Teasing the Korean Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Has this ever happened to you? You pick up a used LP that looks stone mint. The tone arm lowers onto the first track. Totally quiet. Everything's great. Then, all of a sudden, one track comes on - usually the hit - and it's as if a different copy were plunked onto the turntable. Distortion, surface noise, groove wear, etc. Then the next track comes on and everything's fine again. Afterward, you inspect the record closely and the track in question is a different color. It's like it's grey whereas the rest of the album is shiny black. I found what I thought was a mint mono copy of Sinatra's "Only the Lonely." It is so much better in mono, but every copy I find is beat. Then I found this one. Everything is great until I get to "One For My Baby." It sounds terrible. Oh well, 11 out of 12 ain't bad. Who buys an LP and plays only one track? Really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Has this ever happened to you? No... and it's never happened to anyone else here. The only explanation... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Nelson Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Side 1, track 1 is usually the arbiter of wear-n-tear because of: 1. getting scuffs cause it's protruding from the sleeve in the jacket 2. oil deposits from handling 3. vinyl edge warps are most pronounced on the first track 4. dropping the tone arm with unsteady hands 5. the track 1 song is ususally the 'hit' companies want DJ's and customers to hear first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertoart Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 This thread is re-traumatising me. Got a mono NY Let Em Roll (one of my all time faves) off ebay, fairly cheap. Expected the worst. Played great. Can't believe my luck. Get to Shadow Of Your Smile. By now settled into listening nirvana - waiting for the mellowist track on LP to start....whole song from start to finish is groove damaged (I guess). Oh well. I had great luck getting a NM stereo Got A Good Thing Goin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Hamiet Bluiett - Birthright. Copy sounds fine (occasional pop that I can live with so such great music) then we hit the quietest track and it's like the alien's are beaming in a signal - why wreck just the one track so much? Vinyl betrays no inkling of alien interference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Side 1, track 1 is usually the arbiter of wear-n-tear because of: 1. getting scuffs cause it's protruding from the sleeve in the jacket 2. oil deposits from handling 3. vinyl edge warps are most pronounced on the first track 4. dropping the tone arm with unsteady hands 5. the track 1 song is ususally the 'hit' companies want DJ's and customers to hear first Very valid reasons, and damage caused by one or several of these reasons is likely to happen here and there, but WEARING out one single track on an LP is quite something else. I must admit I've been guilty of this in the past too. As for TTK's question who buys an LP and plays only one track, I think you are geared much too much towards concept albums or listening music such as a lot of jazz ORIGINALLY programmed for LP release. But pop/rock albums that come from hit artists or reissues of earlier music (any style) that originally was on singles/78s only (particularly if it's Various Artists albums) can be bought and listened to that way. In my case it was V.A. albums that had one particular killer track on them that I bought those LPs for (it DOES happen if it's a track you want by all means but just cannot find anywhere else, least of all on a 45 or 78). And in both cases that track was about the 5th or 6th out of 8 tracks on one LP side. So in the course of time that 5th ot 6th track took on a lot more greyish color than the shiny rest of the LP (which wasn't bad at all either but that favorite track just got a lot more spins for quite some time). Overall those favorite tracks are still very listenable, though. But on some good equipment you will note that the background hiss or pops are more pronounced on those. Modern turntables help here, compared to 50s or early 60s "groove lathes" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Hamiet Bluiett - Birthright. Copy sounds fine (occasional pop that I can live with so such great music) then we hit the quietest track and it's like the alien's are beaming in a signal - why wreck just the one track so much? Vinyl betrays no inkling of alien interference. That to me sounds like a pressing fault. I've got a few LPs that are mis-grooved but are near mint/little played. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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