Bear Family to issue Chuck Berry and other Chess artists box set(s)?

I should say more about this. The Hip-O releases are cheap looking compared to the Bear Family box. The BF set is expensive but the Hip-O sets weren't very cheap and if you add the cost of all three together they are expensive also.

The 3 Hip-Os are flimsy and have pitiful photos. I like very little of the artwork on any Hip-O release so I may be a little over critical but in general they are cheap. The paper and print quality of the photos look like something one of these pre-1962 U.K. cd releases would use to cut cost. There are very few photos and the amount of historical information is very small. The Hip-Os are cheap. Cheap as far as quality is concerned.

The Bear Family's have 100's of photos. Many in full color and well printed. The books are well made and should stand up to much use. They are a nice size and are bound well. Nothing cheap about them. The 2 books together could easily have a $75.00 price at least by themselves. The CDs don't use old label graphics but are simple and look fine. The box that contains all this is very heavy and is cloth covered like a book. It is a heavy package and for me is well worth the cost compared to the sad Hip-O releases. As you can tell I like this set a lot. I have a few BF releases and this is one of the nicest by far. A few others on this thread seem to like it also. Money well spent for me.

 

Did anyone compare Bear mastering to like tracks on Mofi Gold and 80s MCA mastering on Great Twenty-Eight?

 

Aren't you happy you did not talk yourself out of it? Better sound, fantastic packaging, what more can you ask for other than a real cheap price.

 

Just saw this on Amazon. Only $216.09 from Ernie B's. No tax either. I'm in.

 

Wow, the sound quality is amazing. Really, really nice! The books look terrific too, but I only just began reading the first one.

One concern is that I noticed several of the CD hubs have very small cracks starting at the inner hub. None are longer than a few centimeters now, but there may be a problem someday. Anyone else?

 

You will be smiling more than the dog in your avatar.

 

I assume you mean mm. No problems with my set.

 

That I am. Arrived yesterday from Ernie B's. Thing was packaged well enough to survive a nuclear blast. Have not had a chance to give it a serious listen yet, but it is a real nice package.

 

Did not notice any, but I would suggest to anyone buying the set to be careful when removing the discs. The hubs that hold them in are tight. I found that the discs came out easier when I pressed down on the hub rather than trying to lift the disc off of them.

Edit: I did go back and check and there are some small cracks on a few in my set too. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Oh man! Why did I start to read this thread..? My wallet hurts...

 

Maybe I did not look hard enough if these are really, really tiny.

 

They are rather tiny, but I collect CDs so I tend to see it all. I've never run across this, so I'm pretty sure it's related to those weird hubs. The small fractures, if anyone cares, are present on discs that I haven't even touched. I did press down carefully when taking out discs 1 and 4. Repeated use, however, is something I'm concerned about. I've gotta believe there is remedy to prevent further cracking.

 

Unfortunately I am considering dropping them into standard double CD cases that I have shrink wrapped on the shelf. The center spindles are not too tight. Hate to take up that much more room on the shelf, though. Gotta think that popping them in and out of those hubs in the book won't be good.

 

I use rounded CD sleeves from Japan for select CDs/SACDs in my collection and keep them in binders. I'd planned to keep these in the original packaging, but I'd be tempting fate. I'd be surprised if everyone doesn't have a few slightly cracked examples in their set. Major fail from Bear.

 

Probably the best remedy if you are concerned, I checked my set again under revealing light, no issues and they are easy to remove from the hubs. Maybe I am just lucky?

Listening to some live discs now, what a treat.

 

So the live CDs have good sound, too..?

 

It's not a Chess artist but they are releasing the complete Slim Harpo at the end of March. I'll be in on that.

 

If you are worried about your wallet I can say they are awful for you to help.


Every disc in the set sounds good to me.

 

CENTIMETERS?!?!?! Sounds like there's a problem right now!

 

They go across half of the playing surface.

 

This set is $215 shipped through the Ernie B's store on Amazon, and about $212 shipped from Ernie B's directly.

I could resist no longer.....

Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NAILC10/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Got this from Ernie B today. Incredible shipping packaging, and the set is beautiful. I played all of Disc 1 and spot checked several other discs I was very pleased with the sound. The book with the discography, track listings, etc., is fantastic. I am really going to enjoy this journey...

 

I finally finished listening to all 16 discs and this was a real treat. I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of the studio recordings and many of the live recordings. Some of them (the live recordings) unfortunately displayed Chuck's lack of rehearsal with his band-for-the-night so they can be very loose and even frustrating because they just can't get on the same page. The books were fantastic and made for great reading AND reference.

 

I just posted a short review (bad) on the Slim Harpo Bear family set and to be fair I thought I would says a bit about the Chuck Berry set also released by Bear Family. The sound is fine, books awesome and overall I'm, very happy with it. The price has come down a bit so all you people on the fence should think about jumping now before they are gone. It's hard to believe a better job could have done on this boxed set.

 

Is $200 shipped a good price..?