Beatles Japan Red Mono LP's

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by rpd, Dec 26, 2006.

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  1. rpd

    rpd Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Nashville
    I am sure there are a ton of opinions, but are any titles from this series considered the difinitive Beatles mono LP's to have? If so, which titles? I already own a ton of Beatles monos...original y/b, BC-13 box, etc...

    Are their different versions of these Japan red vinyl mono's? If so, which are the ones to have?

    Want to know if I am missing out by not having any of these....
     
  2. Randy W

    Randy W Original Member

  3. Tony Plachy

    Tony Plachy Senior Member

    Location:
    Pleasantville, NY
    There are exactly two versions of the Beatles Japanese Red Mono LP's. One was released in 1982 and the second a re-release of the 1982 in 1986 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Beatles first concert in Japan. The two are identical except for the Obi on the albums, the '86 being wider and saying "IT WAS 20 YEARS AGO". IMHO they are the best mono releases of the Beatles. I have a complete never played set of the 1982 red mono's and a mixed set of '82/'86 that I play. I have several Y/B mono's that I think do not compare to either the '82's/86's. This could be because my play set has very low mileage on it, it came from Japan. While I am biased by my collection status, most audiophiles consider the red mono White Album and Sgt. Pepper as the best mono pressings in the world of these two albums. So if you want to go for these two expect to pay close to $200 for Sgt. Pepper in NM condition (must have the Obi '82 or '86) and $250 or more for the NM White Album. You have not heard Beatles mono until you have heard these, be sure to sum if you are using a stereo cartridge. I should mention that my mint "82 set is valued at well over $2K. Hope this helps.:)
     
  4. Tony Plachy

    Tony Plachy Senior Member

    Location:
    Pleasantville, NY
  5. Tony Plachy

    Tony Plachy Senior Member

    Location:
    Pleasantville, NY
  6. Randy W

    Randy W Original Member

    Thanks, Tony, no offense taken.

    Thanks for doing the legwork. I think there are even more in depth threads somewhere. :)
     
  7. zakyfarms

    zakyfarms White cane lying in a gutter in the lane.

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Please clarify: sum?
     
  8. Simon A

    Simon A Arrr!

    I could be wrong, but I think he means the Y cable option to make the L/R signals into one.
     
  9. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    Or select mono on your preamp/receiver, if you can.
     
  10. Simon A

    Simon A Arrr!

    Right! I forgot this option (which is the simplest). Thanks Martin!
     
  11. zakyfarms

    zakyfarms White cane lying in a gutter in the lane.

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Ah, got it!
    thanks.
     
  12. TONEPUB

    TONEPUB Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Im curious and confused, are you saying you want over $2000 for your red box, or collection of original monos? Both SH and Michael Fremer told me that a red box was worth about 600 bucks and not to pay much more than a thousand for one.

    Just curious....
     
  13. Randy W

    Randy W Original Member

    Jeff, I think they were talking about the UK mono box, Tony was referring to the Japanese Mono complete collection (the '82s Japanese Mono collection was not actually in a box).
     
  14. TONEPUB

    TONEPUB Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Got it, thanks!! It's pretty confusing with so many different versions. Got to hear some original 1st edition monos at SH's house the last time I was out and they were incredible! Convinced me to get a mono setup. Now thinking about a 78 setup too, where does this madness end?

    All good fun thanks to the SH forum...
     
  15. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    May I add that I believe the key to Tony's valuation is the fact that his complete set is mint and unplayed - presumably in pristine, perfect, like-new condition.
     
  16. Randy W

    Randy W Original Member

    Agreed - I also have a complete set of '82 Japanese Red Mono LPs which I bought new in '87 (they are all still sealed as was done by the importer with importer's stickers on the cellophane), and I would value it at over $2500. Individually, in NM condition, it might cost you $1000-1500 to compile a complete set of Japanese Red Monos.
     
  17. peter

    peter Senior Member

    Location:
    Paradise
    The clarity and definition on the JPN. mono set has to be heard to be believed. They are that stunning. I have a mixed 82/86 set (3 86's, 6 82's and an '82 and an '86 of the White Album.)
     
  18. william shears

    william shears Senior Member

    Location:
    new zealand
    Hi Peter
    Are the JPN reds using dupe copies of the Parlophone tapes or do they use UK stampers like the '82 UK reissues?
     
  19. PeteRFNY

    PeteRFNY Member

    Location:
    Clinton, NJ
    Doing an A/B of the 81 UK monos and the 82 Japanese red vinyl monos, the ren vinyls have a slight edge simply because they play cleaner. The vinyl is as quiet as can be and they sound fabulouso.
     
  20. fortherecord

    fortherecord Senior Member

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    The '82 Red vinyls have much more bass that the '82 UK pressings. They are not the same EQ wise. The UK pressings sound much closer to the original UK pressings on Parlophone. The Red Vinyl pressings in '82 sound better to my ears. fuller sounding. I've heard elsewhere, that the Red '86 pressings used British stampers.
     
    Hawklord likes this.
  21. Tony Plachy

    Tony Plachy Senior Member

    Location:
    Pleasantville, NY
    I am sorry that I have not been able to get back to this thread sooner but I have been tie-up with the thread I started on "Do you listen to vinyl". If any of you on this thread have not participated in the poll on that thread please do so. :righton:

    OK to answer some questions raised in the thread so far.

    Yes. that is what I mean by sum the two channels.

    The 82 and 86 Japanese red mono's are identical, PERIOD, a straight forward reissue using exactly the same master material.

    Thanks to my very good friend Peter (who has posted in this poll) who when he found out that I was interested in collecting Japanese Beatles LP's had me get a copy of

    "The Beatles Japanese Record Guide" by Jason Anjoorian.

    This is THE reference if you are serious about Japanese Beatles records, Google it and get it if you are serious.

    The red mono's are discussed on Page 17 of the book, here is what he says about Japan versus UK: "These records contain the original UK mono mixes and parallel very closely the UK mono reissue".

    Also from that book both the 82 and 86 releases were limited to 10,000 (the 86 may have been less) and there was a box set released called "The Beatles Original Mono Record Box" limited to 1000 boxes. Obviously these boxes are worth a small fortune today and I cannot even imagine what a sealed box would be worth today. :eek:

    Let me give you some history on my two sets before I give you my opinion on the red mono's. My mint set is in the original Japanese outer sleeves witch are very thin Mylar and NOT sealed. Some importers put another sealed outer sleeve over these (good) or removed it and resealed (bad). How do I know my set has never been played? I bought it from another collector who has the great foresight to by two complete sets when they were released in 82 and since I know him I trust him. Any Japanese red mono in its true original mint state will not be sealed, that is just history nothing anyone can do about it. My play set (a mix of 82/86 no longer has the thin outer sleeve, but has all of the Obi's). I bought it from the former owner of the now defunct Red Trumpet, and what is important it came directly from Japan, I am the first US owner (Red Trumpet was trying to establish a Japan branch sales office when it went under :sigh: ). I would grade the set as NM through out.

    A word of advise on any Japanese LP that you buy, it MUST have the Obi for value and collecting purposes. Without it the value of the record drops by a factor of 2 or 3 times so in the case of the red mono's this can be a lot of money. The presences of the Obi can also be important for listening quality, it says the record was cared for.

    The following is just Tony's IMHO. Why are the Japanese red mono's thought to be the best by those who have them? First, they were limited to 10,000 pressings. Compared to other Beatles record releases this means every one of them has a low stamper number. Two, the red vinyl used for these was the good stuff (which I knew exactly what it was, but it reminds me of the great hard JVC vinyl that MFSL used on there first round of vinyl, back when you could see through it). These records have truly low, low surface noise and when you play them with a mono cartridge or sum the stereo channels they are dead quite. Three, this may seem by some to be politically incorrect (I do mean to offend anyone), if you are getting these records try to get ones that are from Japan and not ones that have been in the US since release. In general Japanese people care for all things better than most Westerner's do. :sigh:
     
    fortherecord likes this.
  22. Radiotron

    Radiotron Tube Designer

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    Thanks for your input Tony. :)
     
  23. PhilCohen

    PhilCohen Forum Resident

    I've got the whole set of the 1982 Japanese red mono's.Yes,the vinyl quality is super(Look at the lead-out groove area,and you'll see absolutely pure clear virgin vinyl).The 1981 UK mono's were noisy pressings,so I got rid of them.The only serious fault in the Japanese red mono series is the mastering on the title track of "A Hard Days Night" ,which is marred by azimuth,unsteady phase,tape skewing or a damaged tape copy.The 1981 UK mono doesn't have this problem.
     
  24. william shears

    william shears Senior Member

    Location:
    new zealand
    So then the JPN monos are mastered from dupe tapes? And have been possibly EQd and compressed during the cutting stage?
     
  25. Ben Sinise

    Ben Sinise Forum Reticent

    Location:
    Sydney
    They're not pressed from UK stampers, they have totally different matrix numbers.

    My '86 Japanese mono White album looks like this -
    YEX 709D 1S 10
    YEX 710D 1S 4
    YEX 711D 1S 6
    YEX 712D 1S 1
    All stamped at the 6 o'clock position.
     
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