chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 u KNOW what im talking about...does someone really etch that # into the lp-- why? who does that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 The etch it into the stamper, I believe. As for who did it, it was Frank Sinatra. It was a passion of his. The death of vinyl, and the resultant loss of the industry's need to etch stampers anymore, is what really killed him He died of a broken heart. You might hear otherwise, but don't believe the hype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 As for why, I'd think it would be for identification purposes. Stampers don't have any label or anything else on them for ID, so that would be a way to tell which one was which. Now you got me thinking - just how and where were stampers stored between pressing runs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter A Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 The real deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 The etching is done on the lacquer disc and is present on all stages of the metal work - master, mother and stamper. Those are stampers in the pic I took. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter A Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 That's really interesting, I have never seen (a picture of) stampers before. Thanks for posting. By the way, are stampers usually stored in these cardboard jackets? Don't they get damaged easily? I ask this because I have several, otherwise mint looking, LP's from the 50's and 60's which have, if you look very closely, countless little pits and (very short) scratches. It always wondered if these problems could be caused by damaged or worn stampers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 That's really interesting, I have never seen (a picture of) stampers before. Thanks for posting. By the way, are stampers usually stored in these cardboard jackets? Don't they get damaged easily? I ask this because I have several, otherwise mint looking, LP's from the 50's and 60's which have, if you look very closely, countless little pits and (very short) scratches. It always wondered if these problems could be caused by damaged or worn stampers. In my experience (at a number of pressing plants) metal parts, including stampers, are stored this way. Damage to stampers usually happens while they are being mounted on the presses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 The etching is done on the lacquer disc and is present on all stages of the metal work - master, mother and stamper. Those are stampers in the pic I took. That would make sense, because otherwise they'd have to write it backwards, right? DOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 (edited) On the Steve Hoffman forums, Hoffman posted a www.youtube.com link that had two very good videos showing how records are cut. You should watch them. I can't check the links at work any more (www.youtube.com is blocked) but the links were: Part 1: and Part 2: Later, Kevin Edited October 14, 2006 by Kevin Bresnahan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 On the Steve Hoffman forums, Hoffman posted a www.youtube.com link that had two very good videos showing how records are cut. You should watch them. I can't check the links at work any more (www.youtube.com is blocked) but the links were: Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUGRR...elated&search= and Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IReDh...elated&search= Later, Kevin Kevin, I read a couple of pages of the Hoffman thread and he completely blows the answer to one of the questions (posts 29 and 30). The stamper is "contoured" to accommodate a raised label area and rim. It takes place before pressing the record. Amazing he didn't know that. If I have time I'll take a couple of pics to show the contouring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 Chuck, am I hallucinating or would I remember bags of vinyl pellets like bright black cat litter stacked up & spilled everywhere?from the foggy mists of time, i remain-- El Clementine Correct Clem. I just can't believe a guy like Hoffman (god to some here) doesn't know his shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 Correct Clem. I just can't believe a guy like Hoffman (god to some here) doesn't know his shit. Hoffman's rep is built on his mastering skills. Nothing to do with pressing LPs. Most of his LPs are pressed by Kevin Gray. I imagine most of what he knows, or doesn't know, is from watching Gray at work. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 (edited) Correct Clem. I just can't believe a guy like Hoffman (god to some here) doesn't know his shit. Hoffman's rep is built on his mastering skills. Nothing to do with pressing LPs. Most of his LPs are pressed by Kevin Gray. I imagine most of what he knows, or doesn't know, is from watching Gray at work. Kevin Screw his "rep". If he makes parts for lps, I'd expect him to know how they are used if only to make his own work better. I'm a "producer" but I know how ALL this shit works. At least I don't make shit up to provide answers I don't know. Geez! Edited October 14, 2006 by Chuck Nessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 Chuck, am I hallucinating or would I remember bags of vinyl pellets like bright black cat litter stacked up & spilled everywhere?from the foggy mists of time, i remain-- El Clementine Correct Clem. I just can't believe a guy like Hoffman (god to some here) doesn't know his shit. Chuck, I just went over and re-read that thread, including the question on post 29 and Hoffman's answer on post 30. What's wrong with his answer? He simply says that raised area on the LP comes, "During the "squashing" of the vinyl to the stamper." If what you're saying is that the stamper is contoured to include the raised middle and edge, what's wrong with saying that these edges are formed "during the "squashing" of the vinyl to the stamper"? Are they not formed then? BTW, I'm not defending Hoffman at all here, as I agree with you that he's garnered a bit too much of a rep as some kind of audio God when he's really just a mastering engineer. However, I just don't see where this thread exposes him as a fraud. The guy has definitely been there when they press LPs. He talks about it often. If what he's reporting is wrong or different from what you've seen, it could be that the process RTI is using today is different that it used to be. Just to be clear, I was only referring to that thread so that people here could click the youtube.com links. I couldn't verify them yesterday at work (I fixed them last night). I think those videos are pretty cool to watch. I never knew how an LP was made. I never intended to bring this thread's conversation over here. I don't like doing that. Chuck, if you want, feel free to take this to PM. I don't need to pollute Jim's board with this stuff. Later, kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 That was VERY interesting. Thank you for posting the videos, Kevin. And thank you, Chuck, for the explanations. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 Chuck, I just went over and re-read that thread, including the question on post 29 and Hoffman's answer on post 30. What's wrong with his answer? He simply says that raised area on the LP comes, "During the "squashing" of the vinyl to the stamper." If what you're saying is that the stamper is contoured to include the raised middle and edge, what's wrong with saying that these edges are formed "during the "squashing" of the vinyl to the stamper"? Are they not formed then? I doubt Mr. Hoffman would say the grooves are formed "during the "squashing" of the vinyl to the stamper. No, RTI does not use a different process. My point is he gave an incorrect answer and folks will believe it. To his credit he did point out "part 2" was simplified but I feel he added to the simplification of the processes with his answer. FWIW, the metal part in the video is called a master. It it plated again to produce a mother and the mother is plated again to produce stampers. When more stampers are needed the mother is plated again. When the mother wears out they return to the master and make a new mother. And on and on....'til the master shows wear. No biggie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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