In answer to your questions rpdugan: Revolver and Sgt. Pepper Don't know Yes Lennonfan has made some great observations, I also like the Pro-use Abbey Road, and the White vinyl White Album (mine is UK) and the Mono JPN red vinyl Rubber Soul. These and the Horzu "MMT", EAS JPN "Second Album" and MFSL "Abbey Road" are the ones I play the most.
beatles pressings Maybe I should clarify really what I am asking... is there a significant difference in sound to go for an original y/b if I already have a y/b reissue? is their a significant difference in sound to go for an original y/b if I already have a "2 box" copy??? curious....
I'd go one step further and say stereo Die Beatles for everything! The Canadian Beatlemania With The Beatles wide stereo version is superb. I have an early 1980s pressing on the purple Capitol label in VG++ condition that I picked up a while back at a garage sale for about $10. For the mono version all Canadian pressings are pretty decent, but if you can find an early black rainbow copy, you will have one that is arguably better than or at least equal to an original Y/B Parlophone. and you won't have to break your piggy bank to buy it. You can usually find them on eBay in the 20 to 25 dollar range. You'll never find a Y/B Parlophone -1 for that price. I have two W German MMTs. Second Hor Zu/Apple pressing from around 1973 and an Apple pressing from 1978. These are both great. I have a regular side opening W German White Album -1 that is very good. Slightly better bass than my two U.K. pressings. The Italian Apple pressing of Hey Jude that I own is pretty good, but a bit thin in places. I'm thinking my Canadian Apple pressing of Hey Jude aka The Beatles Again is a bit warmer. What he said.
Re: beatles pressings The 1982 mono reissues are great...there's not really much difference between those and the originals. I have both and, yes it's nice to have an original pressing but the '82 pressings are damn fine pressings. The only major difference is the thickness of the vinyl. Unless you have a LOT of money and time to spend tracking down mint monos, the '82 LPs will do just fine! The "2 box" LPs first appeared around 1971 and continues to this day with the digital-source LPs that are still in print. The 70s and early 80s (i.e. pre-digital) pressings are fine. Again, the difference is not so significant, especially if you have a 70s "2 box" LP. The originals probably have the edge, but again if you don't have a big stack of $$$ to seek out the original pressings the 70s reissues do the job nicely. Out of interest, what is the rim copy on your "2 box" LP(s)? Reason I ask is that there have been several variations of that label, the difference being the text round the outer rim of the label. Cheers,
Once again, it's not the age of the pressing but WHAT STAMPER was used to make it. Some of my 1980's pressings use 1960's stampers and some don't!
What stamper #'s are we looking at here, could you give us an idea of where the cutoff was, IOW. This stamper number? was the last that was cut using tube gear. Thanks Steve.
Re: Re: beatles pressings My question and it may have been asked before, WHERE do we find these moderately priced 1982 U.K. mono LPs? I've NEVER seen one for sale on eBay. I search "Beatles mono" every second or third day, all the time. It's always the same pricey 1960s Y/B monos and very pricey mono White Albums and red mono Japanese LPs that appear in the search. Way out of my price range.
Mike, the 82's are rare, in fact the 82 mono boxset sells for around $1,300 iff you can find one. If you want the monos, the Y&B pressings are the way to go, they are on Ebay daily and you can find nice pressings with patience that don't cost a fortune. I built my collection of Y&B monos on Ebay, cost me about $800 for the lot, all in EX+/NM condition. A lot of money to be sure but they will only go for more $ in the future.
Great info, guys... but it leads to more questions.... Steve...how do I tell what stamper was used? Kipper-how do I tell if I have a pre or post digital "2 box" LP? Kipper, my rims say: stereo BFS-EMI records LTD All rights of the manufacturer and of the owner... does that give you enough info??? my stereo help says the same thing.... Thanks!
Go to the "SEARCH" area in this forum and type in, ummmm: Parlophone pressing A bunch of stuff will come up. Carry on!
Well, it sounds like you have a 70s or very early 80s press. Of course Beatles For Sale has never been issued in stereo on LP since the digital LPs were introduced in the late 80s (to match the CD releases). If the rim copy says (from left to right) "EMI RECORDS LTD…...MADE IN GT BRITAIN" your LPs date from somewhere between about 1973 and 1981. If the rim copy says (from left to right) "ALL RIGHTS…...MANUFACTURED IN THE UK BY EMI RECORDS LIMITED" then it will date c. 1981-87. The digital LPs have similar rim copy to the second of the above but on the sleeve somewhere it will state that it is direct metal mastered from a digitally remastered source. Cheers
This still means nothing as EMI used old stampers. You need to just look at the number in the leadout groove. You care about the actual SOUND, correct?
In the case of PPM , I noticed an obvious difference between my no" Recording First Published 1963" early B&Y Mono and a later mid 60`s mono (with a small mono on the sleeve) . I can`t say I noticed such big ,if indeed any differences between for example an original stereo Help and a 69 B&Y stereo Help ( or the 1 box of later that year for that matter ) The metalwork appears to be of similar vintage in each case, unlike the PPM where the mid 60`s mono is pressed with -2 on side 2.
Of course, you're right Steve...the label variation means nothing at all in terms of sound. I'm just a label freak and was curious to know from which era his "2 box" LPs date!
Oh, I understand. I'm just reminding people that even though they might not have a Yellow and Black Parlophone pressing from 1966, their 1974 pressing might use the same vacuum valve cut stamper that was mastered in 1966. I wish someone would have explained that to me. Unless you are a collector and must have all originals, do what the 78 collectors do: Collect the correct stamper! (In the world of 78's, a 1940's "recording ban" reissue of a rare jazz or blues thing from the 1920's might be pressed from the same amazing sounding electric stamper, for a fraction of the cost; $3.00 instead of $1,000.00!)
This is a huge help guys, I appreciate it... my help is yex 168-4 side one and yex 169-3 side 2 BFS is yex 142-3 side one and yex 143-2 on side 2 So what do I have? Steve, is this variation we are talking about only on the "2 box" lp's...meaning are the original y/b's for the most part all about the same good quality??? And yes, I am inquiring aobut the best sounding.....
And Steve, you last post is what I need...I am just looking to get the best sounding stereo LP's...not necesssarly the original... Do you also agree the the reissue y/b's from '81 are good or is the same "stamper" issue in play on those?
These terms are too general for me. You are speaking of the MONO reissues on the fake YB Parlophone label from the 1980's? The ones that were in the black box or red box or whatever? Mine were all pressed with original 1960's stampers, yes. But others have reported a few were recut. It's never constant.... The stereo stuff, I don't know, I never really looked. By that time I already had the originals I wanted. For all I know my 1978 pressings are also correct.... This is for others to carry on with...
Steve, I have all original y/b monos except my RS and Rev, those are the monos from the 80's with the y/b labels that were made to look like the original labels... Those numbers are RS exe 579-6/xex 580-5, REV XEX605-2/XEX 606-3. What I am really trying to determine is if I need to waste money on y/b originals of those two LP's, or am I good with what I have...from a sound standpoint... Re the Parlophone stereos, I only have Help and BFS in stereo...and I am trying to determine what I need to buy to get the rest of the stereos....if I don't need originals for the sound, then I'd rather not spend the money for them...I am fine with an equal quality reissue...just need to know which ones to get... Thanks again on any additional guidance (not sure about my spelling...) Thanks!
Kipper, In your opinion, and the majority opinion here is that these clearly beat the MFSL box (and additionally all the MFSL single copies) I already own?
What stamper numbers should we look for in the leadout groove to tell if a 70's or 80's pressing was actually pressed with the original 1960's stampers? It would be very helpful if we could all work together to create a list of the stamper numbers that we should be trying to find for each album
There is a list already here someplace. In general, the lowest is the oldest. YEX-593-1 (I'm making this up) would be the first cutting used in the release. YEX-593-3 might be one year later or 10 years later depending on the amount of records pressed or whatever. It varies from disc to disc. See?
