Sundazed & Quality Records

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by wvbkelley, Jan 3, 2012.

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  1. stinsojd

    stinsojd Senior Member

    Location:
    Tennessee
    I can confirm that Kevin Gray did re-cut the "Self Portrait" 2 LP set. The copy I purchased at Grimey's (UPC 090771512215) was in loose shrink wrap with the QRP rice paper sleeves. Both of the LPs are absolutely stunning -- no surface noise, no scuffs or non-fill, and great KG@CA sound. They had one in tight shrink wrap for several months, but I had a feeling it might be a United pressing so I held out. When I saw a new copy with the loose wrap, I grabbed it.

    That is the problem -- there is still a lot of inventory of the non-QRP copies out there (or at least copies where it's hard to be sure what you might get.)

    Jamie
     
  2. Hmm. I wonder if when Kevin first started re-cutting the various Sundazed LP titles, that some of those LPs were manufactured @ United and then moved later to Quality.
    That's what I was afraid of. As I mentioned in an earlier post I purchased a Donovan Epic/Sundazed LP in tight shrink wrap with a paper inne sleeve that turned out to be a Kevin Gray cut.

    Think I might wait until one of the local shops receives a copy of Self Portrait in loose plastic wrap, to be sure it's a Quality pressing.. Thanks Jamie.
     
  3. MickAvory

    MickAvory Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    All three of my Donovans came in loose baggy sleeves and were all Kevin Gray cut. I've never seen them in a tight shrink wrap. I got two of mine from Amazon and another on vacation in Austin at Waterloo. All had the Quality inner bag.
     
  4. John Moschella

    John Moschella Senior Member

    Location:
    Christiansburg, VA
    Well ... this thread really cracks me up. For years, ever since Sundazed started, I have complained about the mastering on their LPs. I bought 5 or 6 back in the day, and I didn't get one that I was happy with. I always got flamed by members telling me how great they were, but as this thread proves they were crap.
     
  5. johnnypaddock

    johnnypaddock Senior Member

    Location:
    Merrimack Valley

    YES... there is clearly "proof they were crap"

    :laughup:
     
  6. John Moschella

    John Moschella Senior Member

    Location:
    Christiansburg, VA
    I'm quoting a 2 year old post.

    For many years I've just ignored the Sundazed threads because all the records I had by them were closed down and dull, burned a bunch of times with crappy sounding records. A couple of Dylans, The Birds double LP, the Uncle Tupelo anthology, and a bunch of others. When this thread was revived it motivated me to try one of the new LPs. So I bought Donovan's Sunshine Superman and it is flat out fantastic. It's everything the old Sundazed LPs are not, with a beautiful open top end and dynamic. Wow!! I am impressed.


    A two year old kudos to wvbkelley.
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2014
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  7. racingkaherva

    racingkaherva Forum Resident

    For anyone still interested, I can confirm that Kevin Gray did the Link Wray - The Swan Singles Collection '63-67.

    I actually found out by accident. I just opened a copy I had ordered from Amazon over a year ago to find it was a bit warped. I listened to it anyway and requested a replacement. The new version sounded very different (extended in the highs and lows) and I thought I was losing my mind because, how could they possibly sound different? I came on here to see if maybe Sundazed had changed plants or something and, low and behold, they are different pressings. The stamp on the new version is "KG@CA".
     
  8. SuperFuzz

    SuperFuzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC USA
    My old pressing of this (original from about 4 years ago) has some scratchy, hissy type noise in the left channel, really only audible on groove noise between tracks. I assumed it was a pressing issue. Does your new copy have this?
     
  9. jgrillo

    jgrillo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA USA
    Here's hoping that eventually Sundazed sells their inventory of the Otis Redding catalogue, and they begin pressing them again at QRP w Kevin Gray's mastering touch. I think the Sundazed originals were cut from analog tape, not simply "sourced" or "culled"...
     
  10. SuperFuzz

    SuperFuzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC USA
    Very doubtful. Not that I care one way or the other, but for the sake of accurate information... their releases say "mastered at Sundazed studios by Bob Irwin", yet almost all of them had lacquers cut at Nashville Record Productions (in Tennessee) by George Ingram or Wes Garland. Also very doubtful that they would get access to the original tapes again, and have them sent to California to be re-cut by Kevin Gray... again not that I care, but there you have it.
    All that matters is how they sound. We could use more posts with people talking about the sound, and it's also helpful when people can compare to previous versions.
     
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  11. mooseman

    mooseman Forum Resident

    That doesn't make any sense to me. I picked up a few of his mono records a few years ago. I'm getting really tired of these Dylan reissues.
     
  12. MickAvory

    MickAvory Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    They are not just repressing them. They are remastering them. My older copy of Another Side of Bob Dylan was mastered at Sterling. All of the newer ones I picked up were cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearant.

    I can understand its getting tiring to keep rebuying this stuff.
     
  13. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada

    Is there any way to tell the difference between the the older Sterling mastered LPs and the newer Kevin Grey mastered LPs from the outside of the packaging?
     
  14. MickAvory

    MickAvory Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Not exactly. Earlier up in the post I mentioned that many of the represses, though not all as some have seen, are in the loose baggy type. You can see on the inside that they are in a rice paper type sleeve that has QRP printed on it. Those are definitely represses as Sundazed pressed at other places in years past.

    Now.. some people have said that they have seen new re-pressings in shrink wrap. I haven't seen any like that for the confirmed represses we have in this post.

    Some of those re-presses were cut by Kevin. But none of this is a hard and fast rule. Some people order directly from Sundazed and email them before they place the order as to what stock they are getting. I won't order directly from them as everything I've ever received from them has been poorly packed and seriously damaged in transit.
     
  15. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada

    Thanks. I've got the first Sundazed pressings of 'Hwy 61 Revisted' [mono], 'John Wesley Harding' [mono], 'Greatest Hits' [mono] and Nashville Skyline' [stereo]. I'm thinking about buying the Columbia mono box set and trying to decide if the Kevin Gray Sundazed re-pressings might be a better choice.
     
  16. MickAvory

    MickAvory Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    I'll say this.. I've got the Kevin Gray cut of Nashville Skyline, Highway 61 (mono) & Bringing It All Back Home (mono). They are fantastic, especially Highway 61. If you want to try them out, get the Kevin cut of Nashville Skyline so you don't double up with LPs that are in the box if you decide you don't like it.
     
  17. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
    Why is it doubtful? What would be different the second time around?
     
  18. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    It's probably not. The same digital remasters were probably used for both pressings.
     
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  19. SuperFuzz

    SuperFuzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC USA
    User jgrillo suggested that the Sundazed originals were cut from tape... that is what I said was very doubtful, and I gave my reasons why.
     
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  20. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
    Did they or did they not get the original analog masters the first time?
     
  21. Have that mono hwy 61 and it's great but I found those in the Columbia mono box more to my liking.
     
  22. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
    So many options with Dylan these days. I see a massive shoot out in my near future. Should be fun.
     
  23. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Sundazed? Or the studios where the lacquers were cut?

    Regardless of the former, presumably Bob Irwin mastered to digital at Sundazed, and then digital files were used for cutting.
     
  24. Scott Wheeler

    Scott Wheeler Forum Resident

    Location:
    ---------------
    Either...

    OK so for "the sake of accurate information" we don't actually know how either cut was actually mastered?
     
  25. SuperFuzz

    SuperFuzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC USA
    What we have here is a failure to communicate...
    I have no doubt that Bob Irwin got the original analog masters... if he says so, I believe him. But once again, it was suggested that the records were "cut from" those analog tapes, and again I'll point out that Bob Irwin & Sundazed studios is in NY, while the place where the lacquers were cut is in TN. Don't know what else to say... except, again, I don't really care, I only mention this for the sake of accurate information.
     
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