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New Records....Scratched to Shit


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Am I alone in finding that 90% of the new records I buy these days are already scratched (or worse) upon opening them for the first time? What's the deal? In the past couple weeks I've opened some that were really bad. Anyone else having this experience?

Edited by monk0nuggets
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Last year I bought a copy of the most recent pressing of the Smashing Pumpkins MCIS 4xLP box and most of the sides had significant scuffing. I returned them and got a relatively pristine copy. That's the most egregious example I can think of, but I expect to see some light scuffing along with some dust/paper bits on the majority of new records I buy. It's definitely an issue, but probably could be isolated to certain pressing plants that are rushing the process to keep up with demand.

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In my experience, there isn't a single place I can pin point. I get things from local shops, when traveling, and online, all of which I've continuously had this happen.  It's kind of disheartening. Last week I bought 4 records, 2 had severe scuffing/scratching, 1 had light scuffing, 1 had some kind of chemical marking on one side making it almost unlistenable due to noise.

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19 minutes ago, monk0nuggets said:

Believe me, as a librarian and person who used to release records, I handle records like babies. Honestly, most of the records I inherited from my parents are in better shape than most of the new records I've bought recently. It makes no sense.

You're right, it makes no sense. I can count on one hand how many new records I've bought that had scratches on them in the last 13 years.

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It has happened to me too. When Polaris released the music from Pete and Pete on rsd I exchanged it 2 times due to scratches before getting a good copy. When I first starting buying records from bullmoose this happened a lot to the point where I thought they got the shit end of the stick because their prices were so much cheaper than other places. It was just my luck but I don't feel bad exchanging records that have scratches or surface noise because I'm spending money on a new product and I expect it to be in that condition 

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Happens to me all the time.  Usually I can feel the grit rubbing against the record when I take it out of the sleeve for the first time.  I assume plants are super busy with the vinyl revival and can't be bothered to blow the records off with compressed air.  I don't remember this being an issue 10-15 years ago.  Little bits of vinyl + static = scratches.  Sucks.

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I think part of the problem here is one person's scratch is another person's mark is another person's nothing I would notice.

 

I had someone return a new, unplayed 7" I'd sold on eBay years ago for being "scratched to hell" (their words). I gave them a full refund and took it back. When it arrived, it looked and played fine and I had to use a super strong spotlight just to see a few light hairline marks. They were completely insulted that I listed it as EX, and it was only about ten bucks, so nothing super special. 

 

I think if 90% of the sealed records you buy are "scratched to shit" or "worse" something just doesn't add up. 

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I have new records with scuffs that play perfectly and records that look perfect that jump a beat. Kinda sucks but I just deal with it. I've noticed my Built to Spill records Keep it like a secret and the Live LP are all hazy and scuffy but play perfectly. They are Warner Brothers releases.

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9 hours ago, unknown pleasures said:

I think part of the problem here is one person's scratch is another person's mark is another person's nothing I would notice.

 

I had someone return a new, unplayed 7" I'd sold on eBay years ago for being "scratched to hell" (their words). I gave them a full refund and took it back. When it arrived, it looked and played fine and I had to use a super strong spotlight just to see a few light hairline marks. They were completely insulted that I listed it as EX, and it was only about ten bucks, so nothing super special. 

 

I think if 90% of the sealed records you buy are "scratched to shit" or "worse" something just doesn't add up. 

I'm in agreement with this

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