However, exchanges are often not Fruitful (see what I did there?) because chances are, the defects are present on the stamper and you’re just going to get the next copy off the stack in the warehouse, likely with the same problems as the first. To a point, online retailers - particularly the huge corporates like Amazon - could really care less a if you return an item - even on B-stock (my bread and butter). This is where it gets tricky for me, because while I’d like to solely patronize my local brick-and-mortar stores, there are many who will react to your attempt to exchange a bad pressing as if you’re trying to return a pair of Fruit Of The Looms you wore only once, when you ran the Boston Marathon. Go for one of the pricey audiophile versions, or sell your car and your fridge and buy an original. Art really liked to bash those cans, and Rudy was powerless in his wake. A particular offender is Art Blakey’s “Free For All,” possibly cut at one of the hottest recording levels in all of jazz. Enjoy the congested midrange, and little else. As I’ve said here before, it doesn’t matter how much pixie dust Bernie Grundman sprinkles on the tape, a hot master on a slapdash United Pressing is going to be spitty and harsh. Fast-forward to today’s hyper-resolving systems, where a slightly distorted tape combined with an indifferent BN75 pressing makes a product not suitable for your ears, but surprisingly useful for sonically cleaning the tile grout in your shower. It may have been an attempt to improve the signal-to-noise ratio plain old inexperience (on the earlier Hackensack, NJ releases) or just the fact that the average consumer turntable of that era would be as likely to reveal a little tape fuzz as they would the Higgs boson. Rudy Van Gelder was known for driving his VU meters into the red on many sessions. Is the original master tape recorded “hot” or does Art Blakey appear on it? If not an Optimal pressing, proceed to Step 2.Ģ. They may treat you like an anal-retentive who wants to know on what side of the hill the mustard on his hoagie was grown, but persist, because more accurate listings help all of us. Be aware there are sellers on Discogs who have caught on that the European pressings are more desirable, and they’ve listed their American pressings as European. Some problems have been reported with Optimal pressings, but nowhere near the issues with US-pressed BN 75’s. If yes, buy it and chances are fair you’ll have a decent pressing. Here’s my text-based flow chart for finding the good ones: They can be a great way to own some classic recordings for for a few bucks, however the 75 series is legendary for its problems. I’ve picked up quite a few of the BN 75’s over the years, mostly from Discogs and Amazon’s warehouse deals, and cheaply enough to afford some experimentation.
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