Re: [ARSCLIST] LP pressing question

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Shoshani" <mshoshani@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Bob Olhsson wrote:
> > My experience has been that the very best pressings were the major label DJ
> > copies. These were often better than test pressings due to an even higher
> > grade of vinyl. The first manufacturing run was generally comparable to the
> > test pressing however reorder runs were frequently done as quickly and
> > cheaply as possible.
>  From the 78 RPM era, I've had record store demonstration copies from 
> Victor, Columbia, and Decca, that were pressed on really nice vinyl as 
> opposed to ordinary shellac (or, in Decca's case, asphalt with sand). I 
> have no idea what sort of equipment dealers used to play these, but it 
> would seem to me that the thinking was that dealers needed really good 
> copies to "show off" the record being sold.
> 
>From sometime in the forties onward, major record companies pressed their
product in vinyl as well as shellac. These discs were comparatively noiseless
(although they had a short useful lifespan, due to the tracking pressures
of the era) and were thus used as "demonstration samples" or distributed
for airplay. In fact, vinyl records first appeared as a substitute for
(then unavailable) shellac discs...and were thereafter offered as an
"on-request" option for radio stations who needed "promo discs."

Steven C. Barr