hi all, its allways nice when you see a mint 45 with a pristine company sleeve, and even better when you find one

yes there are mint 45s out there but its getting harder to find true mint copies even some that look unplayed still

have surface noise etc.

got me thinking that how hard is it nowadays to find unplayed in demand, classic, rare 60s stuff, with collectors happy

just to own a copy in any condition until that minter comes along, personally i love to see a pristine label being either

a issue or a lovely crisp white demo aslong as the record plays though!

my questions are,

what 45s have you never owned or seen in unplayed condition?

what label is the hardest to get a minter on?, always found musicor issues hard

as they all seemed to have some signs of ringwear.

what 45s are the hardest to get a minter ie bad recordings, sound quality, defects, water damaged labels etc?

these questions are based on 60s recordings

russ

Recently got stone mint copies of Brice Coefield (which seems to have previously belonged to Weldon McDougal), The Stoppers, Gospel Classics, O' Jays "I'll Never forget You".. and quite few others. Can't claim to have "found" them as they were off a dealer but I guess it means they're out there!

Recently got stone mint copies of Brice Coefield (which seems to have previously belonged to Weldon McDougal), The Stoppers, Gospel Classics, O' Jays "I'll Never forget You".. and quite few others. Can't claim to have "found" them as they were off a dealer but I guess it means they're out there!

craig moerer has a lot because he has access to a lot of old stock. even a lot of his "VG" 45s are really "Mint" unplayed old 45s that just weren't pressed well. usually if you go through old stock that's been unplayed and pull out the records you'll even see scuff marks, etc. from the records having been moved around, etc., so they won't be totally mint.

craig moerer has a lot because he has access to a lot of old stock. even a lot of his "VG" 45s are really "Mint" unplayed old 45s that just weren't pressed well. usually if you go through old stock that's been unplayed and pull out the records you'll even see scuff marks, etc. from the records having been moved around, etc., so they won't be totally mint.

They weren't off Craig. And they are totally mint. They are genuine, pristine US demo copies that had never been played until I got me filthy hands on 'em...

They weren't off Craig. And they are totally mint. They are genuine, pristine US demo copies that had never been played until I got me filthy hands on 'em...

sorry, I wasn't commenting on your specific post, I just happened to reply to it as a general followup comment. I obviously have no idea what you found. Thanks.

sorry, I wasn't commenting on your specific post, I just happened to reply to it as a general followup comment. I obviously have no idea what you found. Thanks.

No probs. And no offence intended or taken. Love and peace broth'. P

It's hard to get real mint stuff on the yellow/white Jamie label (Barbara Lynn etc) they all seem to play noisy, even unplayed copies. Bad pressings. Also stuff on US Sue (Ike & Tina etc) is usually always noisy even if its old unplayed stock. There are other examples, Vikki Styles on Leno, I have (what was an unopened) a pressing plant box of those & every one has surface noise (the ballad side is slightly off centre too, but I digress). Heaps more too, those are just ones that spring to mind.

I think it's getting increasingly difficult to expect mint copies of records from 40-50 years ago and I think a lot of people will need to manage their expectations in future. Short of getting a a one-off great hit of untouched stock that's lain untouched for 40 odd years (like John did in Oakland), it's really not going to happen. Also people have been collecting on this scene since these records came out so a good 50-95% of the available stock is already in collectors or dealers hands for the most part, so a lot of those 'minters' have actually been played a few times surely? So when you look at the odds, I'm surprised genuine minters don't demand an even higher premium.

It's often made me laugh in the past, when I've been sat on an incredibly rare record that maybe taken me 20 years to find and the person who wants to buy it says something like, "it's got to be mint". Yeah right! That's gonna happen LOL. Obviously we ALL want minters but the days when that is a viable option are receding massively.

After all, what's the point in buying a record unless you're gonna play it?

Ian D

How do you know what a mint record sounds like? Hmmm.

We're all aware of the Detroit phenonemon (what were those kids doing with their records that the rest of the US didnt! Trashed!)

Agree re the Musicor issues, styrene and labels worn / get damaged quickly. Got some musicor demos though that all seem OK including a nice Shep Grant that looks pristine and plays beautifully!

Sound wise, again a styrene issue, I've had 3 copies now over the years of the Checkmates Ltd - Run n****r run - all hiss!