Metromedia Records matrix # questions (The Winstons' "Amen Brother" 45)

I'm sure some of you are collectors of the Metromedia label, and I have a question that I hope someone can answer, as it's about matrix numbers.

The record in question is the 45 for The Winstons' "Color Him Father", but the emphasis is on its B-side, "Amen Brother". There have been a few posts about this record, as there's a documentary film (now on YouTube) on how the song had been sampled a number of times in hip-hop songs in the late 80's, but how it would eventually become THE beat/sample/loop for a genre of dance music. Among hip-hop DJ's/turntablists, "Amen Brother" is seen and viewed as a song with one of the best breakbeats of all time.

The issue came about on another board I'm a member of (Soul Strut). A number of people have had the 45 for years, but a member of the board who has five copies of it realized that he had two different pressings, which he verified by listing the matrix numbers for each:
ZTS 144399-1B (handwritten)
ZTS 144399-2A (machine stamped)

To make it more interesting, the mixes are slightly different for each. The one marked "1B" has the drum break mixed slightly to the right and with no reverb. The one marked "2A" is mixed a bit to the left, and has an obvious amount of reverb. The original poster also says that for both 45's, the matrix on one side is handwritten while the other side is machine stamped.

In addition, someone else has the same 45, but has a matrix # of:
ZTS 144399-2B

This does not answer why there was a need to do a new mix. My guess was that when Metromedia tried to push "Color Him Father" and perhaps it didn't do well, they decided to do a second pressing with the B-side as a possible hit, and in the process give the original mix a boost, make it sounds more "hit-worthy". Again, it's a guess.

Here's the main issue:
ZTS 144399-1B
ZTS 144399-2A
ZTS 144399-2B

What do the 1B, 2A, and 2B signify?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Those ZTS numbers are from Columbias pressing plant they must have produced the finished discs for Metromedia.
The '1B' and '2A,' are the lacquer/metal master cuttings - where the '1' is the first tape or mix made for that mastering studio (usually NY or LA), and the 'A' or 'B' indicates the actual cutting (the 'B' is the second cutting; a 'J' would be the tenth cut - Columbia has NEVER used 'I').

 

I.I.N.M., the handwritten lacquers designated "1x" were mastered by A&R Recording in New York, and generally went to the Pitman, NJ plant. "2x" lacquers were cut in-house by Columbia's New York studios (they were gung-ho about machine stamping on their dead wax) and were generally found on pressings from Terre Haute, IN and Santa Maria, CA.

Another difference is in the printing of the label copy. Though all pressings use the same Pitman-based typesetting, generally the type looks a bit thicker on Terre Haute and Santa Maria pressings than on Pitman pressings.

It would also appear that the channels on the Columbia-cut lacquers were the reverse of A&R's lacquers.

This same rule is applicable to the "Color Him Father" side (ZTS 144398) as well.