I recently acquired a mint condition copy of Songs in the Key of Life. There's something strange about it though. Sides 2, 3, and 4 sound great, but side 1 sounds very dull and muted, almost as if my tweeters were disconnected. It may get slightly better as side one progresses, but when I turn the disc over it's a whole different sound. Anybody have a similar experience?

I have that same experience with many original pressings of the Wonder classics-Songs,Innervisions,Fulfillingness,Talking Book.I think Tamla Motown had issues at their pressing plants.
Jimmy

I have it, but can't say I've ever sat and listened enough from one side to another to be able to say. I do agree with 2Duals on others I HAVE listened to enough- spotty sq.

Interesting. I wonder if it is a common problem with this title, or if another copy would be better. I actually have another copy that's in poor condition, I'll give it a listen when I get home and see if I can tell.

Typical of worn-out stamper. You're only supposed to pull about 3000 copies per stamper, but those mass-market factories didn't worry about stuff like that.

Typical of worn-out stamper. You're only supposed to pull about 3000 copies per stamper, but those mass-market factories didn't worry about stuff like that.

I don't follow. Since an equal number of stampings are made of each side, then all 4 sides would have the same issue, not just side 1. Yes?

I just picked up a used copy a couple of weeks ago and didn't notice this. I will listen to it again shortly.

When they set up for a pressing run at a plant, they put some stampers they have ready on the press and start pressing. There is no guarantee that they all have the same mileage.

There are some labels where stampers from years before make erratic appearances. Some guy must have found them on the rack in the back room, and decided to use them.

Please remember what else was happening when this LP came out: We had the first shock of limited petro/gas stocks. Being that no one had heard of OPEC, the cost of materials made of petrochemicals also shot up and stocks were scarce.

So, LP manufactuers took to grinding up old, returned LPs and reusing the material in new pressings. Motown and other big label's manufacturing arms (contract or direct owned, I don't know) got a bad rap for the low quality of many of their popular LPs.

I distinctly returning about 4 or 5 copies of Stevie Wonder LPs back then due to the crud found inbedded in the vinyl. In one case, I recall finding bits of paper label mixed in. Nasty on a stylus.

Cheers,

David

When they set up for a pressing run at a plant, they put some stampers they have ready on the press and start pressing. There is no guarantee that they all have the same mileage.

There are some labels where stampers from years before make erratic appearances. Some guy must have found them on the rack in the back room, and decided to use them.

Gotcha. It seems they'd take more care in keeping the sets together just so this didn't happen. It's like buying a Costco qty of AA batteries and dumping them in a drawer with a few old ones. Go figure. Thanks.

I tried my other copy. It seems to be an older pressing, in fact side one appears considerably longer on the older pressing than the new... much less deadwax on the old pressing. That itself seems odd to me. The old pressing sounded perhaps very slightly brighter, but it is so dirty that I didn't want to play it much. It's presently covered in wood glue, I'll give it another try tomorrow.

As an aside, the reason I have two copies is because I bought the old one on eBay... supposedly in "near mint" condition. Right. This guy must not even look at the records before he grades them. Anyway, I complained and he found a truly near mint copy for me, really looks like it's just been opened. Unfortunately side one sounds so dull. It might be the way they all sound.

It's presently covered in wood glue, I'll give it another try tomorrow.

Not trying to hyjack this thread. Do you have a RCM?

No. A DIY RCM is on my to-do list, but I have been very pleased with the wood glue method's performance. Its convenience, well... not so much.

mine also sounds very muted. Does anyone have the new 180 gram pressings of this album?

I too have found his albums mentined to be of "mixed" quality , even the cd repressings to me do not sound all that good , but the few lp's i have never impressed me .

No. A DIY RCM is on my to-do list, but I have been very pleased with the wood glue method's performance. Its convenience, well... not so much.

Don't know if you've seen the thread on mine. Plus there's a few other around here as well.

Don't know if you've seen the thread on mine. Plus there's a few other around here as well.

I've seen a few good threads, I don't recall if the one I liked best was yours. I intend to go back and read all I can find when I'm ready to build. :yes:

There were many copies of this album with issues when new. Warpage and off center were common on US pressings of this album. Best copies available for sound quality and surfaces are the UK Motown or the West German Motown original pressings. Best US copies are the early 1980's ones made when MCA began handling Motown product. Some of those were made by RTI and the RTI made copies were better than originals.

Recently, subsequent to setting up a system in study of new home, I used that side of SITKOL to do initial test. Good thing I decided to put on a CD before troubleshooting, as that side one was so dull I was certain there was either a phase issue, equipment damage, or a tragic sudden loss of upper frequency capabilities in my hearing. Unfortunate collision of artistry and commerce, from what I'm gathering here.

Ouch