Zeppelin on LP... what to get?

Speciality pressings of HOTH were not so good IMO. My copy had the volume of track one going up after few seconds. My original RL copy sounds perfect and better than Classic. By the way I find Presence on Classic too close on top end. My US copy sounds very well balanced

 

How many Zep LPs did Bob Ludwig master? I see mention of II, III, and HOTH here. Did he also master IV?

 

What's a "GP" pressing?

 

Today I took a brief trip over to my local shop. Found an "RL" of Houses of the Holy (Specialty). I was really hoping to find the same of II and III, but to no avail.

By the way, I'm finding TONS of records (not just Zep) with "PR" in the deadwax. What/Who is that?

 

GP is George Piros

 

Bump!

Also... what's the general opinion on the Peckham/Porkys pressings? I have a Porky copy of IV coming, and I saw one locally as well...

 

I have always wondered who originally mastered the Led Zeppelin stuff as there are no credits on any of the LP sleeves as to who did?

George Peckham is very highly rated in the mastering trade in the UK.
dead wax can have the following...

Porky, Pecko, Porky Prime Cut.
JG

 

Just listened to my George Piros Zep I this weekend. Er um, yet another mixed bag to add to my ever increasing pile of Zep I pressings. Compared to the UK, it lacks bass and dynamics, but very good mid and top end. Compared to the Classic it lacks transparency. Typical smooth Piros mid and topend, very nice. Lets see, Ill take the bottom end of the UK, add it to the bass shy but otherwise excellent Classic version and make me a winner!! Next, I have to try the mint RL HOTH and report back. I certainly have more respect for the Classic and UK than I did before.

Happy Listening!

 

I just played my "RL" copy of HOTH. Actually, I hadn't noticed that ONLY Side One was an RL! Plus there's way too much surface noise.

Anyway, here's the matrix info...

Side One
ST-A-732783-A SM1-2 AT STERLING RL PR SP (the last two are upside down)

Side Two
ST-A-732784-G (illegibel script: @tap?) Specialty logo (S)

You know, Side One would rock if there wasn't so much noise! Side Two sounds like a different record... narrower stage, less low mids... pretty wimpy.

I hope to take this one back this week. There was another RL there that I would like to try.

 

Go for it. My RL rocks big time!

 

Before I pontificate about what sounds best to me...let me start with a question about Led Zep IV.

Back in mid Dec 1971, I bought a US Led Zep IV....with dead wax:

Side 1: PORKY Src ST-A-712285-E AT/GP PR-CK
Side 2: ST-A-712286-E PECKO DUCK AT/GP PR-CK

My question....Did George Peckham cut both early UK and US LED ZEP IV? If so, are the early US and UK any different (other than different vinyl used in the US and UK?). Why also AT/GP on the dead wax? Did Peckham or did Piros cut?

Thanks

 

NOW, YOU REALLY HAVE THROWN THE CAT AMONG THE PIDGEONS.
As I said in a post earlier I don't know who originally mastered the Led Zeppelin albums. I have a plum Atlantic UK pressing which was mastered by George Peckham (Pecko Duck), I also have a US pressing which was mastered by George Piros (GP@AT). But I have never come across a combination of the two. I have bought albums with different masterings credited on each side, e.g. Every Picture Tells A Story (Gilbert Kong/Masterdisk).

 

i just sold an orange and plum with Turquoise writing - it sounded amazing.

if anyone is interested I have an orange and plum Led Zep two for sale, all complete, in ex condition.
I will take a reasonable offer from a forum member,

email me privately if you are interested.


My Led Zep nut colleague swears by the Classics , I 've got a UK 80's pressing and it sounds pretty poor to originals and Classics.

tim

 

What a can of worms this has turned out to be!

I bought a US copy on eBay, and it should arrive this week. Here's what the seller told me was in the deadwax:

AT/MP?

 

My two cents contribution to Led Zep IV opinions:
I can't say what's THE best LED ZEP IV on vinyl, I can only give you opinions about the three pressings I currently own.

1. US Atlantic 1841 Broadway SD 7208 (bought Dec 1971 w/faint specialty SRC stamp)
Side 1: PORKY ST-A-712285-E AT/GP PR-CK
Side 2: ST-A-712286-E PECKO DUCK AT/GP PR-CK

2. US Atlantic 75 Rockefeller SD 19129 Specialty SRC stamp late 70s or early 80s.
Side 1: ST-A-712285-P, @GP [@ is short for AT which is short for Atlantic) GP=Piros
Side 2: ST-A-712286-R, No cutting signatures

3. Classic Records 180g early pressing (pre-ordered)

I've been listening to copy "1" for 33 years...still sounds just right to me. Copy "2" sounds a bit softer and less sharp in terms of resolution but basically the same tone. I would prefer 2 over any CD.
Copy "3" is totally different....POWERFUL base and drums...yet also a higher upper EQ which I find a bit bothersome. Nevertheless, the Classic does give a sense of being closer to the master tape.

Bottom line...some days I may be in the mood for copy 1, others for copy 3. I wouldn't want to be without either.

Cheers

 

I wonder what the difference is between your copy (AT/GP) and the copy I'm getting (AT/MP).

Plus, I thought George Peckham only did UK pressings... was a US engineer putting Porky and Pecko Duck in there just to mimic the UK pressing? Or was George actually involved with the US pressing?

 

I don't know who MP would be. Obviously different cutters.
That was my original question. Is it possible that mothers were shared (UK and US) for the early pressings with Piros additionally signing for some US stampers and MP for others? I just don't know.

 

This past weekend, I saw an "1841 Broadway" version of LZI. I just got the Classic version last week (which rocks, BTW), so I passed. Is it worth having?

 

Why would you pass up on the best Led Zeppelin album of them all!
You can compare it to the Classic and see how good (or not) Classic really are.

I am led to believe the original tapes recorded in England were brought to America and cut there!
JG

 

Yes, maybe someone who knows where the masters were first done could speak up about this...

 

According to Fremer, orig. US 1841 Broadway pressings are the way to go on at least the first four/five LP's (IIRC). Why? Because, according to MF, the UK pressings have a degree of EQ added to them--sort of a layer of lushness overlaid on top of everything, all of which makes the UK LP's sound less like the master tapes than US copies. I passed up, recently, an 1841 B'way pressing of Houses, with "STERLING" and RL in the dead wax. Probably should have got it, but I recently acquired a nice German copy of Houses, with the banner, which says "available on cassette and cartridge" on it, so it's a really early copy. SOunds wonderful. I have nice German copies of III, IV and Houses, an orig. UK of PG (played it last night--my fave LZ album--and it sounded great), a UK plum/red copy of III (havent played it yet), a UK red/green Atlantic copy of II (sounds thin and lifeless) and Canadians of the first five, the third of which is a solid red label orig. All my CDN. LZ LP's sound fantastic, as I have stated before. Tons of bass and quiet vinyl.

 

Thanks to having read this thread, when I was pawing through the grime of my local used-record store's basement today, I started looking for an "RL" copy of Led Zeppelin II. They had about 20 copies of that album, most of them in deplorable condition. Only one of them was an "RL," and luckily it was one of the better-looking ones, condition-wise. So I bought it (for $5). (Jeez ... Mr. Ludwig didn't leave much of a deadwax area on Side 2, did he?!?)

I brought it home and cleaned it up ... and it is far and away the best and most powerful I have ever heard this album sound. My previous favorite copy, an '80s Specialty pressing, is left in the dust.

It does have some noise issues here and there (just in the quiet parts, really), but I'm just glad to be able to hear it this way. (I will be keeping an eye out for a cleaner copy.) "Whole Lotta Love" just knocked me on my behind, in the way I have to believe the band must have wanted it to.

Thanks for the info, everyone. (BTW, the store also had about 40 orange-label copies of Every Picture Tells a Story by Rod Stewart, some of them minty-looking ... but I couldn't remember what to look for in the deadwax. I've since re-read the thread on that album and now I'll have to go back and look for the GK initials ... I checked my white-label promo copy of Never a Dull Moment, which has always been an impressive-sounding record, and sure enough "GK" is in the deadwax on both sides. If you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, here's the thread.)

 

Nice goin', Jeff! I saw another RL LZ II yesterday but it was in the same crappy condition as the one I already have, right down to the trashed cover. People certainly played this one to death....

 

played?????

LZII is not in my deserted island list because I can play it in my head from start to finish.