Allan Songer

I have never seen that tonearm before. Just shows that you learn something new every day!! When I think "Thorens Tonearm" I think of THIS one which was on just about every mid-range Thorens I have ever seen! It is removed in the same manner as an SME arm. I feel your pain--that is one goofy looking setup!

Say what?

Ortofon hasn't made the "GT" model for over 20 years--it's the model with the transformer in the headshell. Any of the current production SPUs will need a stand alone step up transformer or a phono preamp suitable for LOMC cartridges. Mr. Juki still has the best prices on SPU cartridges. Just send him an email and give him the EXACT model you're looking for and he'll get back to you with the price. I haven't bought one from him in a couple of years, but I don't think the prices have skyrocketed.

Verve released jazz and comedy albums . . . .

The record price for that album on ebay is $3300 for a mint, sealed copy. This was an aberration, as the previous record price for a dead, stone mint copy was $1580, with $1225 being the third highest price bid-- AGAIN--these were DEAD STONE MINT COPIES!!! And there have been really, REALLY nice VG++' copies that have sold for $600-$800. I personally sold a spare copy of this record only two months ago that was in FAR better condion than yours--a SOLID VG, borderline VG+ copy-- for $415: In looking at the "VG-" (read: BEAT) copies sold on ebay over the last 6 years, the lowest price I could find was $172 and the highest was $405, with the vast majority of these copies selling in the $250-$350 range. Again, I wouldn't pay more than $75-$100 for it AS A DEALER/SELLER/COLLECTOR. I suppose you could argue that your beat to death copy is worth $400 based on the highest price paid, but thinking it worth $800 is delusional. Go ahead and put it up on ebay with an $800 reserve with a $800 "Buy It Now" and see for yourself. It's not like this is a record that there were only 500 copies pressed--there have been nearly 100 copies sold on ebay alone in the last 6 years. I have owned somewhere between 8 and 10 copies over the last 25 years. And the "autograph" would actually REDUCE the value of a truly mint record for the vast majority of collectors, but not to all. GOOD LUCK!!

That's the Autograph "corner" horn--fairly common when compared with the BIG, squarish "Autograph Professional," which was HUGE--I remember it being about 5 1/2' tall!

This was a long, LONG time ago . . . When I was a young pup I used to hang out at "Henry Radio" and check out all of their really high-end stuff--we're talking early 1970's. They had a pair of HUGE Tannoy folded horn speakers--they were each the size of a small refrigerator--that were absolutely amazing--it's been 30+ years since I've heard or seen these (at the time they were at least 10 years old and had never left the store), but they were the best darn thing I'd ever heard. I have no idea if they would sound as good to me today, but there was a pair on ebay a couple of years ago and I toyed with the idea of trying to buy them--that is until the bidding went over $10,000. If I remember correctly they were THIS model: http://www.ominous-valve.com/images/big_speaker.gif'>

Record looks to be beat to death. VG- at best from what I see. I wouldn't pay more than $75 for it, but I am sure you could get 150 to 200 more than that on ebay on a good day.

OK. That's the original pressing. The jacket is VG- at best, so unless the LP itself is dead stone mint and not in a similar state, you're looking at about $200-$300 on ebay on a good day or as little as $125 on a bad day. This is an $800-$1200 record in NM shape these days. That tape CAN be removed, which would help in selling the record, but DON'T ATTEMPT IT unless you know what you're doing!!!! By the way, these INTRO pressings are really bad--I have a MINT copy of the Paul Chambers disc that I bought STILL SEALED about 25 years ago and it was noisy when new. I have the Pepper disc but I play the Japanese pressing because the sound of the original is pretty terrible. GREAT music, however and this has ALWAYS been one of the 2 or 3 most collectible "West Coast" jazz records.

Yeah, Lee pretty much showed everything he had at age 22 on that solo. Still don't understand why Blue Note recorded this record and then left it in the vaults for over 20 years. Speculation is that the ensemble blowing was a little "loose" by Blue Note standards, but I dunno--Minor Move is one kickass hardbop record. I remember hearing this one for the first time when I was still living in San Francisco--bought the Japanese LP for some sort of insane price and literally RAN home to play it. Still have the same LP and it still hits me right in the gut, even after 25+ years. It might not be the masterpiece True Blue is, having much more of a "50's" feel and definately looser in every way (blowing and composition), but it remains one of my all-time favorite records.

The only record there of any great value would be the "Modern Art" LP, IF it is the original "Intro" pressing. By the way, it was released in '56, not 1951. If it's the later (1959) pressing on SCORE records, it is still worth about $100 on a good day. If it's the 1970's reissue, it's worth about $8-$10 on ebay.

Is it a Clipper, a Patrician or a something really cool like a 400 or Carribean? Personally, I'd love to get my hands on an "Executive" and make a real hotrod out of it--all Packard drivetrain of course, but with disc brakes, etc. I've owned a couple of V8 Packards, a '55 Clipper with a 320 and a '56 400 that we put a dual quad 374 inch motor in with a T85 3 speed stick/OD set up in. But this was over 20 years ago. Great cars! If they had been able to keep it together for a couple more years they would have really sorted that motor out. Instead they bought Studebaker and stopped making Packards. I have a buddy up in WA that has a 374 inch SUPERCHARGED (Paxton) Packard V8 in a '56 Studebaker pickup truck.

It all depends on what record and what pressing. The most valuable Art Pepper records are the Jazz West and Intro LPs--they are both $1000 records in dead stone mint condition. It they are signed it MIGHT detract from the value a bit, but not a lot. The early Contemporary pressings are generally $100-$200 reconds in mint shape EXCEPT "Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section" which often fetches 4 or 5 times that. The 10" LPs on Discovery can also sell for huge money, but are really REALLY scarce. Any of the records from the 70's and 80's are worth $10-$20 in mint condition, but might be worth 3 times that if signed.

Sounds like a good idea. I'm not one to keep something around when I've lost interest in it and moved on, either. I bought most of the Mosiaics because I kinda got caught up in buying them as they were released. SOME of them are really something--unreleased stuff that is jaw-dropping (the Sonny Clark/Grant Green and the Tina Brooks sets for instance), while others are just a whole bunch of stuff I already have original pressings of. The ones I don't listen to are going. The Japanese Billie and Bird sets I bought brand new, but again I have all of the original LPs (and some of the 78s too) and I prefer to listen to the originals.

Went to his last gig here in LA a few months ago with an allstar septet. He was playing better than I've heard him recently--was able to play the ballads beautifully, but his ragin 20 chorus hardbop solos were a thing of the past. But he was in great spirts, funny as hell (as he always was) and we had a great time hanging for 2 sets at Catalina's. Freddie was without a doubt the most gifted trumpet player I have ever heard perform. What may have been the greatest live performance I have ever been to was at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco where Freddie did a a weeklong gig with Joe Henderson on tenor and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. I went three nights in a row and every tune, every night was SMOKIN'. The rest of the goup was a bunch of (then) youngsters--Billy Childs on piano, Larry Klein on bass, and Steve Houghton on drums. Some of the performaces from the Keystone were recorded and released on the Fantasy LP A Little Night Music and in the past few years Fantasy has dug into the vaults and release three CDs from that weeklong gig as Keystone Bop, vol. 1, 2 and 3. They are the finest Hubbard performances of the post-Blue Note/CTI era.

That Japanese Verve set it pretty cool. I bought one new back in the 80's. I think I'm going to sell in on ebay next week along with the Charlie Parker set and a mess of Mosaic sets that I never open or play.