Published Aug. 16, 2026at6:00am
Recommendations are a dime a dozen, but in Pro Tips, we go directly to the source, asking local experts for their professional opinions on the city’s best martinis, tattoo shops, and more.
San Francisco may be known for tech and innovation, but its love for old-school vinyl records never went away. In a city where music history runs deep, record shops are meeting points, classrooms, and archives of culture.
For vinyl lovers, the format matters because it changes how we listen to music. Instead of skipping between songs, as many of us do with streaming, it encourages listening to a full album and paying attention to details like track order, credits, and artwork.
But knowing where to start your vinyl collection can feel overwhelming. For this edition of Pro Tips, we turned to local DJs who have spent decades collecting thousands of records. These are the ones playing sets across the city, digging through bins, and shaping the sound of the Bay Area’s vinyl scene, the ones who know the best spots for beginner diggers, amateur spinners, or serial collectors. We asked them which shops they frequent and where you might find your next favorite record.
Oakland’s Cone Shape Top offers a constantly rotating selection of ambient, electronic, and experimental vinyl curated for local DJs and collectors. | Source: Courtesy Cone Shape
DJs are always looking for new tracks to spin, so a shop with a frequently refreshed selection is clutch. Francisco, founder of the collective Mighty Fine DJs, has been amassing records for nearly two decades and shops a few times a week across the Bay. His go-to is Oakland’s Cone Shape Top, “a really small, well-curated shop” where the staff “really take time to give you some good recommendations and learn about your tastes.” The selection leans toward electronic and ambient. There are used records too. What keeps Francisco coming back is the turnover: “They’re constantly buying collections and constantly rotating their records, which I love.”
Cone Shape Top (opens in new tab), 4124 Broadway, Oakland
Lindenberger spins vinyl several nights a week at Pop’s Bar, Harlan Records, El Rio, and other venues. When he needs new wax, he heads to Groove Merchant, which stands out for rare grooves and obscure finds. “You wouldn’t go there to find current pop stuff,” Lindenberger warns, but “if you want French prog rock from 1974, he’s your man.”
Groove Merchant Records, (opens in new tab) 687 Haight St., Lower Haight
Situated right across from Alamo Square’s Painted Ladies, Originals Vinyl stocks a deep selection of funk, soul, jazz, and psych rock records. | Source: Courtesy Originals Vinyl
Right across from the Painted Ladies sits Original Vinyl, a small establishment flaunting a wide range of funk, soul, jazz, and psych rock. Raymond, who lives in Oakland, has more than 2,500 records of his own, many of which he purchased at Originals Vinyl, where regulars appreciate owner Matt’s “knowledgeable and helpful” approach. Originals has become Raymond’s north star to gauge quality: “I kind of judge other record stores based on Originals.” Don’t be intimidated to enter, he says, as the Bay Area vinyl community as a whole is “super welcoming, not gatekeeper-y or pretentious.”
Originals Vinyl, 701 Fillmore St., Fillmore
“When people say, ‘I want to start a record collection,’ I just tell them, ‘Don’t start,’” jokes Watson, whose 3,000 records have burned a hole in her wallet and take up far too much space in her home. Watson is the founder of the all-female DJ agency Heart of Gold. Her go-to shop, Tunnel Records, “hits a good middle ground between being curated and also approachable,” she says, describing a selection that spans accessible picks and deep cuts, making it a strong entry point for those getting into vinyl. For Watson, the appeal also lies in its neighborhood: “You could have a really fun day, eating dim sum, going to a movie, going to the record store.”
Tunnel Records (opens in new tab), 2200 Clement St., Richmond
Mission gem Discodelic specializes in rare tropical, salsa, boogaloo, and Latin psych vinyl sourced from record diggers worldwide. | Source: Courtesy Discodelic
From reggaeton to cumbia, Discodelic provides the Latin music fix you need. Al Toque began collecting vinyl in Peru while searching for rare cumbia records. Her sound can be described as a tropical blend of chicha, electronic, cumbia, and Latin psych and surf rock. For her, collecting vinyl became a way to build community by playing sets that share the rich history of Latin music. She picks Discodelic run by collectors who travel the world to source records, including salsa, boogaloo, and psychedelic sounds, and bring them back to San Francisco. “We’re so lucky to have this shop,” she says.
Discodelic (opens in new tab), 3174 24th St., Mission
Lower Haight institution Rooky Ricardo’s is famed for its deep collection of 45s, classic soul vinyl, and welcoming neighborhood community. | Source: Courtesy Originals Vinyl
Some shops just have a magical, homely charm, and for Uranga, Rooky Ricardo’s is one of them. “It’s an SF institution,” she says, pointing to its deep collection of soul records, 45s, and the long-running presence of owner Dick Vivian, “a wealth of knowledge.” All of this makes Rooky’s a “gathering place” for collectors across the Bay. If you go regularly, you’ll find yourself drawn into the community, she says. “One day I ended up running into like five different friends. It was just a very wholesome Sunday.”
Rooky Ricardo’s Records (opens in new tab), 429 Haight St., Lower Haight
A Haight-Ashbury landmark, Amoeba Music San Francisco remains a top spot for buying used vinyl collections and rare finds. | Source: Courtesy Amoeba Music
The classics are classics for a reason. Which is why Jackson, who has been part of San Francisco’s reggae vinyl scene since the early 2000s, picks Amoeba Music. The huge SF location is dripping in ’60s hippie history, but Jackson says locals should remember that it’s not just for tourists on a tie-dye tour. “A lot of people, when they’re getting rid of their collections, take them to Amoeba. It’s the most expeditious way to sell a larger collection,” he says. That turnover is what makes it valuable for serious collectors hunting for rare finds. “They have a lot of people’s collections in there, and they’re marked reasonably in terms of price.”
Amoeba Music (opens in new tab), 855 Haight St., Lower Haight