Dr. Freecloud’s Record Shoppe

One star for having the music in defined sections. One star each for Customer Service — they compensate for making people get down on their knees to look in the lower bins by providing a stool to sit on, and they do have turntables to make sure there are no scratches on the records. Unfortunately, there is no organization whatsoever to locate composers in the classical music section. How hard is that to do? If somebody is looking for a specific recording artist or composer, and they don’t have the time to paw through every record in every bin, you lose customers. I’m one of them. Not terribly impressed.

This is my LP store. They have best prices, good selection, clean albums. Store is very organized and you can try out your records on one of three public turntables. They have super nice people that work there. It’s fun browsing there. Love it! Also, found some really rare LP’s from my teenage years!!!

I’ve been going to Ron’s shop since the very beginning of my DJ career. I bought my very first records from him. I used to (and still try to) go to his shows in LA and SB all the time and now we’ve not only had a great professional relationship, but a friendship for a lifetime. His store is always stacked with great records and you can tell that vinyl is his passion. Even if he doesn’t have what you need in stock, he will get it for you! I put in a request with him for a very rare record for years, and when it finally came around, I was his first phone call.
Love this place!!!

My friend and I came upon this store by chance, and it was the best discovery we could have made! The selection is wide, though the music does lean towards more electronic/​hip hop records, there are still plenty of other genres to satisfy the soul. They have a HUGE selection of musical soundtracks and other rare vintage vinyls, plus all the records are very reasonably priced. The staff is so helpful and friendly, it has a great atmosphere. I don’t purchase my vinyls anywhere else anymore!

Brilliant store!!! Went today and picked up some good vinyl. Very friendly, reasonable vinyl prices and some real gems. Staff was super helpful

Awesome store with a great selection and customer service! We had our 2 yr old son with us and they even brought out toys for him to play with while we shopped! My husband is hooked, as am I. Thanks again! We will be back!

Tonight was my first night attending to this place. Omg What a great time I had! Definitely be sure you have time because you’ll stay there longer than you think! Every one was extremely welcoming and knowledgeable. Makes me feel like I’m home! Definitely will be coming here to buy more records!

A great diamond in the rough. It has a great mixture of new an old records and the customer service was awesome.

I used to frequent this place atleast once a month. I havent been here since they had a 50% off all hip hop a couple of years ago. My beef is when I brought my selections. all hip hop, to the counter. The owners wife starts knit picking and sez, «these are not on sale» I pointed to the flyers on the wall and said. «It sez ALL hip hop 50% off» her answer was these are Hieroglyphics. Yes, they are Heiro but they were already over priced at $ 12.00 for a single, and they are not limited by any means. I had 2 of them, which were found at Ameoba for .50 cents later that month. Please, if you’re going to have a sale best to have the sign say «Some hip hop at 50% off».
You can check for yourself on discogs, no Hieroglyphic single sells over 6 bux.

The reviews of the family atmosphere and friendly staff are all true. I met them both today and they had their son in tow. Makes you glad to support the little guy, particularly in this online world we all live in now.
They have a huge selection, most notably in House, R&B, Beats, and Rock and Roll. Jazz gets a small section as does Country (3 rows each genre, each row about 2′ deep, not even 5% of the store all in). I’d hoped to get as much Pat Metheny and Waylon Jennings as I could. I walked out with one Waylon record.
Rock, on the other hand, has a strong showing, and to my liking, multiple boxes on the floor which are unsorted and range from 1.99 to 3.99. I got some for 1.99, and the rest they rung up at 2.99 (some of which were in real nice shape, too).
At this very moment, it’s an excellent buyer’s market, and a terrible seller’s market. I was told by Ron that everybody pulls out their stuff to try and get a few bucks for the holidays, so they’re busting at the seams. Case in point, I brought 25 records, most of which were rock duplicates I had, still desirable I thought, along with some more obscure/​generic classical. They didn’t buy one. I’d hoped to ease the purchase price with a trade, but today it wasn’t to be. I still left with about 20 in tow.
No worries, I’ll definitely be back.
What isn’t in boxes or crates, as others have pointed out, is generally well organized and you can even score cheap records in the prime real estate.
There’s a large 50 cent collection in the back, which always gets me excited, but you need to be looking for some Lawrence Welk, Barbara Streisand, or a number of unknowns to make a score.
Their small Jazz collection I mentioned has at least 10 copies of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass Going Places. They have multiple copies of other releases, and have them spread around other places such as Rock and Roll boxes (if you have a copy to sell, I doubt you’ll find takers here). They’re selling their vast inventory of each for $ 1.99.
They have some stools and short stubby seats you can use while going through things. Great touch and makes you spend more time.
Ron has a nice dual turntable setup which obviously is built to rip, he has large powered speakers, QSC amplification, etc.

Great place to find old and new records. We love that they have a few turn tables with headsets to listen to a record before you buy it, if needed.
We go there once a month and both the man and woman who work there are friendly and helpful. We always see records we had forgotten about and end up buying more than we plan, but it is worth it.

For about 20+ years, Ron and Helen have been selling vinyl and it is always a good time shopping here. The store never looks the same and the stock which is now mostly second hand is always changing. The prices are really good and if you spend some time digging, you will always find good stuff. One of the best times had in SoCal actually.

This place is awesome hidden gem in a deserted strip mall in Fountain Valley. My friend and I came here from LA on a Sunday at 4:45 (oblivious to their 5pm closing time), but the owners were very accommodating — allowing us time to dig.
The selection here is amazing and is one of the most organized of the record stores I’ve been to, ranging from acid house, hardcore, to drum and bass. The records were very decently priced, as I managed to snag a wax copy of Ed Rush & Optical’s «Cutslo/​Alien Girl» for only $ 3! Dr. Freecloud’s is definitely one of my favorite record stores.

Recently went here for the first time the other week, and I gotta say, it’s a pretty cool place. Really small, but they have a lot of vinyls and cds. The owners were really friendly as well.
I came here looking for any hip hop vinyls. I’m really into A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-​Tang Clan, Nas, Leaders of the New School, Eric B. & Rakim, Beastie Boys, Black Sheep, Dead Prez, MF Doom, and old school hip hop artists like that. Now, my collection so far consists of Eric B. & Rakim, LOTNS, Dead Prez, Q-Tip’s Breathe and Stop single cd, and some Ghostface Killah. I really want ATCQ and Wu-​Tang vinyl, but coming across vinyls such as those are really hard, but I had an open mind.
Unfortunately, after looking for more than an hour, I didn’t come up on anything. There was one vinyl they had of one of Nas’s newer releases «Life is Good,» but I’m more of a fan of his older stuff, like albums Hip Hop is Dead, illMatic, Street’s Disciple, and God’s Son. I thought it was cool that not only do they offer older vinyls, but newer releases as well. I found some Beastie Boys cds which was really cool, but I ended up not buying them only cause I already had the cd on my computer anyways. Only downside is, their hip hop selection is kind of small! But I read in another review that their selection for other genres were big, so I didn’t expect to find much. But definitely a cool experience, and I’d definitely recommend it to people who are into finding vinyls.

This record store is the best in southern Orange County, if not the whole! There is little to none of that moldy cardboard smell. They specialize in hip-​hop and dance, but they also have some hardcore and indie, which is probably most vinylheads fiend for. So, you can go to other record stores around the OC that specialize in other genres. Check out their 50 cents bin because you can find some gems there. There is some new (sealed) records right when you enter the store. Also, take advantage of their check-​in special. I got 11 records for less than $ 11; you do the math! Overall, I would totally go back when I have the chance.

I hate to give any surviving brick and mortar record store less than a perfect rating, because they all deserve your business (usually), but vinyl outlets are so damn ubiquitous now that I feel like a little more objectivity is needed for reviews.
This store is probably a Mecca if you’re into hip hop or trance or dance or anything with a non-​stop beat. But if you, like me, are looking mostly for genres like metal, rock, soundtracks, or classic rock then this really isn’t the spot to browse. The majority of what they had in those categories was the kind of filler stuff Amoeba can’t get rid of, collecting dust for a thousand years because nobody needs a copy of a forgotten Captain & Tennille record. There was a VERY small section of new rock/​metal vinyl, but the prices were a few bucks more than retail at just about every other shop.
I also don’t think it helped that there was a DJ on site spinning head-​throbbing trance/​bass/​something booming music while a couple of kids ran around the place. I am not a kid person.
They do have a generous check-​in offer, though. You can get a free vinyl that costs $ 1.99 or less just by showing your phone. I used it to get a Seals & Crofts Greatest Hits, so they get an extra star because I can rock «Summer Breeze» on a lazy Sunday. While this store isn’t my thing and I didn’t really find anything I wanted, it seems to have a solid selection if you’re into deep bass.

If dance music is what you are after than this just might be the place you are looking for! Although was not exactly my taste the staff was very friendly and the dance music selection is great!

You could find some good records here. A lot of different genres. Theres some more records under the bins ya dig.

It’s time to update my review. ATTENTION SERIOUS UnilocalERS PLEASE READ ENTIRE POST AND ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I am tired of the owner of this store badgering me over my review. He first sent me a scathing personal email (I will now post it below) accusing me of not being a real person, never beeing in the store, being the friend of another shop and using Unilocal to promote that business, and claiming I was saying untrue comments. I found this foolish, and within 2 hours of receiving this email, I went in to the store and met him face to face. I introduced myself, shook his hand, and asked him if he knew how Unilocal works. «Not really» was his reply. I told him not only was I a real person, and a real customer — but I was his dutchess. I explained what that meant. I explained that I was an elite member — that I would NEVER falsely review, but that I do give honest reviews. He seemed to understand. He said he just assumed I was a fake person. I felt I left on good terms with him, and have even returned and bought some albums to show no hard feelings.
Now he has pubically posted to my original review a ridiculous new accusation. This time he claims I am ALSO Courtney P. (a Unilocal friend) He is now assuming that I have created a fake Unilocal ID just to give him a bad review. I will just roll my eyes and stay away from his store, as he requested. I thought of having Courtney P. come into the store with me, and show that she TOO is a real person, but why waste my time?
Bottom line — if you give an honest review of this record store, that is negative — be ready to get badgered.
AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE. I am no longer going to just let this nonsense roll off my back, I take Unilocal very seriously, and don’t appreciate being called a liar. I dropped to 1 star because there are no negative star choices. Needless to say, This shoppe needs a new dutchess.
Below is the email he sent me — and the one I responded to him with after our face to face. Just so everything is out there. YOU decide:
HIS EMAIL LAST MONTH:
«we are scratching our heads right now… either you went to a different store or you are just trying to help your buddies at the port of sound store that’s biting part of our store’s name «Shoppe» hmmmn. I will go ahead and correct what you said privately first then soon after post publicly the correction. If you were truly here at our store you would have noticed that we are extremely organized. We have all the music genres properly labelled boldly as well as the larger sections being alphabetically organized. We don’t have any employees working for us so my wife and I are anal about how neat and organized the music categories are. We’ve been in the record store business for over 18 years and I think we know a bit more than your new-​jack friends store in Costa Mesa, we used to have our shoppe in Costa Mesa 8 years ago before we moved to our current spot in Fountain Valley. A bit of advice for you is to be honest when reviewing a business, be factual and don’t use this platform to make our superb rating go down just to make your friends store seem better. Take some time and read previous reviews for our store and you will see lot’s of opposite opinion reviews that point out how «Highly Organized we are. I look forward to hearing back from you and also would like to see if you will make a correction to your review, otherwise I will have the review flagged for removal…
have a good day!»
MY RESPONSE LATER THAT SAME DAY:
«I am happy to have gone in and met with you face to face today, shortLy after I read this. And to straighten out the confusion of me being on some sort of sinister mission. Also to be able to re-​inforce the honesty of my review. We were able to determine that in actuality — it is I who am the anal one! Thanks for your time in clearing this up. Keep spinning vinyl»
I even tried a light hearted approach — referring to my loving a very organized store. By the way — I posted photos of his bins showing that genre only, not individual artists are organized.
So, whatever — my friend Courtney P. got the same wierd post as the one below on my original review before this update, where he claims we are the same person. I can’t speak for her, but I will be ever so happy to comply and stay away. But — this Ron guy should read her review again — it is HE she states seems to have a chip on his shoulder — not his 2 year old. This gave me a chuckle. Can’t imagine why anyone would think Ron has a chip on his shoulder though. wink-​wink.

I’ve just fallen in love! I came in after work yesterday and ended up being the only customer in there. That worries me a bit.
It seems like at least 95% of their inventory is singles, which isn’t a bad thing. The vinyl is organized by genre and alphabetical and each vinyl runs between $ 2 – 4 for the most part. What’s really cool is that THERE IS A SALE ON HIP HOP VINYL UNTIL 8÷5÷2012!!! $ 1 each!!! Get em while they’re hot!
They have about 5 turntable stations for your listening pleasure.
I only dove into the hip hop, r&b, soul and briefly the 80’s sections and was so happy to come away with some great 90’s jams to reminisce to. For all you aspiring DJs, there’s the house and dub step section. I can’t figure out how to dance or listen to that junk, but the collection looked quite extensive.
I love the layout and décor. Come by and dig through the archives once you find it in the strip mall. I will most definitely be back! Support your local record shops!