Today's record store booty:

[Bernie]

Scored these two this weekend (I love finding blues records in good shape):

[chet]

I saw some reissues of the Beano album at Vintage Vinyl with extra tracks, I think.
I saw that BB King album too but I was hoping to find a different one.

[TDPRI]

Originally Posted by giginthesky

one of my "wall" albums is a half speed master. can someone explain what that process is? i bought it as a kid to see if there was a difference in sound but, i can't recall any difference. then again, it's been about 20 years since i listened to it. maybe i should give it another go.

"half-speed mastered" is exactly what it says it is. Instead of being mastered at 33 1/3 rpm it is mastered at half that speed. This lowers the frequencies and makes the high freq easier to get onto the master disk. It also makes the bass harder to get onto the master too however.

It's a plus and minus proposition but overall it is felt to improve the vinyl disc mastering process. It takes twice a long to do the mastering but it slows the process down so that the mastering engineer can take more time to do a better job of getting the most fidelity on the master.

Here is what Mobile Fidelity said about half-speed mastering:

To accomplish this we employ our exclusive "half-speed mastering" method. Normally, master lacquer discs are cut at 33,33 rpm (real time), the same speed at which you play a record on your turntable.

Our master lacquer discs, however, are cut at half speed, or 16,67 rpm, while the master tape also plays at half speed. This allows us twice as much time to get every detail, every nuance of sound out of the stereo master tape and into the groove. It also allows the cutting stylus twice as much time to cut the groove accurately. And we always work from the original stereo master tape, never a second or third generation copy.

MFSL's exclusive "half-speed mastering" also allows us to use only one-fourth the power that real time cutting takes. So we never have to push our cutting head amplifiers to their limits. This gives us much more head room for far superior dynamic range, top-end and overall frequency response, along with better stereo separation. And we don't use transformers or employ limiting in our cutting process.

Nothing is introduced that will cause distortion or squeeze the life out of an Original Master Recording.

Mastering a "master disk" for making vinyl records is a manual process. The space between the grooves is dependent on the high and low frequencies being cut into the disk. There is a trade off between getting all the sound on the master disk and what frequencies, volume and dynamics are being mastered and the engineer has to control all of this.

[chet]

I couldn't find a good Elvis record with the hits so I ordered "Elvis Number 1 Hits" off of Amazon. It's his #1 hits remastered on vinyl. Played some of it last night and it's pretty awesome.

[Hockey Rocker]

I was reading an article in Guitar Edge magazine about the 30th anniversary of Van Halen. Being a Clash fan, I missed out on the Van Halen craze the first time around. Then I remembered that I had snagged the LP for pennies, years ago, at a record show. Found it. Perfect condition. It sounds great.

[1293]

Originally Posted by chet

Hey, what's kinda funny is I was looking for the Elvis section (which I never found) and saw a shopping basket full of albums so I started looking through it. Some guy came up and kind of panicky says "These are mine!".

Sheese! He had about 40 albums in that basket!

To paraphrase George Carlin:

"If you haven't paid for them they're not yours yet. And if I want to shop out of your basket, I'll shop out of your basket!"

[chet]

They were old jazz albums anyway.

[chet]

Went yesterday because I knew the weather was gonna be bad today. I got:
Michael Jackson- 'Thriller'
Beatles- 'Revolver' British EMI stereo version
Beatles- 'Live at the Star Club in Hamburg'
Pink Floyd- 'The Wall'
Carpenters- 'Close To You'
ZZ Top- 'Deguello' in sealed wrapper
ZZ Top- 'El Loco'

A bunch more but those are the highlights.

I sold some stuff I never use including some fishing lures for over 30 bucks apiece so I had the extra money.


That's where I was yesterday in case you missed me.



Whaa? Nobody missed me??

[chet]

Went yesterday and got:
a "Minty" copy of the Beatles "Let It Be".
Chicago I & II.
Ozzy Osbourne "Diary Of A Madman" and "Blizzard Of Oz".
A nice stereo copy of the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper" (the purple label). LOL
Madonna's "Like A Virgin" (She was one hot babe in her day!).
John Mellencamp's "Scarecrow" and "Lonesome Jubilee" for $1.00 apiece.
Dusty Springfield "Greatest Hits"

More but I can't remember what else right now.

[chet]

Last night I picked up:

A minty copy of The Beatles "White Album".
A nice copy of a collection of Freddie King hits.
A nice copy of The Beatles "Live In Hamburg".
Jeff Beck and Jan Hammer Live.
Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers?)- Southern Accents.

A few more I can't remember.

The store (Jack's Record Shop in Red Bank, NJ) must be selling used vinyl cause they seem to have most of them sorted out instead of just sitting in boxes on the floor.

[Bernie]

Originally Posted by chet

Last night I picked up:

A minty copy of The Beatles "White Album".
A nice copy of a collection of Freddie King hits.
A nice copy of The Beatles "Live In Hamburg".
Jeff Beck and Jan Hammer Live.

A few more I can't remember.

The store (Jack's Record Shop in Red Bank, NJ) must be selling used vinyl cause they seem to have most of them sorted out instead of just sitting in boxes on the floor.

Man, Chet - you got it bad. Since you're on a vinyl buying tear, a couple of suggestions that were very pleasant surprises for me --- Look for a copy of ZZ Top's First Album if you don't already have it. It's GREAT on vinyl. Also, "Acadie" by Daniel Lanois is a modern album that sounds like it was made in the 70s - that "thing" is there. The first CSN album is killer, too (the one with Marrakesh Express) - I heard things on that album I never knew were there. Have fun!

[chet]

Used vinyl is so cheap I have to take advantage and stock up on what I like to listen to.

The reissues on new vinyl are another story. I won't get too many of those if I can help it.

Yeah, if ZZ Top's first album turns up then I'll scarf it up.

[teleon]

I would also reccomend Brian Eno-Here Come The Warm Jets, The Animals-Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted, Tom Waits-Heart Attack And Vine. Man, I miss Vinyl!

[chet]

I'm lying about me buying new LP's. I'm going to get some of these new releases that are coming out.

Jimi Hendrix- Live at Monterey is one.
Bob Dylan's catalogue seems to be coming available on vinyl now. I found a copy of "John Westley Harding" this week.
Some Thin Lizzy LP's are at the shop now too. I found a copy of "Renegade" this week also.

[casterway]

Originally Posted by chet

Used vinyl is so cheap I have to take advantage and stock up on what I like to listen to.

The reissues on new vinyl are another story. I won't get too many of those if I can help it.

Yeah, if ZZ Top's first album turns up then I'll scarf it up.

I saw Harrison's 'All things must pass' the other day, new, on high quality vinyl. Are you ready for this? $89.00!!!!!!

I like ZZ Top's 'Tejas' a lot.

[chet]

I've seen "ATMP" used and a lot cheaper than that. You just have to look around and be in the right place at the right time.

[chet]

I pillaged and plundered the record shops in Omaha last weekend and found a bounty of treasures.

Two of the best were mint copies of:
"With The Beatles" in mono.
"A Hard Days Night" also in mono.

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