jas@proteon.com (John A. Shriver) (11/09/90)
The FR lacquers were almost always pressed at RCA Indianapolis. The check is for an I (Indy) in the leadout area, and an RCA stamper number of the A1, A2, A3, B1 form. (I have seen one one FR lacquer not pressed by RCA, and the I had been crossed out.) RCA appears to have had a very hard long lasting vinyl, with a distinctively good sound. RCA is not perfect on surface noise. The RFR's were pressed by Philips own facilites. The pressings are thinner, the vinyl less rigid. Surface noise is unpredictable. I have seen some tendency for RFR pressings to be brighter. I don't know that this is a process problem per-se, or whether Piros had just managed to tweak more highs out of his Westrex cutters. Many Mercuries are only available in RFR pressings. I suspect that folks would prefer an FR-1, if only becuase it is "first". However, later pressings will have the advantage of the improvements Piros did make on the cutter. The M lacquers have been uniformly the pits. These are the dreaded Philips remasterings. In my experience, a Golden Import can better an M lacquer. I wonder if M meant "mono-compatible", implying serious blending for minimum out-of-phase (vertical) modulation. (Mercuries have a lot of out-of-phase info. The hard to track spots usually consist of a sharp curve combined with a rapid decrease in groove depth. The stylus just gets launched.) I don't really care what the paper stuck in the middle of the biscuit is. My white and green label promos don't seem to be any more carefully struk (or quieter) than others. If they've really been used at a radio station, they can be quite abused. The same with Vendor pressings, it's just words on paper. All Vendor pressings are RFR lacquers. This may be what gave Vendor a bad name per-se. Some orange labels are pressed by RCA, but in the early 70's, when RCA was not what you would call a paradigm of pressing quality. The oval label will be found on both RFR and M pressings. If the pressing is an RFR, it probably is fine. It may be noiser than an older pressing.