Thursday, Oct. 23, 2003 | 8:16 a.m.
They arrived early Saturday morning, about 60 diehard music fans near the entrance to Big B's CDs & Records on Maryland Parkway.
The moment manager Alex Vaughan signaled the start of the store's semiannual clearance sale, the bulk of the crowd went straight for the rows of 99-cent CDs laid out on a set of outdoor tables.
Half a dozen attendees had another mission, however. They steered past the compact discs and made straight for the bins of 12-inch records stacked near the front door.
Twenty years after the popular CD format made its debut, a unique brand of collectors still remains devoted to vinyl. And their loyalty to one of recorded music's oldest formats is about much more than the 49-cent sticker prices at Big B's sale.
Some prefer what they describe as a warmer sound; others are drawn to the artwork. And for some, it's simply about supporting a medium that has taken on a certain "retro" quality in recent years.
"CDs might sound better, they give you better accessibility to tracks, and once you listen to one side of an LP you have to get up and flip it over," said David Jobes, a 65-year-old Las Vegas resident with more than 40,000 records in his collection.
"But owning an LP is like owning the original. It's like owning a piece of history."
Starting young
Las Vegan Steve Boyd started listening to vinyl records when he was a child. "Some dads bring home baseball cards," he said. "Mine bought me Motown records."
Today the 31-year-old Boyd owns more than 4,000 records in a collection that spans several genres: R&B, soul, jazz and reggae. He also spends his days buying used vinyl for Big B's and selling higher-end items for the store on online auction house eBay.
Boyd has sold records for hundreds of dollars and has seen pieces fetch tens of thousands online and at record shows throughout the country. But he says he gets his biggest thrill watching new collectors pick through the 49-cent bins outside Big B's.
"This is the pure deal, two for a dollar," Boyd said. " You can spend $30 on 60 records and go home and have an adventure listening to them."
Howard, a longtime, serious record collector who declined to give his last name, has driven in from Colorado for each of Big B's quarterly storewide sales for the past six years.
He still remembers the first album he purchased in 1971: the Dovells' "Bristol Stomp."
"People in my age group late 40s and early 50s -- still appreciate what vinyl stands for," Howard said while flipping through records inside the store and depositing dozens into a brown box on the floor.
"If there wasn't vinyl, there wouldn't be CDs. Anyone can burn CDs off the computer. Let's see them burn a record with colorful, fold-out artwork."
Pat Young, another out-of-towner at the event, hails from Madera, Calif. His trip to Las Vegas coincided with the sale, and he methodically worked his way through the racks of used vinyl, searching for items to add to a collection numbering around 5,000.
For the 53-year-old Young, CDs simply don't have the nuances of old-fashioned vinyl.
"A CD sounds way too bright," Young said. "Records sound better, if they're in good condition."
Quality concerns
As with almost any collectible, a record's value is tied to its condition. Vinyl is graded on a scale, from the pristine Mint rating through M-, VG++, VG+, VG, G+ and Good. Covers are graded the same way, and can be just as important as the vinyl itself in determining value.
Howard, who also sells records out of his home, inspected both sides of each LP he considered purchasing. He explained that surface marks would not necessarily affect play, but that deep scratches probably would.
Howard also paid special attention to the center "cue hole," the condition of which, he said, could speak volumes about a record.
"Looking at that, you can determine how many times it's been on a turntable," he said. "It will also tell you if it's been played on with a good needle or on a $10 Woolworth record player."
Never too old
Though vinyl recordings are generally associated with older generations, there was a noticeable youth movement among the record bins at Big B's sale.
Sean Daigle, a 22-year-old Las Vegas resident, picked up 102 LPs for around $50.
"Most of my friends just download off the Internet or listen to CDs," Daigle said. "But listening to a record on vinyl is a completely different experience than listening to a CD. I like the crackle of vinyl."
Daigle stumbled into his new hobby less than three years ago, when he stopped at a local garage sale. He went home with Beatles records "Revolver" and "Abbey Road," though he didn't own a turntable.
"I knew the Beatles from pop culture, but I'd never really listened to them," he said. "I'd always listened to punk and hardcore before that."
After staring at his Beatles album covers for about a week, Daigle bought his first record player. Today he owns eight turntables -- including an old-style model with a bubble top -- and around 1,500 pieces of vinyl.
"It's like a treasure hunt for me," said Daigle, who once found a Yardbirds test-pressing in perfect condition, signed by a studio engineer, for just $1 at a thrift shop. "I'm a pack rat, I guess."
Jenn Strong, who works at Big B's with her husband, Chris Higashi, also described collecting vinyl as a search for treasure.
"Every time we go out of town we have to find a record store," Strong said. "I like the idea of vinyl, the sound, the look, everything. Yes, it takes up more space. But there's something about vinyl ..."
Modern vinyl
During the late 1980s and 1990s, hip-hop culture played a key role in ensuring vinyl remained not simply a retro phenomenon but also a viable medium for new releases.
Rick Smith, a 23-year-old Henderson resident, began buying records eight years ago as an aspiring hip-hop DJ. Though that dream is behind him, he still does his listening on vinyl, with more than 750 pieces in his collection.
"Growing up on hip-hop, I just prefer records," said Smith, who picked up 50 LPs at Saturday's Big B's sale. "There's something beautiful about records. They give you more than a CD can give."
Unknown to many music fans, several record labels continue to produce vinyl versions of their new releases. Some, such as Blue Note Records, also offer catalog titles in a vinyl format.
Several popular modern-rock bands, including the White Stripes and the Strokes, have even offered incentives to the vinyl-loving public, releasing their new albums on LP days before they hit stores on CD.
And Strong, for one, appreciates the gesture.
"We bought the White Stripes album on both formats," she said. "We'd love it if every artist we like put out everything on vinyl."
Few do, however, making it increasingly difficult to find new music on vinyl. But Boyd says it's out there for those willing to look.
"I own, like, one CD," Boyd said. "With the Internet and with L.A. being so close, it's possible to buy new stuff on vinyl. You just have to be willing to take the next step."
Vinyl enthusiasts have also grown accustomed to going online for many of their supplies.
Though local businesses such as Audio Xpert (2120 E. Charleston Blvd.) repair turntables and offer replacement needle cartridges for most models, the search for new high-end equipment might ultimately lead to Internet retailers such as www.needledoctor.com.
But those inconveniences are a small price to pay in exchange for one of the most unique experiences available to music fans, says Smith.
"When it comes to vinyl, there's something about the originality of the product," Smith said. "You just can't beat the original."
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