I'm listing a batch of excellent LPs for the benefit of my local hospice thrift store. I do this for them for electronics where they won't get a realistic price in store and have been asked to do this for these LPs.
If you check my other listings, you'll note that I sell a lot of albums on open reel tape. Grading tapes visually is a lost cause, but play testing them is quite straightforward on a good auto-reverse deck, play in several locations and fast-wind all the way to check for splices and stretches as they click going past the tape guides is very effective.
Records are an altogether different task to grade. Yes, it can be done visually, but I've a lot of LPs in my own collection that look pristine but sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies when first played and needed a thorough cleaning on my VPI machine to sound good. What I've done here is to reject any that don't have very clean surfaces indeed, only keeping those with no evidence of anything that could click. I've then played a significant portion, in many cases all, of each LP to ensure no significant surface noise issue or warps (rejected a number for warps) and also cleaned on my VPI any sides that had a fingerprint or two that I wanted to be sure didn't result in a repeating click. I have accepted occasional single clicks that were not coincident with a visible defect. I'm sure that you will clean all records to the extent necessary to provide the listening experience you want and that will deal with the odd errant click. Because I'm acting as volunteer when I'm checking these LPs, I've been able to justify more time than I would be able to if it was a normal commercial activity. I hope you will enjoy the results.
However evaluating LPs is always subjective and if you have any issues at all with my assessment of an LP, please get in touch and your issue will be corrected to your complete satisfaction.
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This is part of another small batch of superb jazz albums that I've enjoyed playing. These have been visually graded as EX and then I've played them on a high quality system, not an onerous chore by any means, in fact a pleasure.
This is a Dave Brubeck Quartet Latin Jazz album, recorded live in Mexico City and originally released in 1967, Bravo Brubeck. This is a re-release on Columbia LE 10123.
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