GZ Vinyl "Quality Control" (or lack of) see pics!!

Why would I make this up ? A couple of samples from the Beatles Red and Blue thread :

"I am waiting until the Optimal pressings dry up so I can get QRP pressings." Billy Budapest (St. Louis, MO)

"I will too." ssmith3046 (Albuquerque, NM)

"I'm doing the same." (MedozK, TN)

"Great. So if everybody waits, then they'll never exhaust the Optimal supply, and we'll never get QRP pressings." (Dinstun, TN as well)

I don't have the heart to read through the entire threads for more. Feel free to browse for yourself : http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...les-red-blue-love-and-1-on-180g-vinyl.389832/

 

People with brains certainly don't

 

And one more thing.

Most of the folks here who had major issues with the Beatles stereo vinyl in 2012-13, including myself, looked to buy the German pressed LPs by Optimal, because they were infinitely superior (quality control only) to the U.S. pressed versions by Rainbo. In fact, we had more than a few Americans and Canadiens on this forum scrambling to either buy the German box or replacements for their damaged albums. Go back to those threads and do a little reading. I'm not exaggerating.

 

I actually opted to pay the premium and ordered the "Abbey Rd" stereo remaster this weekend via Amazon UK so I could avoid the US-pressed Rainbo.

 

There you go. I also found a Optimal pressed copy of Let It Be, which is hard to find.

 

There's always a few defects in any record pressing I'm sure.... I've been lucky enough to have only a couple bad records in recent years. I think there is value in letting the manufacturers see what is happening if you don't mind taking the time to send them the pics, etc. if that was the purpose the OP had in mind, but if you want to get a replacement and waste little time, seems like its best to just return to the retailer get a replacement and move on with life rather than stressing about where your vinyl is pressed, etc. I have had a couple warps, etc. and have had no problem getting replacements from the sellers, even when purchased from Amazon Marketplace discounters.

 

I'm sure that the people at GZ know about their -cardboard- inner sleeves being too tight and that you cannot get the LP out without considerable effort and risk of damaging the vinyl. So, then the question is, why continue doing it this way?

 

I'm not sure if they do their own sleeves. If record companies organise sleeve work separately they are stuck with what turns up on their door. No control over printers making undersize inners.

 

Hi all, just been an observer round here for a while but thought I'd chip in. Received a 180g double vinyl, sealed from an EBay seller today. Black Sabbath "13" originally issued in 2013, it was £13. It is a GZ press. The previously mentioned streaks of "flour" are there and a couple of tiny scratches which may have been caused by me trying to ease it from the tight cardboard inner. There is also a feint audible noise on the run in that I can't understand as the suface noise is not too bad at all and a lot better than the Wax time pressing of Oscar Peterson I recently bought which is worse than a lot of old 70's vinyl I own. I haven't had chance to play it properly yet but I also have a good quality Flac of the album which I will compare it with. The discs are not warped, just dirty. Just thought I'd bring something to this thread. Cheers

 

Here's another GZ pressing I've come across today:



Jimmy Giuffre - "Free Fall" on Waxtime. Not a spec of dust when I removed it from the poly lined inner sleeve. Perfectly flat and centered. And absolutely dead silent throughout. This album has a lot of very quiet passages, and the noise floor is inaudible at normal listening levels. Not a single pop was heard until the stylus reached the lock groove.

 

So, you see that GZ is capable of doing a better job....polylined sleeves help a lot of course.

 

I'll tell ya how inconsistent GZ is: the first LP of my new Sticky Fingers 2LP Spanish cover set is bad (noisy, dirty) and the second LP is fine (clean, quiet). Go figure...

 

I cringe every time I put on a new GZ pressing. Most recently Sticky Fingers and On Every Street. Lately, my luck with them has really been pretty good. They've added new presses lately. Maybe they'll be more consistent.

 

New workers? New management?

 

I spoke with one of their team recently and they are improving conditions and the new presses are up and running. In addition, they're trying to make a poly-lined bag standard. Wonderful Sound Records recently put out the splendid Nev Cottee album and did the vinyl through GZ, saying it was perfect. I suggested that it was highly unlikely and wouldn't be worth buying in that case. They replied saying buy it and if you don't like it we'll refund you. I took the plunge and they were right. A perfect pressing. GZ can do it, but, for as long as they offer a cheaper, substandard option, some labels will take it. Wonderful Sound said that they got it right by monitoring every single stage of the process, paying for a poly bag sleeve and insisting upon perfect test pressings.
Universal have assured me they are working with GZ to reduce the scuffing and the dirt.
We'll see.

 

After one of the other threads got me thinking about where my copy of Van Morrison Too Late to Stop Now was pressed,
(2008 back to black reissue) I was sort of surprised to see the GZ markings in the runoff. It's another great sounding, clean, nice job.

 

Just received my Spooky Tooth box set, Universal pressed by GZ. All flat, centered without any no fill issues. For the most part quiet, as much as any new pressing. But these damn things look like the worker washed his hands in Crisco before lightly scuffing with 0000 steel wool.

 

I'm expecting my order from AmazonUK in a few days, can't wait!!

 

Why don't they monitor every step of the process all of the time?

 

Can't disagree. It continues to bug me that they allow clients to order a substandard process.

 

There should be one standard, but of course it comes down to the bottom line.

Universal must order the cheaper option, although their prices don't reflect it. Shame on them. Pure greed.

 

Just bought the Bowie dbl edition of his first album. GZ pressing and the 3rd side has the strangest fault I've ever seen on any vinyl. The edge of the record seems to have a gloss coating of some kind of material and when I tried to pull away the loose edges of this it revealed gouges in vinyl surface. It's like they have applied this coating to hide the damage. Unreal!

 

Hope this doesn't mean that Bowie's 5 Years release is going to be mangled at GZ.

 

Any pics?

 

Sounds very odd - my mono/stereo re-issue of the '67 Bowie LP is so flawless that I didn't even realise it was pressed by GZ

In fact (and I don't intend to gloat by any means), My experience of GZ has been really positive - I must have bought over 30 (possibly a lot more) releases that have been pressed by them over the last few years and have not had one defective pressing. My only trouble has been they come charged with a lot a static which makes it very difficult to get them out of the sleeves. Playing surfaces are silent even before cleaning - the only reason I clean them is to remove the static. My only small complaint is that I wish they would used poly-lined sleeves as standard...