You have already received a lot of valuable advice from fellow FMs. I wanted to share a few humble perspectives (rather, mistakes to avoid
) since I started on the same journey some years ago. These are about buying vinyl - not the turntable. Not all of these might be relevant to you.
- It's easy to fall into the trap of buying any vinyl you can lay your hands on, when you are starting out, irrespective of whether it has music you are going to listen to or not. Given the scarcity of old vinyl records in India, this is bound to happen.
- When you are looking for a particular record, and you find somebody selling it for an exhorbitant price, please wait. Resist the urge to pay even if you have the money, and even if your brain tells you you might never get this again. You will find the same record(s) you are looking for, at a good, affordable price, one day. But it will take time.
- An obvious one - once a record is scratched, there is no going back. And little things can scratch it - a bump on the rack that makes the needle jump, or somebody handling it carelessly.
- If you are looking for Bollywood music, you are better off with the original releases (with a few exceptions). New Bollywood vinyl is just for making money. Also beware of sellers on Amazon, OLX, and most of the online stores selling old vinyl. Nobody follows any grading system.