Beatles vinyl to avoid ( Countries, years )

Quite a few people have asked me which Beatles vinyl records are the best of any particular pressings. Obviously,I can only speak from my personal experience,however I will be as unbiased as possible from what I have heard.
To avoid.
1. Phillipines pressing with the Parlophone yellow logo. These are just terrible. If you buy one dont pay more than $10.00 I have yet to hear a good one.
JUNK !

2. Any Asian country with the expception of Japan. They produced the worst quality pressings in China and Taiwan if you can believe it. These usually came in box sets. TERRIBLE ! Many people cant seem to tell the difference between Japanese and other Asian countries. First off the labels will be different and it wont be Parlophone. These were bootlegs from the get go and sound even worse.
WORSE JUNK !

Now for the best pressings and this I am pretty aware of. Not in order of what I feel is best. I am referring to original first presses only. All the reissues I have heard are not of the same quality ( Any country ) Apres 1970...

1. New Zealand ( NZ ) has possibly the best pressed thickest vinyl you can buy.( Consistant ) These are UK mixes on Parlophone Banner labels. most of the first pressings are on the turquoise coloured labels,prior to Apple. These are great.

2. Australia ( OZ ) Great first pressings ( Banner PPM and W/Beatles ),but inconsistant .The reissues are not very good. The reissues will have the ONE BOX EMI on many of them,dont be fooled. they are REISSUES ...( They made a ltd. edition Sgt Pepper which is known to be the one to own ...

3. Germany. The original ZTOX are great. They only pressed in stereo for the most part,but I believe the first four albums also came out in mono. The labels and rims are quite complicated. I will say this. The red/gold labels are the good ones. This will be on the Odeon labels. The stereo mixes are different from the UK on just about everything. The levels are a bit lower than the UK and you have to crank them up a bit,but if you get one of the first 60s stsereo pressings they are great. The Beatles Second Album ( "Something New" cover ) is the most expensive starting at $1000. for a near mint pressing and that is the LOW END on that album. The rims changed. You can go to Fortune City and find out all the info you want. It is time consuming.9 DON'T! believe their pricing. They are much too low and if you ask to buy one,they will have some excuse as to why you cant buy it for the prices they list for NM albums ...

4. Canada. The sleeper of all sleepers. Capitol labels. These are heavy vinyl and no one seems to be aware of them. Quality miles above the USA ...

5. Japan. First pressings? I dont think I have ever owned one. But as their reissues are possibly the best of any country. EAS and especially the AP and the audiophile pressings are very nice if you like a clean sound that in my opinion is a little thin if you playback flat. Still,A lot of people will forsake fidelity in the name of having little noise. The APs are a step above the EAS series and the audiophile pressings are like MO FI .( possibly a bit better.)

6. UK ... This is the standard which every other country strives to simulate. Remember,I am just referring to the first pressing. I say that as Parlophone /EMI did reissue the early albums in 1965 and again in 1969. Those are the exception to the rule. Those generally have first stampers and many times first mothers. Again,the UK albums unfortunately are inconsistant. I have owned a lot of these and one pressing will play so differently than the next you cant believe it is the same original period pressing.
The weight varies quite a bit from album to album,it seems invariably that the heavier vinyl holds up better and even with many hairlines / scuffs etc. some will play so well. Conversely some that look NM have noise you cant get rid of. "Rubber Soul" is a problem album here.( bete noir ) The most inconsistant album I have ever heard. I love the stereo mix with no centre. The mono mix gets all the attention of course for the 1/1 matrices and they are great. I just sold one very inexpensivly with a 1/4 matrices and it is the cleanest sounding loud cut I ever heard. Many hairlines. One of those that outperformed a NM looking pressing.
Is it worth it to pay the extra money for the 1/4...4/1/...1/1 matrix on "Rubber Soul". HELL NO! ( unless you have deep pockets ) Same goes for the "Revolver" 1/1 matrices with the different TNK mix. If your listening to the record to enjoy the music,dont pay an extra hundred dollars of MORE for those matrices.
In closing. It is interesting when you see a double digit mother on a 60s pressing. Yet it may have great stampers. Go for the stamper. They can sound great.

7. Scandanviam countries. Hit and miss. That said,some from Denmark are unbelievable. Heavy vinyl and lots of input in the grooves. Inconsistant. If you get a good one,you got a real winner.

8. Italy. Pralophon Great records.The cost however for a NM twisted Gramophone from the sixties is very high. These are quality records. You can tell the first pressings by the labels and Parlophon/Carish.

9. My FAVOURITE...South Africa ( Rhodesia ) First pressings with the BANNER labels are in my opinion the best Beatles records. I have twelve of them and they are unequaled. ( the first six albums in 8 mono and 4 stereo ) The vinyl weighs between 170-185 grams ... Thats heavy ! The monos out perform every other country . I cant explain these and was hesitant to post this,as I want all I can get. Over 45 years and I have only accumulated twelve of these albums in unplayed condition. Actually I have fourteen,but the "LOVE SONGS" is a seventies pressing )

Thats my two cents on the quality of certain countries that produced Beatles albums.

I did not include Mexico or So. America as they are a bit dodgy at best.

 

Thank you for the information, Ken!

 

South Africa and Rhodesia are two different countries. Rhodesia is now called Zimbabwe.

 

I have both stereo and mono of Sgt Pepper from S. Africa. I got them cheap but the surface is noisy.

 

The Dutch pressings that I've heard sound pretty good. Certainly not hit or miss. The Danish ones are pretty nice too.

I have a South African pressing of Hey Jude. It's a stinker.

I would be very hestitant to spend any $$$ on those German ZOTX pressings. Just for the fact that you have to crank up the volume should tell you something.

 

Were any Beatles records pressed in Vietnam? Just curious.

 

Not officially, no. Official South East Asian Beatles titles were manufactured in Dum Dum, India (and later Singapore) then sent to EMI Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong for distribution.

Unofficially though, yes, Vietnam did press Beatles albums. They are similar in make and quality to the Taiwanese pressings.

 

South Africa? Wow. I guess 45 years you gotta know a secret or two.

 

I have been to Scandinavia many times and have purchased many original pressing Beatles singles from that neck of the woods. From what I did hear, I wasn't too impressed but then again I don't own one of those $5,000.00 turntables that many people in here have. The main attraction to those pressings is their scarcity in the USA and the unique couplings of songs. One thing is for sure, I never grow tired of seeing labels for Beatles albums. Each time I meander, I discover more that I have never seen before.

 

Find of the year for me- a near mint Swedish pressed stereo Beatles For Sale Lp found in a local CA shop. Sounds superb! Got it for 8 bucks because it had a nasty looking mark that ended up coming off with a cleaning. I'll buy Swedish again.

 

Good vinyl is from Czechoslovakia, unfortunately Czechoslovakian Beatles albums sounds fine but not perfect (except stereo A Collection of Beatles Oldies which sounds powerful, but there is reversed stereo field). Yugoslavian vinyl is awful, too noisy, but albums sounds fine. Hungarian Please Please Me (samples are on Tone's page) sounds super.

 

This probably doesn't even need saying, but the current UK Beatles vinyl issues cut from the 1987 digital tapes aren't great (and "Rubber Soul", "Revolver" and "Abbey Road" aside, I own the lot).

 

Perhaps someone could change the thread title to include "Best Pressings To Find" as well?
Your pics will be missed by some thinking this is only an "avoid" list. Then again, maybe that will reduce some of the competition.

Great thread and great pictures. Thank you.

 

But at one time it was referred to as

I believe So.Rhodesia. I dont think it reverted to Zimbabwe until the late seventies early eighties? Consider that I was referring to the mid sixties. At that time the British were still in charge and it was a colony of the British Commonwealth. It is kind of dodgy as it is right above So. Africa as an independant colony now.( Zimbabwe) I think ? I am not up on my African history,but I am quite sure that back in the mid sixties it was considered part of So Africa. I may be wrong. That happens on occasion.
The point being it was ruled by the Brits and as strange as it sounds they actually produced Beatles albums ...

 

Disclaimer of sorts.

Everyones points are well taken. What it comes down to is the idea that no one seems to have had the same experience. When I say hit and miss I am referring to listening to several pressings from a certain country that I have heard. There is always going to be inconsistancy in ANY country. You must also remember I am only referring to ORIGINAL 1960s pressings. NO REISSUES with the exception of the UK 65-69 Mpressings.
There is a marked difference between a newer reissue than the originals. Someone mentioned the Dutch pressing,someone else the Rhodeasian pressings each having a different take.
It was naive of me to not sonsider the reality that all pressings from anywhere are not going to be 100% this or that. Generally speaking,I think I am correct. I think everyone would agree that the Asian pressings are the worst sans Japan of course.
The pictures are ALL reissues except for the OZ HDN which is an original mono that has surface noise on one side. That is what I mean about being inconsistant. The White vinyl I have in the pix is also one that I have cleaned several times and still two sides of the four have noise. Surface noise is very subjective unless it is overwhelming and may have pops,clicks ,skips etc. That is unacceptable. None of these have the above mentioned. But do have surface noise.
There has been much debate over playback systems. I maintain the the better the system,the more the flaws stand out. Others feel just the opposite. I never track more than a gram,so I can say that groovewear is never going to be an issue. The problem lies in the grooves. Dust,dirt,bad pressing ? Who knows? One thing I am sure of. ALWAYS clean your stylus between playback of good albums. Just a little buildup on the stylus can make a perfect record sound distorted.

 

My PARI Philipines pressings of HDN and BFS are excellent. -1/-1

 

Most Japanese Beatles LPs vary from good to fantastic, but I have an original pressing of "Hey Jude" that is very thin sounding. I also have an early '70s transitional pressing of "Help!" (unique Japanese cover art, but with Apple label), and it sounds like poop. I also have a Japanese mono reissue of "Meet the Beatles" with some serious side two mastertape phasing issues.

My mono French pressing of "Sgt. Pepper" is outstanding. It was actually pressed in France for Germany.

I agree that some UK pressings are inexplicably noisy.

 

Nothing to contribute right now but I love the topic. Please continue.

 

You are, in fact, wrong.

 

What is right?

 

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

 

Rhodesia was a British colony apart from South Africa, it was later bisected with Northern Rhodesia becoming Zambia, and the southern part being known as Rhodesia, unilaterally declaring independence in 1965. I recall the name was changed to Zimbabwe in 1980.

Let's get back to the subject of this thread.

 

Yikes! Sorry to hear you bought more than one. I've heard LeeS' copy of the
DMM/digitally sourced 'Revolver' and it's bearable, not great by any stretch.

 

I upgraded my system during the summer, adding a new TT, cart and phono stage. My new cart tracks much better and I hear less noise.

Did you buy these records new or used? If you bought them used, then it you're at the mercy of how the original owner treated them and what kind of system was used to play the records. As you know those Y&B Parlophones and even the later one-boxes were pressed on heavy vinyl.

The white vinyl can be noisy.

 

I have a parlophone stereo BFS pressed in the philippenes, with 1/1 matrices, and DAMN does it sound good! I don't know what experiences you've had but I showcase that record as one of my best sounding... Honey Dont is a stunner!

I ordered on eBay a south African hey jude (Beatles Again) .. I pray it is not a stinker. It should have been pressed from stampers to the uk, no?


My venezuelan Collection of oldies is HORRENDOUS. stay away at all costs. I'm sure those crappy Taiwanese bootlegs sound more impressive.