G45 GBase Thinktank

I would change "crazed" to punk - your BFTG type sounds. Crazed is too wide-ranging
I'd also add "mod" (beat with horns, brass, etc, soulish type) to the drop down style category.
Rocker too, don't think I saw that one, to cover things that have the earlier, pre Brit rockin' style.

For the pressing plants, you should show the dropdown for RCA as RCA Custom, not Victor, as that was the official department for custom clients.
I also think you should designate the code for the pressings, followed by the company name:

MW - Midwest Pressings
ZAFX -
ARP - Archer Record Pressings
SRC - Standard Record Pressings
F/W - Frankford-Wayne
CO - Cook Labs Record Press
SoN - Sound of Nashville press (important: the o must be shown in lowercase, as there is a code of SON which is not related, started circa 1969/1970 in the NYC area)
SO - Southern Record Pressings
TM - Ter-Mar recording studios pressing
SS - Stereo Sound pressings

Etc!
 
I had planned to make a booklet of all the pressing plants and the tables (like the one the collector made in 1972 for the Monarch plant in LA) but I think now I will just create the tables I have caculated for dozens of pressings so far (Dover, LH/SH, SO, SoN, TM, Rite, Rainbo, PRP, SJW/Wakefield....and have Mark publish them in conjunction with the G45 database, this will allow for more refinement once we get new unknown data via contributions.

I also agree - leave LP's out, make a completely separate database for those. I'd keep EPs as part of the 45 listing, as many 45s were done strictly as EPs -the Classics on RAM, Mike Vetro & Cellar Dwellers 6 song EP, Jack & The Rippers 45 EP (Texas group) are some that come to mind right off. Shame to have to leave them out.
 
Another thing I believe should be changed / adopted concerns the "type" of pressing (materials, not format)

There are several cases of 45s being manufactured as styrene and vinyl. Case in point- Squires ""Going All The Way".
There are three types of pressings, with several variants to each (variant meaning stock and promo labels)
The two east coast pressings out of the NYC area are both vinyl pressings (the fonts, or type face for the titles / group name are not the same), and the Monarch (delta) pressing from LA, which is styrene.
There is a promo of the better-sounding east coast pressing, along with a stock label pressing.
The noisy pressing East coast press I have only seen as a stock label press. These were the types found in the quantity find back in the mid 1980s. They are easily visually identified by the small, boldface black print for the title and group name. On the better sounding vinyl pressing from the East Coast, the serif font, larger print of Squires" is not in boldface, ditto for the song titles.

For some odd reason the pressing plant code found on most east coast Atlantic / Atco label pressings was left off the Squires 45 labels. I believe the noisy press of "Going All The Way" was done by the plant that has the "PL" suffix found on some Atlantic / Atco label pressings. They used recycled vinyl, it seems - thinner vinyl pressings, you can actually see the scuff marks even with the naked eye when looked at close-up.

The other example I can think of for a non major label 45 is the Enfields "she Already Has somebody".
Three different pressings. The local only pressing is vinyl, and shows the band member names at the bottom of the label.
Then there are two pressings done via distribution by Laurie Records -a vinyl pressing, stock yellow label (RCA custom - New Jersey branch) and a Monarch pressing (stock yellow and white label promo) both styrene.

Somehow the database should allow for such instances.
 
The pressing plant, city, and defect sections need 'other' selections, unless you intend to have all worldwide pressing plants ID'ed (a very worthy endevor if someone wants to try it). Add text entry fields to specify the other.

FYI - there is no 'Mercury' pressing plant. They used a contract plant in Richmond, IN that also did custom pressings. I think it was called Richmond plastics.
 
buckeyebeat said:
The pressing plant, city, and defect sections need 'other' selections, unless you intend to have all worldwide pressing plants ID'ed (a very worthy endevor if someone wants to try it). Add text entry fields to specify the other.

FYI - there is no 'Mercury' pressing plant. They used a contract plant in Richmond, IN that also did custom pressings. I think it was called Richmond plastics.
Click to expand...

Right! the same plant that pressed the Airtown label 45s, identified by the RW prefix. They used YW1 or 2 for the prefix on Mercury label pressings.

If Mark wants to add the Columbia custom pressings, , they should be listed as follows

ZTSB (Columbia Custom/Nasville account)
ZTSC (columbia Custom, Chicago account)
ZTSP (Columbia Custom / New York account)
These do not identify the pressing plants, just the offices which assigned the master numbers

RCA Customs should be listed as:

H (machine stamped) RCA Custom, Los Angeles *I have never seen an etched "H" on an RCa press from Cali.
I etched or machine stamped) RCA Custom Indianapolis
R (etched or machine stamped) RCA Custom, New Jersey

Then, there are plants which used no code at all, like AudioMatrix, Bestway (New Jersey)

i didn't check, but Nashville Matrix should not be listed in the pressings drop down menu. They only provided the plating service and metal stampers from master tapes or discs. They did not press any records at their plant.
 
MopTopMike said:
I would change "crazed" to punk - your BFTG type sounds. Crazed is too wide-ranging
I'd also add "mod" (beat with horns, brass, etc, soulish type) to the drop down style category.
Rocker too, don't think I saw that one, to cover things that have the earlier, pre Brit rockin' style.

For the pressing plants, you should show the dropdown for RCA as RCA Custom, not Victor, as that was the official department for custom clients.
I also think you should designate the code for the pressings, followed by the company name:

MW - Midwest Pressings
ZAFX -
ARP - Archer Record Pressings
SRC - Standard Record Pressings
F/W - Frankford-Wayne
CO - Cook Labs Record Press
SoN - Sound of Nashville press (important: the o must be shown in lowercase, as there is a code of SON which is not related, started circa 1969/1970 in the NYC area)
SO - Southern Record Pressings
TM - Ter-Mar recording studios pressing
SS - Stereo Sound pressings

Etc!
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike. All of the above has been implemented already. I will need help with some of the missing codes, if I can't find them using Google.
 
MopTopMike said:
I had planned to make a booklet of all the pressing plants and the tables (like the one the collector made in 1972 for the Monarch plant in LA) but I think now I will just create the tables I have caculated for dozens of pressings so far (Dover, LH/SH, SO, SoN, TM, Rite, Rainbo, PRP, SJW/Wakefield....and have Mark publish them in conjunction with the G45 database, this will allow for more refinement once we get new unknown data via contributions.

I also agree - leave LP's out, make a completely separate database for those. I'd keep EPs as part of the 45 listing, as many 45s were done strictly as EPs -the Classics on RAM, Mike Vetro & Cellar Dwellers 6 song EP, Jack & The Rippers 45 EP (Texas group) are some that come to mind right off. Shame to have to leave them out.
Click to expand...

OK! It's worth noting that EP's and LP's are exactly the same concept, data storage-wise. So if you have one, you automatically have the other. Meaning, an LP is just an EP with more tracks, and EP's will have to have unlimited tracks anyway.
 
MopTopMike said:
There are three types of pressings, with several variants to each (variant meaning stock and promo labels)
The two east coast pressings out of the NYC area are both vinyl pressings (the fonts, or type face for the titles / group name are not the same), and the Monarch (delta) pressing from LA, which is styrene.
There is a promo of the better-sounding east coast pressing, along with a stock label pressing.
The noisy pressing East coast press I have only seen as a stock label press. These were the types found in the quantity find back in the mid 1980s. They are easily visually identified by the small, boldface black print for the title and group name. On the better sounding vinyl pressing from the East Coast, the serif font, larger print of Squires" is not in boldface, ditto for the song titles.

For some odd reason the pressing plant code found on most east coast Atlantic / Atco label pressings was left off the Squires 45 labels. I believe the noisy press of "Going All The Way" was done by the plant that has the "PL" suffix found on some Atlantic / Atco label pressings. They used recycled vinyl, it seems - thinner vinyl pressings, you can actually see the scuff marks even with the naked eye when looked at close-up.
...
.
Click to expand...

I have changed the wax-type to include the option "vinyl and styrene variants", in addition to "vinyl" and "styrene".

For the more complex situations you describe above, we will have to rely on the running commentary which will be displayed below each 45. For example your entire comment above could be included under the Squires entry as a comment.
There's no way I can imagine having data fields defined to cope with all the different possible variations of each record pressed.
 
buckeyebeat said:
The pressing plant, city, and defect sections need 'other' selections, unless you intend to have all worldwide pressing plants ID'ed (a very worthy endevor if someone wants to try it). Add text entry fields to specify the other.

FYI - there is no 'Mercury' pressing plant. They used a contract plant in Richmond, IN that also did custom pressings. I think it was called Richmond plastics.
Click to expand...
All the above changes have been made, except for the conditional pop-up "Other" text entry field which will need Javascript which I don't know yet. Thanks George.
 
MopTopMike said:
Right! the same plant that pressed the Airtown label 45s, identified by the RW prefix. They used YW1 or 2 for the prefix on Mercury label pressings.

If Mark wants to add the Columbia custom pressings, , they should be listed as follows

ZTSB (Columbia Custom/Nasville account)
ZTSC (columbia Custom, Chicago account)
ZTSP (Columbia Custom / New York account)
These do not identify the pressing plants, just the offices which assigned the master numbers

RCA Customs should be listed as:

H (machine stamped) RCA Custom, Los Angeles *I have never seen an etched "H" on an RCa press from Cali.
I etched or machine stamped) RCA Custom Indianapolis
R (etched or machine stamped) RCA Custom, New Jersey

Then, there are plants which used no code at all, like AudioMatrix, Bestway (New Jersey)

i didn't check, but Nashville Matrix should not be listed in the pressings drop down menu. They only provided the plating service and metal stampers from master tapes or discs. They did not press any records at their plant.
Click to expand...

All the above has been implemented, thanks Mike.
 
A further thought on the "comments". Maybe it would be good to have 2 grades of comments. The first grade would be "moderator" comments, made by a panel of perhaps 10 very knowledgeable G45 members. The "public" comments would be open to anyone, but they would appear after the "moderator" comments. This would ensure that comments such as the one Mike wrote above for the Squires, would always remain at the top of the comments list, and not get lost in a sea of potential inane public banter (no offence, anyone!).
 
Would it be easier for the moderator to "pin" the best comments from the public to the top? I'm sure this would allow for greater input and allow contributors to be acknowledge for their contributions. :)
 
Monster Mike said:
Would it be easier for the moderator to "pin" the best comments from the public to the top? I'm sure this would allow for greater input and allow contributors to be acknowledge for their contributions. :)
Click to expand...
That would be a great idea Mike. Also the Moderator could "pin" his own comment of course. I sure hope Aaron can help me to program all this stuff (I'm sure he can!)
 
More abbreviations to place in front of the full company name:

NR - Nashville Recordings

PRP - Precision Records Pressing

QCA - Queen City Albums

R - Rainbo Record Pressings (Hollywood, CA)

RI - Recordings, Inc. (Baltimore, MD)

RW - Richmond (Richmond, IN)

Rite - Rite Record Manufacturing (Cincinnati, OH)

SO - is actually Southern Plastics, so update the two listed into the one correct entry

SS:M - Stereo Sound (Chicago, IL) (replaces what I initially had posted)

Missing outfits: includes labels and distributors which pressed records

Archer (Detroit, MI)

Century Custom (franchised operations)

Custom Fidelity Rec. (Burbank, CA)

Cuca Records (Sauk city, WI)

Dover (New Orleans, LA)

International Rec. Co. (Chicago, IL)

King Custom Rec. Services (Cincinnati, OH)

Magnetic Rec. Studios (Columbus, OH)

TSS - Texas Sound Studios (San Antonio, TX)

for the RCA customs, I would have them shown first, followed in parenthesis
example

RCA Custom (H machine stamp) Hollywood, CA
RCA Custom (I etch or machine stamp) Indianapolis, IN
RCA Custom (R etch or machine stamp) Rockaway, NJ

There are some which should be deleted from the list too, I'll go thru it again after corrections.
I would also eliminate the drop down for pressing plant location - just list them as shown.
 
A few more things;

For the "Style" drop down I would add

Mersey / Invasion - to cover those early '64/65 type sounds
also missing:

Instrumental

I think we should have a drop down for quantity finds (QF) just for "YES" then a range
for

Year range of quantity find - (1970s) (1980s), (1990s) (2000s+)

amounts
(10-50); (50-100) (100-250) (250-500) (500+) etc.
The Soothsayers "Please Don't Be Mad" would be (1980s) (500+)

This will help counter-act against those no-nuthin ebay sellers who try and hype a record as rare because they have never seen it and know little about it.
 
Since you are going the extra distance to make comprehensive pressing plant listings, you should add these

Musicol

Kelmar/Boddie (Beau Denturies +)

G&C (Mystic Five +)

Gateway (Sound Barrier +)

MTM - do you know the story about the TAD- record pressings? For example, some of the NWI related records like the Fugatives?

Angelus (was this Custom Fidelity?)
 
A few more

Premier Pressings (C and TS prefix) (St. Louis, MO)

Columbia Custom (no code) - not all Columbia custom pressings show a code on them (ZTSC, for example...) The Something Wild 45 was pressed at Columbia's Custom offices and studios in Santa Maria, CA. There were pressings also done elsewhere with no code.

L - Longmark Productions (Utica & NYC, NY)

GQP - Gateway Rec. Studios, (Pittsburgh, PA)

Sound Labs Rec. Studios (Jacksonville, FL)

buckeyebeat:

G&C - yeah, that was the prefix code from Fenway Record distributing in Pittsburgh, PA

I thought most Mus-I-Col releases were sent to Rite?

TAD: the Exotics (Dallas) "Come With Me" 1st pressing (small print) was pressed out in the PNW.
I've got paperwork somewhere.

Angelus label - The only 45 I have on the imprint is the Queen's Mates. It has a WR prefix in the deadwax. number matches the same number on the label.

The Custom Fidelity client paid for (client got all the 45s) pressings have a master code like so:
A5LA887
The former owner and the former engineer didn't have the paperwork (damn!) anymore, but they did shed a few clues as to how to read the code. I'm trying to assemble as many as I can from known releases in order to make sure that it is accurate. The last 3 digits run sequentially, a la Rite pressings.
The above code is from the Disillusioned younger Generation 45. The code places the release as being pressed in 1969.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Al.Burnett1966
The Great Wall 4-song acetate
Replies
10
Views
405
The Raven
The Raven
Al.Burnett1966
60's Forgotten Things Compilation LP - Welcome To The Wilderness
Replies
6
Views
766
Al.Burnett1966
Al.Burnett1966
M
Love Me (Don't) ?
Replies
2
Views
230
masterbeat64
M
M
Living without the Past
Replies
7
Views
530
masterbeat64
M
chas_kit
Monarch, Alco, AFM Engineering
Replies
2
Views
324
chas_kit
chas_kit