and used vinyl.

(Addition - damn, that'll be me spending more money then!! I hadn't thought about that until I answered this thread!!)

My favourite (Easter-Oct) is the huge car boot sale just north of the M4 near Almondsbury, every Sunday. Always loads there, from dealers with 1000s of records to the family selling the contents of their loft. You can usually pick up interesting records for a quid each or less.

Not a great place to get up-to-date stuff, but as you've asked for 2nd hand...

As for shops, I haven't ever felt the need to search one out!

Charity shops are definitely a good source!

Look hard, check for scuffs, scratches etc. Don't worry about dust / dirt as this can be remedied. The covers / sleeves are usually a good indicator of how cared for the records have been in the hands of their original owners.

Has anyone noticed that some of the charity shops are "getting wise" to the fact that vinyl is now in demand again and prices have gone up? Some records, I've seen, for a fiver and not necessarily the collectable stuff either, just in good condition (probably still worth a £5 though and the money goes to a good cause).

I've also discovered friends and neighbours who have good collections from the 70's (not in service, stashed away in lofts). We need to find a way to convince these people to either buy turntables or sell / give to people like us. I had thought of buying one of those USB turntables and offering a free loan to anyone who wants to transcribe their records to MP3 (fools). I might be willing to do it for them in exchange for some of the records they no longer want or value.

There's a stall in the market in Clifton through the arch near Victoria Square. Plastic Wax in Bedminster (I think) were/are pretty big. There used to be a record shop at the bottom of Gloucester Road but it's probably gone now. There's a shop halfway down Park St on the left selling retro clothes and LPs. Record Fair every few months in the foyer of the Colston Hall. Oxfam shop in Westbury-on-Trym. Bath has one or two places and my favourite record shop is Vinyl Vault in Cheltenham.

PS don't buy a USB-turntable - they're rubbish. There's better ways of playing LPs and getting them transferred to digital if you must. Also, though it's worth going to the Hifi show for the hifi, the LPs are way over-priced and it'll cost you £8 to get in.

Hi ChrisMM. 

I take your point about the poor quality of the USB turntables. I was only thinking of these in terms of finding a way to get neighbours and friends to part with their redundant vinyl. If I could lend them one of these, they can transfer the stuff they want to MP3 and then sell / give the vinyl to me(!!).

On a more serious note, I wonder if we may see an increase in shops that sell secondhand and maybe even new vinyl in time to come -given that vinyl is having a resurgence. I'm quite lucky actually as, on the Wirral, we have two good sources of second hand vinyl: Skeleton Records in Birkenhead (its been there for at least 40 years) and also Psychamok in Wallasey. A bit of a way from Bristol, I know.

Paulwbm:

Has anyone noticed that some of the charity shops are "getting wise" to the fact that vinyl is now in demand again and prices have gone up? Some records, I've seen, for a fiver and not necessarily the collectable stuff either, just in good condition (probably still worth a £5 though and the money goes to a good cause).

I guess it's all a matter of getting the best possible price for the donated items, which will of course benefit the charity more. And it's not just records, but hardware too:

That's an Oxfam shop: the charity has a number of dedicated music shops, and even an online music and movies store.

That's very interesting Andrew and good for charties to be so market oriented. It can only be positive in terms of making good audio / HiFi more visible and accessible to a wider demographic - as well as making it possible to buy vinyl in the high street once again. A small price (increase) to pay, I think.

ksporry:

Can anyone tell me where I can get some decent used LP records in Bristol?

Plastic Wax in Gloucester Road. simply thousands of vinyl albums, also second hand CDs. Just round the corner from Maplins. Be prepared for quite a long browse. There'e a lot of stuff in that shop!

As 'fatboyslimfast' suggests the Trench Lane boot sale ,nr M4, is also a good source. Best on a nice sunny day to go there.

Thanks guys, thats a lot to consider!. I did in fact go to the hifi show, which was to my surprise better than I expected. They did a lot of analogue stuff. I expected a lot of video and digital rubbish, but pretty much all demonstrations were done on high end turntables!

I managed to pick up a few records of artists I never heard of (cannot recall their names now). 3 LPs for a tenner, and one of them was sold elsewhere on the show for 15 GBP! 

I hoped to pick up an SACD from OPUS 3, Tiny Islands, but they had sold out flat. Too bad...

The demos were not that great, but I was pleasantly surprised they had so much tube stuff and turntable stuff. 

Colston Hall, is that the one near corn street? I was aware of one on park street once a month but that ended a few years back. 

I'll try to find that car boot sale on sundays in almondsbury, maybe this weekend. The weather should be good :) 

ksporry:

 

I'll try to find that car boot sale on sundays in almondsbury, maybe this weekend. The weather should be good :) 

Wouldn't bother this weekend. Car boot season hasn't started yet. Normally begins about Easter time. Plastic Wax in Gloucester Rd opens on a Sunday though if you want a trip out.