Ok, so I just got this in the mail and gave it my usual cleaning with mofi fluids on my VPI, looks really nice. The first 30 seconds of track one has lots of really high pitched tics in it, not the usual loud pops but something different. Also throughout the track so far, I'm hearing a lot of little tics as well as long burts of little squiggly sounds...and no it's not the music, this sounds like vinyl crud in the grooves or something. My new Godspeed LP had the same issue. Anyway, has anyone else heard this, is it an artifact of the acetate or is it a reflection of the lack of quality control in vinyl manufacturing today? Either way the music sounds great.
There has been a few different unofficial releases of this, of varying quality. Best to get the 45th Anniversary Edition of Velvet Underground &Nico, which has the Scepter acetate in great sound - with a few of the acetate cuts from the original tapes.
based on what i heard, the original acetate has some pretty rough spots, especially european son which must had some pretty large surface damage. the deluxe version of the acetate is remarkable, an incredible resurrection.
If you heard the original acetate before it was cleaned up, it sounded pretty haggard. Here's picture of the real deal, sold on Ebay for $25,250.00 I left my copy sealed for now anyway.
