Sounds like a hot stamper! Jackpot Records, Willie Nelson, "....and then I wrote"


I just picked up Wilie Nelson's "...and then I wrote", reissued on Jackpot records (1962/2017 reissue). 

I cleaned the new vinyl per my protocol.  I threw it on the table and focused my attention elsewhere--just for a moment because when the very first song came on I had big grin on my face and said, out loud to myself, "Yes!" 

The quality of this record is A+.  Stunning.  Everything is so smooth, big, clear and defined.  No hint of dryness.  

This is not an expensive pressing by audiophile standards.  If you like these songs and spin vinyl, you should buy it.  Somehow I overpaid for it via seller on Discogs when AcousticSounds has it for $20. Highly recommended!

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Showing 4 responses by millercarbon

That said.....Folks, Hot Stampers are everywhere!  We just have to find them.  I prefer the journey, but I'd be open to forking over $500 for the best copy of a handful of albums.  

We already have some hot stampers in our collections!

Yes technically, based on mathematical probability, if you have a hundred records there may be one in there somewhere. That is about what it would have to be. 

I like to test things out and so one of the first things I did after hearing about this was to take the LPs I had two or more of the same and do my own shoot-outs. Sure enough, no two were ever quite the same. I remember getting excited when one copy was a lot more open and detailed than another. Eureka! Until a minute later that copy had really messy sibilance. Oh.

Now about a dozen or so Hot Stampers later it is clear none of my couple hundred records is Hot Stamper level. Not a one. This is not to say they all sound bad. People love to twist that one around. This is not a zero sum game folks! They just don't have that Master Tape level of detail that characterizes a Hot Stamper.

Frankly, I love the luxuriously liquid sound on my 45 Jennifer Warnes The Well just as much as any Hot Stamper. At the same time, if this makes any sense, I wish I had a Hot Stamper of that same LP. Somewhere among the 5k or so pressings is probably one that is simply extraordinarily good. Probably. Maybe. If we had them all to compare....

Those are a few of the things they look at. Demo, cut-outs, tend to sound better because they tend to be early pressings when the stampers are in better shape. Inner groove numbers, you probably mean the handwriting on the hot wax. That is another one. But I have a couple records you can look at them all you want, there is absolutely no difference between them other than how they sound. Ultimately they have to play and only a very few sound good enough to make the cut.

 

What I know from a lot of back and forth emails, he has quite the systematic process for cleaning, playing, and grading. Subjective of course but he is awfully good at it. We all wish we knew his secret but I don't think it is really that much of a secret. Get 20, 30, 40 copies, clean em real good, and listen to em. 

 

Always good to hear of a decent reissue, it reminds me they can be pretty good after all. If you want to hear a really good copy though, it will cost a lot more than $20!