[ARSCLIST] Victor shellac test pressing manufacturing question

[Eric Jacobs <EricJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thursday, April 02, 2009 11:10 AM, Michael Biel wrote:

> Victor and other companies routinely polished their masters or 
> stampers with jeweler's rouge which probably removed the rough 
> edges of the sound wave -- namely the high frequencies.  George 
> Brock-Nannestad discovered a document at EMI that discussed 
> Victor running a knurling tool thru the grooves to likewise 
> smooth them out.

and

> There is evidence that Victor "dumbed down" their recordings, 
> so it is important that you have access to those test pressings 
> which might not have been compromised.  But maybe some of the 
> things Victor was polishing off were cutter-head transient 
> ringings.

Mike, you've got me thinking more about the manufacturing 
process - thanks!

I have noticed on these test pressings that the outer edge/rim 
of the disc was manually ground down - quite roughly I might
add.  The edge is even chipped, presumably from the grinding
process.  Not all the discs were roughly ground down in this
matter, some have the smooth outer edge that you normally find
on commercial discs.

The grinding is quite non-uniform - to the point that the radius
of the disc varies by as much as 1/8-inch (3 mm) even though 
the spindle hole is properly centered.

If it matters, these test pressings are single-sided web-back
discs.

I also have the Victor QA/QC label from the back of the disc.  
Most of these are not filled out, but I am curious what all the
abbreviations mean and how these were used.  I have an image
scan (jpeg) of one of these for those who are curious.

Looking for more hints and enlightenment on how these test 
pressings might have been manufactured...

Eric Jacobs

The Audio Archive, Inc.
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