Little Phil & Night Shadows Dot 45 defective?

[KipBrown]

I just picked up two unplayed, dead stock copies of Little Phil & The Night Shadows "The Way It Used To Be/So Much" on Dot. They are pressed on vinyl, not styrene like a lot of 60's Dot singles.

Both copies play with a LOT of surface noise and the songs even sound somewhat distorted, like they were mastered poorly and the pressing plant used regrind vinyl. I did a surface cleaning and even wet played them to see if maybe some crud had settled into the grooves but it made no difference. Best I was able to do was make a somewhat easier to listen to digital file while playing it wet. I even played it again after the wet play cleaning but still no change.

Is this a known, common issue with copies of this particular record across the board, or did I just get a couple of defective copies?

Weird that they BOTH would have this same issue, even though they have never touched a needle before I got them.

 

[MopTopMike]

Hey Kip!
Good to see you here.
I pulled out my copy. I won it from a Vic Figlar collection sell off in the early 1990s. I do not hear any audio defect. My copy is practically mint and yes vinyl. I have had some lesser grade spares over the years but they also played well. Fidelity is not quite as crisp as a Columbia label garage 45 in the treble region or a boomy bass bottom but enjoyable.

 

[KipBrown]

Hey Mop Top!

Thanks for the info. I listened to the video clips on the Discogs listing and that copy has some of the same surface noise and underlying distortion as this one, so it appears that's just how they are. It's less prevalent on the "The Way It Used To Be" side but more so on "So Much". The run out groove is especially noisy on "So Much". I suspect regrind vinyl may be the culprit here.

 

[bosshoss]

My copy plays well, and it is vinyl. The vinyl is virgin quality, not recycled. I agree with Mike's assessment of the sound quality. My copy has deadwax markings MB-21118 / 9, stamped not handwritten. Having 2 copies with surface noise does seem unusual, although the bass recording on the 45 is a bit boomy and could be causing stylus mistracking, possibly sounding like recycled vinyl or poor mastering.

 

[KipBrown]

My copy plays well, and it is vinyl. The vinyl is virgin quality, not recycled. I agree with Mike's assessment of the sound quality. My copy has deadwax markings MB-21118 / 9, stamped not handwritten. Having 2 copies with surface noise does seem unusual, although the bass recording on the 45 is a bit boomy and could be causing stylus mistracking, possibly sounding like recycled vinyl or poor mastering.

Hey Mark!

I have found that increasing the stylus weight does minimize the distortion a bit and some of the surface noise. Mine has the same machine stamped matrix number with an "H" elsewhere in the dead wax as well.

These both came out of dead stock and have been sitting in storage since 1966. They still have the Dot company sleeves!

I think it's interesting that the videos with the Discogs listing have some of the same issues as these. Maybe these were from the end of the run and the plates were getting worn out?

 

[bosshoss]

I happened to be doing vinyl to digital transfers of the letter "L" this week, so I have straight transfers of my copy of Little Phil. You can compare the sound and surface noise to your own copy. My (stereo pickup) transfers are straight from the deck, no eq, no noise removal or any processing at all. You can hear how much bass power is present on the original pressing. There is some noise and also a general lack of clarity, but it's nothing too bad.

http://www.g45central.com/posts/LittlePhil_TheWayItUsedToBe.mp3

http://www.g45central.com/posts/LittlePhil_SoMuch.mp3

 

[KipBrown]

I happened to be doing vinyl to digital transfers of the letter "L" this week, so I have straight transfers of my copy of Little Phil. You can compare the sound and surface noise to your own copy. My (stereo pickup) transfers are straight from the deck, no eq, no noise removal or any processing at all. You can hear how much bass power is present on the original pressing. There is some noise and also a general lack of clarity, but it's nothing too bad.

http://www.g45central.com/posts/LittlePhil_TheWayItUsedToBe.mp3

http://www.g45central.com/posts/LittlePhil_SoMuch.mp3

Thanks, Mark. Those are very similar to how mine sound. Muddy bottom with a general lack of clarity on the high end. I guess that's just how they are. Mine still has considerably more surface noise on the "So Much" side than yours, however.