Comments (0) Best Place to Buy 45s and 78s - 2005

Amoeba Music

Most people have never even seen a 78 -- that old-style record once pressed in multiple colors, shapes, and sizes -- unless they happen to have musical pack rats for grandparents. And there are a great many who think a 45 is a gun rather than a 7-inch record that's still a favorite of indie punks. But at Amoeba, where there are hundreds of thousands of records, CDs, videos, and DVDs ripe for the pillaging, you can see 45 and 78 rpm vinyl discs by the bucketful. It's not immediately obvious when entering the store that it would carry such bygone relics. But carry them it does, quite a few offered at bargain prices (most 45s start at $1, while 78s are a bit more). Particularly ample is Amoeba's inventory of soul and rock 45s, a collection frequently refreshed as San Franciscans clean out their garages.