General Question re Stampers on LP's

[NealW]

just got two copies of Dark Side of the Moon both UK EMI/Harvest ($3 including posters) and I notice that the stampers differ one ends with A-3 the other A-8. the A-3 is a much heavier album. i will listen to both tonight to see which is better but i remember one discussion about DSOTM where stampers were discussed a lot. just generally i want to know is a low number a sign that it was one of the original pressings or does this differ from LP to LP. when i look at second hand LP's is this something i should look for.

besides the above two i also picked up 2 springsteens (born to run, the wild and....) an elvis (some country album with Tiger Man on can't remember its name offhand ), Free (highway), U2 (unforgetable fire), Bob Dylan (times they are..), audience (friends) one of my favourite bands that hardly gets discussed, eagles (first album canadian pressing) i will check all their stampers for fun but want to know what to look for.

[Gary]

I don't think there is a hard and fast rule for stampers. It's sort of like "try them all and decide for yourself".

I guess the best bet would be to go for the country of origin LPs (Like British stampings for Floyd, American stampings for Aerosmith) to avoid the second generation tape that they sent across the pond.

Then look for the original LPs - try to reconize the labels that they used. Like all Black for MCA.

Then try to find stampers that say things like 1 or A or some high number or letter that just MAY be an indication of an early pressing.

Then hope for the best.

Then buy all the rest, with a return guarantee.

Let me remind you about my Elton John adventure. Picked up a US MCA Black Label. I hoped it would have been an original American pressing of "Don't Shoot Me......".

It was.

Unfortunately, all three million of the first run were cut to vinyl using a tape that was prepared with the Dolby switch off - when it should have been on. :mad: Then Steve said that later pressings could have been prepared / cut by someone else - who could have done a better job.

So..... your guess is as good as mine!

No, strike that. I hope your guess is BETTER than mine! :D

[FabFourFan]

Originally posted by NealW
just got two copies of Dark Side of the Moon both UK EMI/Harvest ($3 including posters) and I notice that the stampers differ one ends with A-3 the other A-8. the A-3 is a much heavier album.From what I've heard, there are 3 numbers to look for, the lacquer, the mother, and the stamper.

In the run-out area, the -3 or the -8 is the lacquer #. -1 would be the first lacquer cut, then -2, etc. One would expect a -1 to be the one "that the artist approved", as they say. However, each lacquer is cut separately, and other lacquer #s could be just as good or even better than -1, all other things being equal. This is where Tom Port (Humorem) is your best resource for what to look for.

If the lacquer # is viewed at 6 o'clock, then there should be a mother # at 9 o'clock. This is the mother # for that lacquer, from 1 upwards. Lower mother #s would almost certainly be preferred, as these are made sequentially from the particular lacquer.

Then, at 3 o'clock, there are letters indicating the stamper #. Again, lower #s are expected to be better because these are made sequentially from the particular mother from the particular lacquer. EMI uses the letters G-R-A-M-O-P-H-L-T-D as a code for 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0, respectively. As an example, if you have a "G" stamper, it was the first one from that mother from that lacquer! More likely, with a record as big-selling as DSOTM, you'll have a stamper code like "ODT" (#509) or something like that. Remember, lower stamper #s are better, all things being equal.

See, there's nothing to it! :D

There is one other thing about the first few months of UK pressings of DSOTM - the early labels say "Gramophone Company Limited". They say that this was changed to "EMI Records" later in 1973, so "Gramophone" labels would presumably be preferred.

[NealW]

thanks for all the info i will check up again.

i listened to both albums last night and the heavier A-3 was a clear winner bigger soundstage, smooth natural sound the best i've heard. so i really enjoyed myself last night also the bob dylan album 'the times they are a ...' was excellent so i don't think i'll bother getting a sundazed version of that although i noticed it was in stereo - was it released that way???

[Richard Feirstein]

Times had two mixes; Stereo and Mono. Sundazed has found the earliest mono master and is using that. Mine is the the mail from them so I can't comment on its sound. I got the Stereo on the day of its release in NYC.

[NealW]

that is always the problem do you collect multiple copies of albums or rather buy new stuff. it always entices you with the promise of better sound. i guess multiple copies should be reserved for absolute favourites hence me trying two Dark Sides.