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Original pressings vs. Record Club pressings

oldvinyldude

oldvinyldude

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I was reading another thread, and the difference of original pressings vs. 'Record Club' pressings was mentioned.

I had not really thought about what differences could be present.

The poster on the thread asked about speed anomolies (sp?) between versions. Another mentioned different fades on certain tracks.

What differences do others note?

When a 'Record Club' version was created-did that mean that the record was remastered?

Or was the existing 1/4 inch master loaned out for cutting new laquers? Was a dupe used instead?

Were stampers ever sold?

I am always curious about what really happened 'in the trenches' so to speak.

Thanks,

Paul
 
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Some record club titles were made from a sub-master and probably on 1/4" tape @ 7.5ips rather than the master's 1/2" tape @ 15 ips.
And some record club titles were made from the same mother as the regular issues. It's a roll of the dice there.
 
It's not a record, but the BMG CD of Dire Straits "Money For Nothing" is missing the "little faggot's got his own jet airplane'' verse in the title song. It just repeats one of the other verses.
 
jimbofish said:
It's not a record, but the BMG CD of Dire Straits "Money For Nothing" is missing the "little faggot's got his own jet airplane'' verse in the title song. It just repeats one of the other verses.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of when one of my favorite locally owned FM stations went 'corporate'. Out went Pink Floyd's "Don't give that do goody good bullshit" replaced by some PC crap. One more station that lost it's soul to the finance guys....:tears:
 
Celt said:
Some record club titles were made from a sub-master and probably on 1/4" tape @ 7.5ips rather than the master's 1/2" tape @ 15 ips.
And some record club titles were made from the same mother as the regular issues. It's a roll of the dice there.
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As always, Celt nails it. I generally eschew record club versions since there is a chance that the source was suspect.
 
Most records are cut from sub-masters in real life. All of them save for few exceptions. And those tapes are not cut from 7 1/2 IPS masters, they are cut from 15 IPS or 30 IPS 1/2 track Stereo or full track mono. Sometimes, record club pressings are superior to retail copies. Examples, the Philles Capitol Record Club copies, the ABC Capitol Record Club issues, the RCA Music Service pressings of the ZZ Top London catalogue, and the RCA Music Service issue of "Classic Crystal" by Crystal Gayle.
 
I was a member of Columbia and RCA record club from 1964 thru 1980 and Record Club of America for a couple of years in the mid 70's. All of the Columbia and RCA club
purchases were first rate and often superior to retail copies.
The Record Club of America purchases were highly variable.
 
The deadwax will often tell the story. Up through the CD era, I just don't buy any record club stuff. In the CD era, there was little enough vinyl being made that the club copies and the regular copies would all come from the same run. At this point only the jackets were being labeled "record club", the vinyl was identical. Plus, Columbia record club used actual Columbia albums. There was no designation or difference.

Then there are the exceptions that Kent lists above. I seem to recall a Fleetwood Mac title also having a desirable record club copy, but can't remember specifics.
 
Not LPs but way back in the day when BMG was the big thing getting 6 CDs for $.99. I compared a few BMG disks to the same ones purchased from stores and found them to be not equal in sound quality.

I don't know the details but would assume a copy of the master or even a non master to start with and then inferior equipment used for the final product.
 
KentTeffeteller said:
Most records are cut from sub-masters in real life. All of them save for few exceptions. And those tapes are not cut from 7 1/2 IPS masters, they are cut from 15 IPS or 30 IPS 1/2 track Stereo or full track mono. Sometimes, record club pressings are superior to retail copies. Examples, the Philles Capitol Record Club copies, the ABC Capitol Record Club issues, the RCA Music Service pressings of the ZZ Top London catalogue, and the RCA Music Service issue of "Classic Crystal" by Crystal Gayle.
Click to expand...

I had a few that had multiple dropouts that lasted over a second each and the higher than normal amount of tape hiss.
Smacks of slower tape speeds to me.
 
Could that also be a worn out submaster or poorly made submaster tape copy. Happens sometimes. Sometimes on some labels, WEA labels especially, the labels supplied stampers for pressing records.
 
Vintage LP QC/production quality is pretty much determined on a case-by-case basis. That's why some are willing to pay a premium for "Hot Stampers." I've been relying on a bit of research and/or luck myself and doing fairly well.
 
Hyfi said:
Not LPs but way back in the day when BMG was the big thing getting 6 CDs for $.99. I compared a few BMG disks to the same ones purchased from stores and found them to be not equal in sound quality.

I don't know the details but would assume a copy of the master or even a non master to start with and then inferior equipment used for the final product.
Click to expand...

Unless they made them from MP3 it does not make sense. However I heard about few cases when manufacturing plant altered digital tape sent to them before making CD stamps. But that should be caught by QC.
 
What's interesting about the replies is that there is obviously variation of opinion (no surprise there....), but variation of experience too. Some seem to have had good experiences, some not so good. My own experience with lp pressing quality (which would need to include the pre pressing stages as well), suggests variations between club lp's and their original brethern, is not significantly different than variations between different lables or even different pressing runs directly from a given label. Going forward, I do not think I should dismiss a particular lp for sale, based on it's 'club' origins. I am also not willing, at this point, to research which version is considered 'superior' to another. Moves me toward analyzing lp technicalities and away from just enjoying the music.
 
I haven't had a problem with any club CDs (mostly bought new) or LPs (mostly bought used). Club cassettes, however... those were usually missing all of the album notes, and often seemed to be duplicated onto the absolutely cheapest tape stock available anywhere.
 
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