Issues with the US vinyl edition of Chinese Democracy?

[AC]

Just to clarify, the letter came from a retailer in the US, and has nothing to do with Guns N' Roses, their record company, their record pressing plant, etc. It simply states that unfortunately sometimes records are pressed at lower quality and there is probably nothing you can do about it. Albeit, I'm itching to find out from Jarmo if there's anything that can be done about the Chinese Democracy pressing.

The same retailer that sent me this letter also stated that if I was unhappy with a record I purchased because it skipped or didn't sound (not looked) to be of a normal standard then I could return it, but to be aware that the retailer will take the hit on it, and to also be aware that it's also that retailer that's doing what they can to ensure they can still sell vinyl to us consumers. They could easily opt for the "CD way out" and not have to deal with this.

AA.

[nonlinear]

^^yea, that's pretty clear from reading it.  not sure what erose is getting at.

[erose]

^^yea, that's pretty clear from reading it.  not sure what erose is getting at.

How can you not get that?

I'm wondering who's going to take the blame for this semi massive problem. Something must be done about this don't you think? I'm sure there's a good bunch of money and reputation involved etc.

A few of the questions I asked were, like I wrote, as if the record plant that did the pressing for Chinese Democracy in the U.S. wrote this letter.

I guess it came from a retailer, but the questions still stand.

Who's to fuckin blame for this and what will be and can be done about it? Do you understand that? I can't get any clearer.

To me, it sounds like the plant has fucked up. BUT, if these flawed records sound like the last test pressing then it's somebody else to blame.

Cases like these can go all the way to court so if you want to speculate about the issue, discuss it, you have to ask certain questions. Noone here places blame and thats fine, but someone is to blame i tell you and i wonder who it is and what will be done about it.

This might not be the right thread, but I still think it's worth a thread and a serious discussion.

[nonlinear]

^^i guess only the label and the press know for sure, but I am willing to bet money that the label made a contract with the cheapest press they could find.  seriously, this is one cheap-ass pressing..  at least they made it a gatefold hahah.

vinyl commands much higher prices, and i'm not sure why the record company chose to press a cheap ass album and sell it at $20 when they could have easily made it on 3 180g vinyls with a liner notes book and charged $40 for it.

EDIT:  and at 45 RPM (not 33)

[JuicySwoos]

^^i guess only the label and the press know for sure, but I am willing to bet money that the label made a contract with the cheapest press they could find.  seriously, this is one cheap-ass pressing..  at least they made it a gatefold hahah.

vinyl commands much higher prices, and i'm not sure why the record company chose to press a cheap ass album and sell it at $20 when they could have easily made it on 3 180g vinyls with a liner notes book and charged $40 for it.

EDIT:  and at 45 RPM (not 33)

I agree.  Even a decent standard weight pressing on 3 LPs would suffice over what many people received.  This goes to show you that even though that heavier is "better", it won't matter how heavy it is if the pressing is junk.

Even with all the issues,  I still listen to the CD LP all the time, I just have to get my S.O.D, IRS, and CITR fix via compact disc.   

[Moonlight J]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUGRRUecBik
Pretty cool, but where's the gloves? Aren't CDs made in lab like settings? Perhaps I'm wrong.

[Giant_Robot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUGRRUecBik
Pretty cool, but where's the gloves? Aren't CDs made in lab like settings? Perhaps I'm wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3FQzwNzUE4&feature=related

 

[GNRBABY]

I'll repost what I wrote in an earlier thread:

I have opened up TWO copies of CD on vinyl and both have skips during Chinese Democracy, Better, If The World, and a few others!  The transfer sounds altogether bad too... I bought one copy from online and one from BB in the town I live. Very strange.. Anyone else have these problems? These are both brand new records skipping at the same places on their first spin!

update:

I have adjusted the weight gauge on my stylus (needle) arm and this eliminated 60% of the skips. I discussed this with a vinyl geek friend tonight, and he said it should have been put on 4 LP's, not squeezed onto two LP's. The information is ultra compressed, thus leaving tighter grooves for the needle and compromising the sound. (notice IRS in particular sounds like shit, but has no skips)

If you don't have a weight gauge attach a penny or quarter to your stylus...

[erose]

I have adjusted the weight gauge on my stylus (needle) arm and this eliminated 60% of the skips. I discussed this with a vinyl geek friend tonight, and he said it should have been put on 4 LP's, not squeezed onto two LP's. The information is ultra compressed, thus leaving tighter grooves for the needle and compromising the sound. (notice IRS in particular sounds like shit, but has no skips)

How come the european version is flawless? It's pressed on 2 discs.

I'll have to set up the old record player. This record deserves the vinyl treatment. European style!

[nonlinear]

^^yes, but this still doesn't eliminate the inner groove distortion which, IMO, is a much more severe problem

[nonlinear]

I have adjusted the weight gauge on my stylus (needle) arm and this eliminated 60% of the skips. I discussed this with a vinyl geek friend tonight, and he said it should have been put on 4 LP's, not squeezed onto two LP's. The information is ultra compressed, thus leaving tighter grooves for the needle and compromising the sound. (notice IRS in particular sounds like shit, but has no skips)

How come the european version is flawless? It's pressed on 2 discs.

I'll have to set up the old record player. This record deserves the vinyl treatment. European style!

Is it really?  i didn't know this.  is there a thread anywhere with multiple reports of no fingerprints and no inner groove distortion?  if so, i might have to order a european pressing

[JuicySwoos]

 Like GNR Baby states, the inner grooves on an LP are much smaller,  although the information itself is not "compressed" like an MP3, it is just more information for the stylus to read in a smaller area....when the stylus cannot read the information to its fullest, distortion occurs.  In this regard, the music itself plays a factor with inner groove distortion, and therefore the music itself should play a factor in how many LPs an album should be.  The more information the music has, the higher chance for inner groove distortion and a bigger need for additional LPs to prevent it.   

For instance, because Chin Dem has so many layers of guitars, synths, keyboards, and more than a few mere power cords, that translates into more information that the stylus needs to pick up.  High notes are also more information sensitive, and we all know axl and the band can hit the high notes.  So chin dem is the type of music that would benefit from at least 3 LPs to prevent this.  It is possible that even a great 2 LP pressing of Chin Dem would suffer from bad inner groove distortion. 

On the other hand, less complex music with less "going on" equals less information for the stylus and therefore could be fine with one or two LPs. For instance, on a Britney Spears LP, the songs on the inner grooves will sound just as good as the outer grooves.   

[erose]

I have adjusted the weight gauge on my stylus (needle) arm and this eliminated 60% of the skips. I discussed this with a vinyl geek friend tonight, and he said it should have been put on 4 LP's, not squeezed onto two LP's. The information is ultra compressed, thus leaving tighter grooves for the needle and compromising the sound. (notice IRS in particular sounds like shit, but has no skips)

How come the european version is flawless? It's pressed on 2 discs.

I'll have to set up the old record player. This record deserves the vinyl treatment. European style!

Is it really?  i didn't know this.  is there a thread anywhere with multiple reports of no fingerprints and no inner groove distortion?  if so, i might have to order a european pressing

I'm only asuming this since there's no discussion about it or people who has complaints.

I haven't listened to either of mine yet so I can't say.

But till people tell me otherwise this is an exclusive problem for at least a batch, if not all, of the u.s. pressings.

[nonlinear]

jarmo, do you have a copy of the european pressing (if there even is a different european pressing)?  do those have this inner groove distortion?

[jarmo]

jarmo, do you have a copy of the european pressing (if there even is a different european pressing)?  do those have this inner groove distortion?

Yes I have it.

I'll get back to you on that.



/jarmo

[JuicySwoos]

^^^^^^^^

do let us know! 

[jarmo]

Listened to Street Of Dreams and Catcher In The Rye.

From what I can tell, they sound better. No skipping at all.....


The inner sleeves alone are better quality than the plain white ones that are in the US edition. These are made out of black paper with a plastic coating on the inside.

Also, there are no smudges/finger prints on the LPs.




/jarmo

[Rainfox]

Good news!

 

Hopefully, I'll be getting my record player by April.

[nonlinear]

jarmo, can you confirm that there is no inner groove distortion on the european pressing?

[nonlinear]

just looking at amazon.co.uk, and the vinyl there sells for ?17.59, which is about twice the price of the US pressing.

I guess you get what you pay for, eh?

does anyone in europe know of a cheaper source for this?