Grading – Not Another Vinyl Collector

Most record grading systems ask one media grade to describe two different things: what the vinyl looks like and what it actually sounds like. Those usually correlate. Until they don’t.

The house rule

LP Visual Grade = what the physical vinyl looks like.

LP Playback Grade = what this copy actually sounds like.

Sleeve Grade = the condition of the outer jacket.

We do not average them. A record can look VG and play NM. That disagreement is useful information about the actual copy.

What we inspect

Component	What we look for	How it is recorded
LP — visual	Scuffs, scratches, hairlines, groove wear, warping, edge damage and visible pressing defects.	LP Visual Grade plus notes on anything important.
LP — playback	Crackle, surface noise, clicks, pops, distortion, skips, sticking, mistracking and groove damage.	LP Playback Grade after listening.
Outer sleeve	Ring wear, rubbing, fading, creases, corners, spine, seams, splits, tears, writing, stickers, library marks, tape and water damage.	Sleeve Grade plus specific defects.
Inner sleeve	Original or replacement, printed or plain, splits, tears, tape, writing, creasing and general wear.	Recorded separately; an informal grade can be added where useful.
Centre labels	Writing, stickers, library identifiers, spindle marks, tears, staining, fading and centre-hole damage.	Copy-specific notes. Label markings do not automatically reduce either LP grade.
Inserts / extras	Posters, lyric sheets, booklets, cards and release-specific extras: both presence and condition.	Recorded as present, missing, replacement or graded individually where useful.

LP Visual Grade

Grade	Benchmark
M	Essentially perfect. No visible signs of handling, play, sleeve removal or damage. Use extremely sparingly.
NM	Almost perfect. At most exceptionally faint handling traces; no meaningful scratches, scuffs or groove wear.
EX	Very clean. A few minor hairlines or light scuffs may be visible under strong light.
VG+	Clearly used but well cared for. Light scuffs, hairlines or minor scratches without heavy wear.
VG	Noticeable surface marks or scratches are readily visible. Plainly used, but visual grade alone says nothing about how well it plays.
G+	Obvious heavier scratching or wear across the surface, while the disc remains physically serviceable.
G	Considerable visible wear, scratches or groove damage; condition is a major physical characteristic.
F	Heavy wear, deep scratches, warping or other significant physical defects suggesting compromised playability.
P	Severe physical damage, deformation or wear. Barely serviceable as a playable copy.

LP Playback Grade

Grade	Benchmark
M	Effectively flawless playback throughout. Reserve for exceptional cases; NM will usually be the practical top grade for a played copy.
NM	Exceptionally clean playback with no meaningful wear-related crackle, pops, clicks, distortion or skips.
EX	Clean and highly enjoyable. Perhaps one or two extremely faint isolated noises, but nothing meaningfully distracting.
VG+	Occasional light surface noise or isolated clicks/pops, minor enough not to intrude on normal listening.
VG	Noticeable but non-dominating surface noise, crackle or occasional pops. Still comfortably enjoyable.
G+	More regular surface noise or louder isolated defects. Most or all remains listenable; any skip should be stated explicitly.
G	Continuous low-level noise or repeated pops/clicks clearly affect the listening experience. A repeatable skip would normally push a copy into this territory or below.
F	Intrusive noise, distortion, repeated skips or other faults compromise substantial parts of the record.
P	Only limited parts are reliably playable, or repeated skipping/sticking makes normal listening impractical.

Sleeve Grade

Grade	Benchmark
M	Perfect or effectively factory-fresh, with no meaningful wear, creasing, writing, splits, rubbing or damage.
NM	Very close to perfect. Only tiny signs of age or handling; artwork, edges, spine and corners remain exceptionally clean.
EX	Excellent appearance with only light handling wear, perhaps a small crease or very slight corner/edge wear.
VG+	Light general wear such as modest ring wear, edge rubbing, small creases or minor seam wear. Still presents very well.
VG	Obvious used wear: ring wear, edge/spine wear, creasing, minor splits, stickers, writing or similar defects, but still functional and presentable.
G+	Significant wear, larger seam splits, heavier ring wear, writing, stickers or tape while retaining reasonable structural integrity.
G	Substantial wear, splits, tears, tape, writing, staining or other damage. Still identifiable and usable.
F	Poor structural condition with substantial tears, tape, writing, splits or damage, though enough remains to function.
P	Severely damaged, torn, heavily taped, incomplete or otherwise barely functional.

Component codes

0 — Missing / Not Original: for components such as an original inner sleeve, poster or insert. It is not an LP or outer-sleeve grade.

Unknown: genuinely not yet assessed. For playback, Play Status: Unplayed can also show that the listening grade is still pending.

The record that exposed the hole

Scoundrel Days — LP Visual VG / LP Playback NM / Sleeve G.

It has obvious surface marks, yet the copy plays exceptionally cleanly with no obvious crackle or pops. The sleeve is structurally better than G but is reduced by permanent library markings. One old-fashioned media grade cannot say all of that at once.