Hot Stampers....Anyone own any?

[grooveman]

i can't believe what these LPs are selling for! Most are well known titles that you normally find for a few dollars or less. Granted, a first pressing in decent shape of a lot of these titles is getting tougher to find, but several hundred dollars for a fairly common LP? Wow!!
I did check thru my personal collection and listened to some early original pressings of "Abraxas", "The Band" S/T RL Wax Marking, "Deja Vu", "Fragile" and "BS&T-S/T" and they all sound great to my ears.....who's to say if they're not Hot Stampers? All purchased for a few bucks each...tops!!
Has anyone purchased one of these gems and can verify that they sound as glorious as advertised?

[grumpy]

I am more then willing to pay good money for a great LP but steer clear of "hot stampers"

[WhiteSE]

well, the logic for early pressed LP's are there, as the machines get loose, and everything's tolerances suffers at some point...But There is no way the difference is as large as the price differential.

I would gladly pay for an LP that I want bad enough or is rare, but never what the hot stampers command.

[MikeCh]

What is a "hot stamper"?

[grooveman]

A very rare original Blue Note or Riverside Jazz LP for example, can command big bucks due to their rarity, and in great condition even more so. Most of these Hot Stampers were big sellers upon release selling millions. Checking the matrix numbers for an early pressing should get you a decent sounding copy for the most part....at least that's been the case for me.

[Tullman]

Originally Posted by MikeCh

What is a "hot stamper"?

Better Records started this practice. http://www.dccblowout.com/

They go through a bunch of records of the same title and find a few that sound better than the others. These are then called hot stampers. Most hot stampers of popular titles go for between $300. and $800. These are ridiculous prices, but most sell within a a couple of days. I bought a hot stamper from him years ago for $75. which is about as much as I am willing to spend. It was a nice warm sounding pressing. However, you can find your own hot stampers in the used record rack, I have. I wouldn't get near any of these over priced hot stampers.

The only thing that bothers me about Mr. Hot Stamper is he will trash new releases to justify his gouging prices. He will now trash new releases that before he told us were the best examples out there just to make hundreds on a used record.

[similost]

Originally Posted by grooveman

A very rare original Blue Note or Riverside Jazz LP for example, can command big bucks due to their rarity, and in great condition even more so. Most of these Hot Stampers were big sellers upon release selling millions. Checking the matrix numbers for an early pressing should get you a decent sounding copy for the most part....at least that's been the case for me.

That's not the real definition of "hot stamper" Actually, the term was really made up by someone that is selling snake oil... Blue Notes were just very well produced albums.. They are not "Hot Stampers"

Hot Stampers are supposedly LPs that came from a good mold and supposedly sound better than other commonly pressed LPs...

"Hurry Hurry! Step Right Up Boy... let me seperate you from some of your money... ."

[Sam Cogley]

The Google Search function does work.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=127992

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho....php?p=2539621

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=185696

A prime example of PT Barnum's most famous saying, IMHO.

[Nat]

And if the first pressings were dynagrooves or some such, it might be worth paying more for a later pressing.
I guess I'm set off by the 'hot stamper' name -- all records are hot stamped. I paid $18 several years ago for the Sundazed pressing of Surrealistic Pillow after looking for years for a non utterly ruined version of any sort -- mono, stereo, dynagroove. All worn to death and covered in tabacco and dope tar. And I think in 1979 I once paid $25 for a MFSL record. That's about as high as I'll go. And about as often.

[BrocLuno]

Originally Posted by Nat

And if the first pressings were dynagrooves or some such, it might be worth paying more for a later pressing.

Yup, get the later pressings or ones done by subcontractors.

There are some nasty sounding originals (first pressings) out there. Some of these were from the 1950~60's where the best average TT was not that hot so the record companies did not have that high a bar to reach. When played on our current gear with modern styli, they can sound harsh with high freq overtones, etc. Just look for the best example you can find in the sea of used LPs, mount the cartridge that will play it the best and have at it

[spideyjack]

i love the detail MR HOT STAMPER puts into his sales picthes, his track by track description of Eno's Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy had me laughing so hard I nearly cried.

The other day I was sorting records and had three copies of The Cold Hard Facts of Life by Porter Wagoner out in a pile. Mrs spideyjack walked in and asked which was the hot stamper.

[MuthaFunk]

So let me get this straight. A hot stamper is only a hot stamper if someone compares a pressing to similar undisclosed # of the same record and it was observed to sound better by the sellers ears???

Hmmmm. Sounds like a money maker to me!! Hey the original poster asked if anyone has any Hot Stampers? Why yes! All of mine are hot stampers. Anyone want to buy one?

[grooveman]

Hey just wondering.....maybe if I send the LPs that I mentioned in my intial post to this guy, he'll Hot Stamper grade approve them for me for a small fee.....say $100 per album! Then I can have the bragging rights of owning "certified" Hot Stamper pressings of these great LPs!.....LOL!!!.....maybe they'll even sound better upon return and magically transform themselves from a $5 album into a treasured $500 White Hot A+++ Hot Stamper! When it comes time to sell them the sky will be the limit!

[Sam Cogley]

That guy really is hilarious.

What we listen for: "Timbre, Richness, Tubey-Magic and Freedom from Artificiality"

"Breathy Tubey-Magical Voices"

http://www.dccblowout.com/search.asp...O.x=13&GO.y=13

What the holy flying frak is "tubey-magic"?!? Is it somehow related to snake oil?

[similost]

hahaha.. now that's a great idea grooveman...