Eric Clapton and RSO vinyl - two things I can do without

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by psulioninks, Aug 1, 2020.

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  1. psulioninks

    psulioninks Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    KC Chiefs Kingdom
    I am a casual Eric Clapton fan at best, but RSO has made it extremely difficult for me to want to try more of his music on vinyl.

    When I piss and moan about vinyl pressings, it's usually about modern vinyl pressing plants. Sure, the 70's had some quality control issues here and there, but I've NEVER encountered as many off-center, warped and poorly manufactured vinyl albums as I have with RSO. I am talking multiple titles from Clapton and even a Grease soundtrack. It's unreal.

    Backless (copy 1)
    Backless (copy 2)
    Just One Night
    Slow Hand
    Grease


    Am I alone here?:faint:
     
  2. Dennis Metz

    Dennis Metz Born In A Motor City south of Detroit

    Location:
    Fonthill, Ontario
    Yes
     
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  3. psulioninks

    psulioninks Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    KC Chiefs Kingdom
    Awesome.

    On a positive note, I was able to FINALLY fit my periphery ring on one of the Backless copies...that is after I shaved the vinyl edge with a file to make it approach something that is round...
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2020
  4. agreed, pretty sad really.
     
  5. psulioninks

    psulioninks Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    KC Chiefs Kingdom
    So you have this issue as well?
     
  6. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    RSO can certainly be a challenge. That's why for certain things there's CD! :)
     
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  7. I have a few RSO's and avoid them
     
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  8. psulioninks

    psulioninks Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    KC Chiefs Kingdom
    Good to know it's not just me.
     
  9. JeffMo

    JeffMo Format Agnostic

    Location:
    New England
    Not just you - back in 1980 I had to return Bee Gees Greatest at least three times due to warped vinyl.

    @Jrr can fill you in on his problems with RSO records over the years. You don't want to hear this, but you might need to pay for Japanese pressings of Clapton's 70s LPs because RSO went really cheap on US pressings back then.
     
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  10. Fender Relic

    Fender Relic Forum Resident

    Location:
    PennsylBama
    :shrug:I don't recall any RSO issues with the many Clapton LP's that have passed thru my hands and are in my collection. Some sound better than others, sure. Maybe I need to revisit and see how I feel now. I played No Reason To Cry last Sat. and thought it sounded great.
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2020
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  11. psulioninks

    psulioninks Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    KC Chiefs Kingdom
    Apparently they did, just awful.
     
  12. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Totally correct. For whatever reason I was a huge fan of many RSO artists. Most of their US pressings left much to be desired. Get Japanese pressings and they will be quiet, and based on my experience the master tapes used will be much better than the US.
     
  13. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Grease was mastered particularly bad in the US, though the records themselves (and SNF) were well done. I lucked out finally and found a first press promo of Grease, but the previous owner played it a lot before I got it so it’s a bit noisy.
     
  14. Wayne Nielson

    Wayne Nielson Forum Resident

    Location:
    My House
    I'm not impressed with the label either and the label did a dis-service to EC in my opinion. Odd that the Blind Faith (self titled LP) album, the one with the naked girl holding the airplane, sounds really good to me and I always liked the sound of the song "Do what you like". Otherwise, many of his other LPs sound like mud, no dynamics, no fidelity, no real "stereo" effects and also recorded very dry (which I generally do not like). It's like they used a Shure SM-58 for everything. Many other recordings of the time period are vastly superior.
     
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  15. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Then buy UK, West German, and Japanese pressings of them. Also, the French pressings are options and even Canadian pressings.
     
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  16. Fender Relic

    Fender Relic Forum Resident

    Location:
    PennsylBama
    I like the dry sound. Some of the songs with Dobro or resophonic guitars sound spectacular. Please Be With Me,County Jail Blues,Give Me Strength to name a few.
     
  17. BrentB

    BrentB Urban Angler

    Location:
    Midwestern US
    RSO was switched from Atlantic made/distributed in the mid-70's and the quality spread out all over the map. RSO then did as other labels did and had their records pressed by different companies around the US. I have had pretty good luck finding EC releases after 461 OB that are clean, flat, quiet. Look for the very late 70's through the 80's as I have had the most luck with these for the 75-79 period of EC recordings.
     
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  18. Abbagold

    Abbagold Working class hero

    Location:
    Natchitoches, LA
    I've been lucky with a few releases from RSO. My 461 is a UK press that sounds great. I also have a Bee Gees Comp that's a US which sounds great as well. I'm not a fan of EC's 70's output, so I've not had the pleasure of slogging through the lousy vinyl. Great info on what to look for and not.
     
  19. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    Clapton, Blind Faith, Cream, The Kingbees, Derek & the Dominos...I have records from all of these artists on RSO and they typically sucked. Off-center pressings, warped and usually sub-par sound. I used cringe when I picked up an LP out of the bin and it was an RSO pressing. In fact several times when I was on the fence about the release, I passed on it when I found RSO pressed it.
     
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  20. condorsat

    condorsat Audio Pragmatist

    Location:
    North East Ohio
    I've not had any issues (outside of normal) with RSO (Clapton) pressings ... some sound better than others. Replaced some used legacy vinyl with better condition copies over the years.
     
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