What shelving systems will hold 78 RPM records?

Answer 1

Many shelving systems can be used to hold 78 rpm records, such as wall mounted book shelves or boxed units. There are even sites that can help you in designing your own unique shelves to fit your needs.

*********************

That's not a very good answer. It depends on how many 78's you have and how keen you are on wanting to preserve them. If they are just cool conversation pieces and you really aren't that worried about them then just put them in plastic crates. A few will get broken though as you shuffle the crate around if you don't pad the crate so there's no movement of the records back and forth.

78's are very brittle and very heavy. A wall hung unit? Don't even go there. That just makes me cringe. Not enough support and I can see somebody trying to mount it to drywall and the weight making the entire cabinet fall off the wall taking the drywall with it. Not a good idea at all!

If you have a lot of 78's or you plan to collect 78's, build your own cabinet to your own space dimensions. Build larger than what you need because if you collect more you are gonna run out of room and be forever building cabinets. Just building a row and then stacking a new row of shelves as you need them is okay but not preferred - just make sure you secure it well with screws to the row of shelves below it. It can be very wobbly if you get several rows put together that way.

The best way is to make a large cabinet out of 1 inch thick wood. Pine will do and it is cheaper. Just try to pick boards that are level, not cracked, and not full of knots or knot holes.

78's should always be stored vertically on end - NEVER stacked on top of each other! Too much weight and you risk cracking the bottom few records. If your 78's are all 10-inch use a 12 inch board so there is no overlap of the records hanging off the shelf to be cracked by something falling against them or brushing up against them like using a vacuum cleaner and pulling the cleaner back and running into the records - POW - cracked or broken off. Also 78's are notorious for a big chunk just falling out of the record. Having the shelves wider than the records helps support them better.

In between the shelf rows you should put vertical boards every 1 to 2 feet like a cubicle. This not only supports the shelves from buckling under the weight but prevents the entire row of 78's from shifting over with weight from removing a stack of records from the shelf. They go "WHOOMP!!" to the side and can break off the tops of the first few records from all that weight shifting.

Another good way to help prevent cracking from normal wear and usage is putting each record into a gallon zip-lock plastic bag with a cardboard filler pad in behind the record. Cut off the actually zipper part of the bag as it narrows the width of the opening a bit and you have to manhandle the 78 sometimes to get it out of the bag which may crack or break it.

Without the zipper part it is the PERFECT size! The cardboard filler pad will support the record and keep it sturdy when shuffling through them. The drawback is that it will increase the size of your collection more than double because of the width of the filler pad but it is worth it. You can make your own out of cardboard boxes or you can buy them pre-cut in bulk.

Also keep the temperature of the room they are stored relatively consistent all year. Cold 78's crack easier. So if you have them stored in a garage that is not climate controlled this may be a problem if you are going to shuffle them a lot. And remember I'm only discussing this type of thing if you are very serious about preserving your collection.

Store 78's relatively tightly packed. Not so tight that you crack them but to keep side to side movement down in the cubicles of your shelves. These are not vinyl flexible LP's so there should be no wiggle room in between the records for them to tip over and crack. Most collectors have a system of some kind to label the sleeves to locate the records whether it be a numerical system or typed labels with title and artist pasted to the sleeve. You can't just flip through them like you do LP's. You have to slide them in and out of the shelf a few at a time. With the labels on the upper corner of the sleeve you can flip the edges of the sleeves without handling the records until you find the one you want to play.

My cabinets are all 6 foot wide by 8 foot tall. They are all 1 inch pine boards and I always put a 1 inch plywood backing on them. With that much weight you HAVE to have a back securely attached around all the outer edges and all the shelves. I always use screws too so it "bites" the wood and not wiggle out over time like nails can do.

I also find the studs in the wall and from the front of the cabinet, screw the backing to the studs in several places. With the baseboard at the bottom of the wall this also gives the cabinet a little tilt backwards so if you do have some 78's that don't have sleeves they won't roll out and hit the floor and break. I put shims under the bottom of the cabinet to support the bottom as well. They are very very sturdy and securely mounted so they can't be toppled or have side to side movement. Securing it to the studs also helps keep the weight off of the floors so the floors won't sag from the tremendous weight of the cabinet. The cabinet alone is heavy but filled to the brim with 78's it probably weighs a couple of tons at least.

If you don't have enough 78's to completely fill the cabinet you can use it to store books or anything else. If you are serious about 78 collecting, it will eventually fill up - usually faster than you had imagined! LOL

What to store them in is another thing. Those old original company paper sleeves are groovy but they are old and dry rotted and the bottom of the sleeve may rip through and the record will hit the floor. Buy modern thicker sleeves to put the actual record in and then put it in a baggie and just slide the original sleeve in the baggie too in front of the modern sleeve. It still gives you the authentic look but protects your record.

(NOTE: You can buy the outer plastic sleeves in bulk that are a bit more professional looking but it is much, much cheaper to go to the dollar store and buy gallon zip lock bags that work just as well and have a bit more room if you have duplicates of the same record. 4 or 5 records can fit into the same baggie to keep them together and organized.)

Don't use those old storage albums that hold 10 or 12 records. Not unless you are very careful! The edges shift into the spine of the storage album and as you turn the pages - POP!! You just snapped a record. If you are using storage albums put your hand over the open end of the album and gently turn it toward the floor to shift the records away from the spine. Fan it out vertically on a table. Don't lay it flat because you are putting pressure on the edges nearest the spine. I don't have that many 12 inch 78's so they are in albums but I handle them very very carefully. Another problem with those old albums is age and again, the bottoms of the pages can rip through.