This one is right in my wheelhouse. I don't really collect 45s, I'm more an album guy. But that's a great find.Last weekend my MIL cleaned out a crawlspace under her steps and found a small box filled with probably 70 or so 45s. Some were hers, but others were her mom and dad's, so my wife's grandparents. Basically stuff from the 50s and 60s. Bobby Darin, the Supremes, Pat Boone, Johnny Cash, the Big Bopper, a comedy bit from Andy Griffith about football, and a ton of other stuff. Lots of old country and borderline bluegrass.
We ordered and received a little record player on Thursday and fired it up. Been having a blast listening thru some of this stuff.
I'm thinking of heading down to the Exchange on Mcknight to see what they have. I think there's another music store on Babcock as well. I've been warned that this can become a dangerous hobby, but looking forward to building out a decent selection for us to play. Our dance parties with our puppy just got a huge upgrade.
It's not that dangerous, you can get a ton of stuff for cheap. I've been collecting since I was in grade school, more or less. My collection currently stands at 1,000 records, all catalogued on Discogs. Total of the median sales values of my collection is around $11,000, so about $11 a record. I only recently passed $100 as my top item- an original press of Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign" album. It only gets dangerous investment-wise if you start getting into rare stuff- original blue note pressings, northern soul singles, certain Beatles releases. You can get a lot of cool stuff for next to nothing.
For singles, I recommend Jerry's in Squirrel Hill and The Attic in Millvale. Music to my Ear is the one on Babcock. It's very clean and organized. Jerry's is like a record warehouse exploded, although since Jerry sold it and passed away it's a bit more organized. The Attic is chock full and very tight quarters but for specific stuff, and Record Store Day, it's our go-to (my daughter collects too).
One of the regrets of my life is that I didn't tell my parents (and to be fair they didn't ask specifically) I wanted my grandparents' Victrola when they passed away and they asked what I wanted. I used to mess with that thing all the time. It played 78s, 45s, and had a radio. I would have loved to have that.
My wife told me for my birthday, she'd like to get me a vintage record player. While I'd have liked to have that one specifically for sentimental value, since that's not a possibility I'm thinking more 50s-60s vintage. Something I can spin the older more beat up stuff in my collection on.