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Alkaline Trio "Maybe I'll Catch Fire" Bootleg?? Help!


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I finally grabbed a copy of this LP online, listed as the original 1999 pressing, Black vinyl.  Yay?  Not so much...  I am hoping that some of you AT fans may be able to help me solve this issue.

 

The main aspects that are killing me:

 

1) It sounds pretty bad - strange background tone all the way through, highly noticed in between each song, into/outro, etc - sounds like a really janky unprofessional cut.  Could this be normal??!

2) Strange defects, one per side - they appear white - as if the "vinyl" was a coating over some other material - the white parts are definitely indented, as is material is missing.  Never seen this in my life (and I'm a pretty serious nerd)

3) Referring to #1, the mastering was supposed to be done by John Golden - but he is actually really really good, and this cut is pretty bad.  As well, his famous GOLDEN stamp is not in the wax

4) The matrix numbers/etchings do not match what's on Discogs for the original pressing ( but no other pressings have their numbers entered on Discogs)

5) The cover art, esp noticed on the back cover, is pretty fuzzy - the text & logos specifically - and the labels are kind of fuzzy and dark.  But looking at photos, this may not be far from the normal release.  Usually fuzzy print is how I would spot a bootleg

 

The record contains the inner sheet, which would be over the top for a bootleg... And I've never heard of a bootleg of this LP.

 

So it's super weird and I need to get to the bottom of this so I can return it or figure out what to do.  If this is truly the first pressing, then yikes!  It's pretty funky.

 

Here are the Side 1 etchings in the wax, I would seriously appreciate it if anyone with any Black vinyl pressing of any year, could please check your etchings, so I can figure out what I'm holding here.  I really would like to figure out if this an official pressing of some kind, or something unofficial.

 

1089-AM055-1A  5  S-65692, and an unintelligible squiggle

 

Does this match any pressing?  Even if you have a colored pressing, your comment would be helpful.  For instance, do these etchings match the Orange version of the first pressing?  Any other pressing at all?

 

Please help Vinyl Wan Collective, you're my only hope!  :-)   THANK YOU!

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I have a second or third pressing on black at home. I can look into it later tonight.

Were you specifically looking for an older pressing? you can pick up a quality pressing for only $13 from the label here http://asianmanrecords.storenvy.com/collections/197073-12-inch-vinyl/products/1172239-alkaline-trio-maybe-ill-catch-fire-lp

lol I'm not sure why someone would bootleg this... there has been a lot of pressings though the label. Maybe at one time it was hard to find?

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4 minutes ago, Hairy Potter said:

I have a second or third pressing on black at home. I can look into it later tonight.

Were you specifically looking for an older pressing? you can pick up a quality pressing for only $13 from the label here http://asianmanrecords.storenvy.com/collections/197073-12-inch-vinyl/products/1172239-alkaline-trio-maybe-ill-catch-fire-lp

lol I'm not sure why someone would bootleg this... there has been a lot of pressings though the label. Maybe at one time it was hard to find?

I remember I've got my 1st press sealed clear red/black marble copy (ltd to 500) 4 years ago from Australia for $40 shipped. I don't think, that this album was in demand at all.

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Listening to the 180g version from this pressing right now, as I'm assuming that's the one you have? Sounds great... No strange background tone here.

 

Third pressing standard weight black has the same matrix as the second pressing. Threw that on and it also sounds good. I can't comment on any pressing after that because I stopped catching them all.

Edited by twelvetwenty
Adding third press info.
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Thanks for the comments so far everyone.  I am extremely interested in someone else confirming that they have the same runout etching as I posted.  Does anyone else have this same pressing positively?

 

To answer some questions:

- Yeah, I was looking for an older pressing, as I generally go for first pressings.

- Mine is definitely not 180 gram, standard weight black.

- Huge vinyl nerd of 22 years, w/ quality setup on 1200 mkII's, Ortofon, etc - The noise between tracks is not my setup positively (I even double checked b/c it was so weird), and the noise isn't from overplaying/wear either - It's clearly from the equipment that cut the lacquer for this pressing, I can't say I've ever heard that so blatantly before - it really jumps out on headphones.  It's mechanical tone from equipment - and it's really blatant

- I'm still weirded out by the white "pits" about 1mm diameter on each side - also have never seen that before.  It's not white vinyl, it's "papery" looking

- Thanks for helping to rule out first pressing, It's possible it's a later pressing, but I would love to know which - and mostly, is it really this bad of a pressing?!

- I would like to enter the matrix numbers into Discogs if we can determine the pressing.

 

Thanks again

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Do your side A runout etchings match the one I posted at top?

 

Thanks!

 

5 hours ago, twelvetwenty said:

Listening to the 180g version from this pressing right now, as I'm assuming that's the one you have? Sounds great... No strange background tone here.

 

Third pressing standard weight black has the same matrix as the second pressing. Threw that on and it also sounds good. I can't comment on any pressing after that because I stopped catching them all.

 

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10 minutes ago, The Ghost of Randy Savage said:

How else would they know it was the same pressing...?

 

Like I said before, you probably got a bunk copy of the 3rd press.

Just making sure - your use of the word "assume" and the fact that your pressings sounded great, made me want to confirm.  Still shocked about the quality issue on mine I guess.

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The easiest way to determine if this is the original pressing is the sleeve. The track listing on the back doesn't have any matches next to it. All later pressings (that I have seen) have 1 match for side A and 2 matches for side 2.

 

I also used to own 2 original black vinyl pressings. One with orange center labels and one with grey/ black center labels. Now I just have the original orange marble, a sealed copy and a couple of the represses. The matrix for the original orange vinyl is S-52603x AM-055-B. Maybe that helps. 

 

Edited by takashihaha
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sounds like you've got it figured out. if you're looking for a first pressing of this, i have two different ones available (one orange marble vinyl, one black vinyl with black center labels) here:

https://www.facebook.com/danwallach7/media_set?set=a.10101245281203657.1073741827.37606921&type=3&pnref=story

i don't check VC very often anymore, so add me/shoot me a message on facebook if you're interested in anything that's in that photo album.

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