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PSA: Skip the Craft reissue of Wes Montgomery's 'Boss Guitar'

I'm a bit late to the party on this one, as this Craft reissue was released in 2025, but maybe this will help someone...

I love Wes Montgomery and own several of his albums, but I didn't own a copy of Boss Guitar. I picked up a new copy of the Craft reissue at my local record shop yesterday (mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI), cleaned it, and settled in for a listen last night - and boy, was I disappointed.

At first, my disappointment was due to the fact that I thought the power failure at our house the night before had possibly taken out the right channel of my integrated amplifier. I could hear almost no sound from the right channel while listening to the LP.  I moved closer to the right speaker and could hear some sound, but it had a muffled quality. I was already picturing boxing up the amplifier and sending it off for repair.

But I put on another LP that I'm familiar with and was quickly relieved to find that my amplifier was just fine. So, was my copy of the LP defective?

I did a Google search and quickly found my answer: lots of comments on Discogs and other websites complained about the soundstage being significantly skewed to the left. It's not clear whether this is how this album was originally recorded or whether it's a rare mastering gaffe by Kevin Gray.  Either way, the LP isn't enjoyable to listen to because it sounds as though almost all of the music is coming from the left channel.

Some Discogs commenters said the 2015 OJC reissue is also skewed slightly to the left, but nowhere near as badly as the 2025 Craft reissue. It really is a shame because the music, the performance, and RTI's pressing are all excellent.

I'm planning to return this LP to my local retailer (if they'll accept the return) or directly to Craft. This really is unacceptable for a nearly $40 LP.

lpluvr
viridian's avatar
viridian
5,826 posts
 

How is the music on this one, is the playing accomplished?

lpluvr OP
110 posts
 

@viridian 

If you're referring to Boss Guitar, the playing is amazing, IMO.  It's a bit of an unusual trio format - guitar, drums and organ.  But I think it works really well and the music/musicianship is first-rate.

viridian's avatar
viridian
5,826 posts
 

Thank you, much appreciated, love Wes, but dont have this one. Will have to pick it up!

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
8,174 posts
 

@lpluvr never had bad experience with Craft and Kevin Gray mastering. I punched it into Gemini…

The Craft Recordings / Original Jazz Classics (OJC) AAA reissue of Wes Montgomery’s Boss Guitar (released in late 2025, mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, and pressed at RTI) has drawn widespread criticism from audiophiles for its bizarre, heavily skewed soundstage balance.

Here is exactly what is happening with that pressing, why it occurred, and how it compares to older cuts:

The Channel Balance Issue

On this particular Craft OJC reissue, Wes’s guitar is severely shifted toward the left channel, leaving the right channel feeling incredibly thin, hollow, and texturally featureless. Jimmy Cobb’s drum kit also suffers, with key elements of the percussion getting nearly lost in the lopsided mix. 

This isn’t a standard, intentional "hard-panning" choice typical of early 1960s stereo jazz records. Instead, it is a significant mastering/source tape oversight where the stereo image is fundamentally skewed and out of balance, destroying the natural depth and transient impact of Wes’s thumb-plucking technique.
 

I suspect KG made a deliberate choice not to correct the flaws of the original master tape and decided not to remix it. Furthermore, Gemini states the 2015 OJC version doesn’t suffer from this. I guess whoever mastered that one had the recording remixed? Who knows 

lpluvr OP
110 posts
 

@audphile1 I saw a similar AI response when I Googled for information on the issue.  That's what lead me to some postings on Discogs discussing the problems with the Boss Guitar reissue.  As Gemini stated, the consensus seems to be that the 2015 OJC reissue is the better choice.  I'm going to pick one up and check it out for myself. 

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