Pressing Defect?

[socfan12]

Hey Vinyl Gurus:scholar::

Saw an LP at a used record store that I'm interested in. While examining the vinyl, I noticed what looked like a small 1/16" - 1/8" little dimple in the vinyl. It didn't look like a scratch but what I suspect is a pressing defect. I've seen this on a few LPs before, albeit not often.

You can see it in this crappy phone pic. Just follow the top of the light band and you'll see it in the third track. Anyone know if this affects sonics? It looks smooth, so don't think the needle will skip. Will it effect resale value later (it is a hard to find LP).

Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated. Should I still get it and not worry about it? BTW, the picture makes it look bigger than it really is. In real life, it is tough to find...

 

[billhart]

Kinda of hard to know without play testing it; will the store let you return if you point it out before you buy? Record collectors are pretty much all over the lot in terms of what they are willing to accept; i'm more of a playback quality than visual quality kind of person, but some collectors want absolutely flawless looking copies. It is pretty hard to generalize, because the really rare records are sometimes very hard to find in near perfect condition. But generally, any little flaw is going to detract from a top dollar price in my experience.

 

[socfan12]

Thx, for the quick reply reply, Bill. Understand what you are saying. This is for Bowie Man of Words/Man of Music LP, Mercury pressing. Fairly rare and in mint condition (sleeve, vinyl) other than that little dimple. Sigh...

 

[billhart]

Thx, for the quick reply reply, Bill. Understand what you are saying. This is for Bowie Man of Words/Man of Music LP, Mercury pressing. Fairly rare and in mint condition (sleeve, vinyl) other than that little dimple. Sigh...

So, ask if they'll let you return it if it affects playback. It's kind of hard to tell from the photo how much of a depression there is in what you are calling a dimple. I've seen 'dents' like that in surfaces that had small hairline cracks emanating from them; assumed somebody dropped something on the record. That's the U.S. version of the Bowie album with Space Oddity that was on Philips in the UK, before it got renamed, right? I've heard the original UK, not the Mercury.

 

[Myles B. Astor]

Hey Vinyl Gurus:scholar::

Saw an LP at a used record store that I'm interested in. While examining the vinyl, I noticed what looked like a small 1/16" - 1/8" little dimple in the vinyl. It didn't look like a scratch but what I suspect is a pressing defect. I've seen this on a few LPs before, albeit not often.

You can see it in this crappy phone pic. Just follow the top of the light band and you'll see it in the third track. Anyone know if this affects sonics? It looks smooth, so don't think the needle will skip. Will it effect resale value later (it is a hard to find LP).

Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated. Should I still get it and not worry about it? BTW, the picture makes it look bigger than it really is. In real life, it is tough to find...

View attachment 12366

The opposite of a bubble. I'd be hard pressed to think you won't hear that.

 

[socfan12]

Yes it is, Bill. You've got the UK Philips pressing? That is supposed to be THE one to get. Nice! I have a UK pressing of Space Oddity coming I think, so a much later pressing. Still supposed to sound very good.

 

[billhart]

Yes it is, Bill. You've got the UK Philips pressing? That is supposed to be THE one to get. Nice! I have a UK pressing of Space Oddity coming I think, so a much later pressing. Still supposed to sound very good.

Don't own the copy i heard, a collector friend brought it over to listen to, along with a really early UK Crimson In the Court, a UK first press LZ1 (sans the turquoise lettering) and some other uber records. I don't consider records to be a good investment, but just in the last few years, any of the UK stuff I bought- Vertigos, early pink labels, some Harvests, etc. seem to have sky-rocketed. Maybe it is a bubble, I dunno. I know collectors that only buy 'perfect' records, but they pay for those; I know others that find perfect records and pay almost nothing, but they have 'secret' sources, and spend their time crate digging. It's all a time/money issue, i think. There are a couple of records on my short list that are big bucks, but very hard to find in top condition.

 

[socfan12]

The opposite of a bubble. I'd be hard pressed to think you won't hear that.

I was afraid of that, but I think you're right. I'm trying to find good pressings of David Bowie lately and this showed up in the store. It seemed almost too good to be true. I guess it was.

 

[puroagave]

over the past year alone i've knowingly acquired many used records with dimples, the vinyl was otherwise NM except for the pressing defect. After playing them on my rig I was surprised my carts could track them and more importantly they were inaudible for the most part.

why keep them? because the record is scarce in any condition. I've gone through 4 different copies of the same LP (pressed during the '90s) and all of them were like this. vinyl QC really sucked during this period.

 

[socfan12]

I'm waiting for my new phono stage to come in, otherwise I would do as Bill says, try it and return if necesary. It was an immaculate copy other than this one defect. Outer sleeve was gorgeous.

Rob, I too have seen a number of good LPs with this defect. One was a Rabin LP that goes for about $1K on the bay. I passed on that particular copy for this reason.