Comments on: Questionable Conditions, High Prices

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 04:33:28 +0000

I know this is sad, but true, I find these VG or worse dg’s all the time, the distortion can be horrific even on my low end audiophile debut carbon, I broke out an old cheap plastic Sony, and they are actually listenable now. if your poor and scour bargain bins and thrift stores, I really believe your better off buying a cheap turntable that dulls the surface noise.

VG++ OR better for your best table.

By: ADAMSKI

ADAMSKI — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:06:05 +0000

I have one particular Mint looking Blue Note original , Herbie’s ‘My point Of View’ which i can’t listen to as the distortion really bugs me. Visually a beautiful looking thing even under the closest inspection under strong light.
I have even changed the stylus in desperation but alas, it was still distorted on the top end of the treble, so the drums and the cymbals sound dreadful…

Someone once told me about ‘record skimming’, does anyone have knowledge of this horrid sounding process…I believe it has something to do with taking the top layer of the vinyl off and leaving a mint surface under or did I have this in a nightmare once?

By: Richard Connerton

Richard Connerton — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 07:42:49 +0000

I also wanted to add that this distortion dilemma has caused me to all but shy away from buying these records in anything less than VG++ condition, and I guess my point is, with all the talk you hear about how “durable” and “high quality” original Blue Notes are, you would think you could score a VG copy and it would still sound pretty darn good, but in my experience that has been a crap shoot because of distortion. My humble opinion is that at the end of the day, vinyl is vinyl and it is prone to wear, no matter how virgin or heavy it is and no matter how good the mastering and pressing processes are.

By: Richard Connerton

Richard Connerton — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 07:36:35 +0000

As per your comment about a G+ Blue Note sounding pretty decent, in my collecting experience it’s more difficult than I would have thought to find even “VG+” Plastylite Blue Notes with ZERO inner groove distortion. The problem with online grading by and large IMO is the vast majority of grading is visual and there is no play grading. I assume this lack of play grading may be for a number of reasons: a dealer could be trying to gloss over the fact that the record does not actually play well since many people either can’t detect distortion from groove wear or they don’t even listen to the records they buy; the dealer may not have time to play grade all the records they sell; or–worst of all–the dealer themselves can’t detect distortion from groove wear (in which case they shouldn’t be selling records IMO)! My best guess is the distortion on these records is usually due to people improperly using the records in the past, either having too much tracking force on their tonearm or overplaying them.

A record can look pristine and still have distortion. So when a Plastylite Blue Note is listed as G+, chances are this rating is only a visual grade. I agree that–provided there is no distortion inherent in the grooves–a Blue Note that is heavily scuffed up can still sound great, and this makes sense to me because the quality of the vinyl material and the mastering is so high that superficial scuffs barely “put a dent” in the grooves! This has afforded me some great deal on Blue Notes that were VG visually but played closer to VG++…their loss, my gain 🙂

Without exaggeration, I’d say about *half* of the visually VG and VG+ Plastylite Blue Notes I have bought have had some amount of distortion. As wonderful as these records are and as high-quality as they are, they are not invincible…though I feel like a lot of people think of them that way…maybe it’s because they’ve never been in a situation where they could only afford VG Blue Notes and they’ve always listened to the cream of the crop…?

By: JasonH5

JasonH5 — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:23:39 +0000

One that just ended…I used to have this! and I miss it…

Horace Parlan – Us Three
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HORACE-PARLAN-US-THREE-BLUE-NOTE-4037-ORIG-FIRST-PRESS-MONO-NEAR-MINT-/281050179434?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item416fe5676a&nma=true&si=UnU7ZNGBxMhYUrsLvCwxkTFgl0s%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557