mcpherson123 Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Is this an issue with anyone else? I'm looking to pick up some classic original presses or presses that are at least from the same decade in which the album was first pressed for albums by Pink Floyd, The Doors, Led Zepplin, AC/DC, etc. and I'm coming across editions that are, I suppose, manufactured in countries that are not the country that the band's home label/manufacturer are located. For instance: Pink Floyd's "home" label is Harvest (am I correct in this assumption?) and their US distributor label is Columbia. Let's say that I come across an edition of an LP of theirs that is from Holland or France. Are these editions merely copies that were physically pressed in other countries to avoid shipping mass quantities of records overseas from the base manufacturer? Also is there generally a different master/stamper used between the English edition and the American and the Holland or French editions? I'm assuming that a lot of the quality issues that could come up between presses from "foreign" sources are going to be a case by case basis but I just wonder how many people here are familiar with any of these potential issues. If you've gotten this far, I applaud you as my logic is probably not reading as well as I think I have communicated myself here and this is a long as shit post. Any comments/answers are welcome. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Definitely a case by case thing. It depends on how the copies of the master tape is made and shipped to the record plant. The experience of the engineer for transferring the tape to a stamper. Also if you press a large quantity of records, you might need multiple sets of stampers, generally the first copies sound better than the last copies pressed with a stamper. (Hence, this why some promo's sound better, but you really have a good hearing and have a great set up.) So to conclude the sound quality varies, but I hardly ever notice a difference unless it is a crummy bootleg but obviously the source is different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steventangent Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I always heard that none of them are compatible with American turntables...unless you buy region free ones. Can anyone confirm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 There is actually a switch hidden underneath a sticker on the side of record player which makes the record player more or less region free. Works fine but sometimes playing 7"s on 45rpm might be cause some trouble. Other formats or 7" on 33rpm shouldn't be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steventangent Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 wtf my ion table doesn't have that! I'm going to take it back and get a Crosley instead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcpherson123 Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 Definitely a case by case thing.It depends on how the copies of the master tape is made and shipped to the record plant. The experience of the engineer for transferring the tape to a stamper. Also if you press a large quantity of records, you might need multiple sets of stampers, generally the first copies sound better than the last copies pressed with a stamper. (Hence, this why some promo's sound better, but you really have a good hearing and have a great set up.) So to conclude the sound quality varies, but I hardly ever notice a difference unless it is a crummy bootleg but obviously the source is different. Thanks. I guess what I was wondering was if there are any countries who are notoriously shitty at pressing records but your insight definitely is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabpower Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I once read that a stamper should be used to about 20,000 copies before discarding it so if they sold millions of copys they probably used many stampers. Also keep in mind that many countries used to press records. I once stumbled upon a Madonna collection and the guy had about 40 of the same record all pressed in different countries. This seems like a never ending quest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcpherson123 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 I'm only looking for one and in a few cases two good copies of each title that I'm looking for but for the most part just one. I just want to avoid any bootlegs or simply bad presses of the titles in question and I got the feeling that some countries might produce a lower quality of vinyl copying than others. Like I get the feeling (for no REAL reason) that a Croatian copy of a Floyd record would be lesser quality than an American or UK press. Why do I feel this way? I don't know. Just something about it makes it feel less genuine. Might just be OCD. Seems like Japanese presses go for much more exuberant amounts. It kind of makes me think because the Asian population is so much better at everything else intellectual or technological that their presses sound better. I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingpotato Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I know there's a guy who owns a record store that I go to a lot who says German presses are often better. No idea why, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcpherson123 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Interesting. Thanks for the feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mot Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Germans press virgins into their records...or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrospectacle Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 German, Japanese, US, and UK are all sure bets. Anything else, you may want to listen to first. Be aware that bootleggers will try to copy these better pressings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steventangent Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Germans press virgins into their records...or something like that. You got that wrong. Germans press records into their virgins. People there are into some freaky shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 German, Japanese, US, and UK are all sure bets. Anything else, you may want to listen to first. Be aware that bootleggers will try to copy these better pressings. I would add Australia, Holland/Netherlands and France too, they have/had some of the best pressing plants in the world. Eastern Europe/Southern Europe can be a hit or miss. Latin America/rest of Asia more miss than hit. Africa almost always a miss. I once met up with someone who had 55 copies of London Calling pressed in at least 38 different countries. Best/Weirdest collection I have ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonbeams Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I was recently ay a record store that specializes in US imports from the 50s and 60s. I had mentioned to the store owner that Japanese pressings sound really good and he said they're good, but the US pressings are the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Like I get the feeling (for no REAL reason) that a Croatian copy of a Floyd record would be lesser quality than an American or UK press. This is true though. Stay away from anything put out by "Jugoton". It was a record label in former Yugoslavia, and the pressings were extremely bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjustinxschwierx Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Germans press virgins into their records...or something like that. You got that wrong. Germans press records into their virgins. People there are into some freaky shit. +1 for lulz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcpherson123 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Damn. I really appreciate all these new solemn contributions to this thread. Nico's post is really enlightening. It was actually stumbling across a Holland press that sparked the idea for this thread. I figured Holland would be a strong LP pressing country but wasn't sure. They seem do everything pretty nicely. Thanks, guys! I'm also enjoying the comedic posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Not to derail the topic, but I think it would cool to collect one album from every possible pressing. It's just one album and gives you something to look forward to finding. Okay, back to topic: OP, I guess like you, like the original pressing from the original country it was put out by. I think it sounds "the best" without having to pay extra for fancy packaging and remastered bells and whistles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcpherson123 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Yeah, I'm just trying to grab the cheapest and nicest condition possible copies for some old Floyd, Zep, and other classic Rock shit that I can and just want to avoid the crap when it comes to sketchy variants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I've been enamored with "Sacuerful of Secrets" by Pink Floyd for a while. I'm trying to find a reasonable copy pressed by the Tower label, which seems like the second rarest (or oldest pressing) besides the original on Columbia . http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pink-Floyd-A-Sau....item588d f2fedc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steventangent Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I'm just being silly. Not trying to be disrespectful or derail the thread. I'm actually kind of interested in this, because the only record I own that I know was pressed in another country (besides all the Pirates Press stuff) is my Hollandaise copy of Weezer Pinkerton. There are probably others, but I'm not sure offhand what. And there are TONS of metal albums that I find on the bay and such that I would love to own, but I'm leery of them being foreign pressings. You find this a lot with extreme metal genres, like death metal. I find Entombed Wolverine Blues sometimes, but it's always a Brazilian pressing...and I wonder if any of those sound good at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingpotato Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Another thing you'll notice especially with UK albums from the 60's is they'll have different tracklistings. Bands like the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks, etc. put their albums out in the UK before the US. They would swap deep cuts for singles on the subsequent US pressings, meaning that certain albums have radically different content despite being otherwise identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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