Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 5 of 5)

The domestic release date (June 21, 1984) is
stamped in red on the folded Japanese insert
and given in the Japanese imperial year format
[(Showa) 59 = 1984].

Before starting this topic, I had never thought that I would write five consecutive blog posts about one of the most, if not the most, mediocre collectibles in his entire vinyl LP catalogue (mass-produced regular pressings, I mean), and this is the last one. In the last two posts, I paid particular attention to the dead wax width of various different pressings of the mega-hit album with the early regular U.S. pressing as a reference, since this physical parameter is an undistinguished but fundamental determinant for vinyl disc variations. Then, what was unexpected to me was that at least a few non-U.S. pressings, such as Filipino and Dutch, are in fact made using the U.S. disc masters, as indicated by the MASTERDISK stamp on their run-off groove area (along with Ludwig's etched initials RL on the former vinyl pressing), which is not the case for other major releases like the U.K. pressings.

Two horizontal dashed lines of green color on top of the composite label image indicate the width of dead wax space of the early U.S. pressing; a single dashed pink line denotes that of the Japanese test pressing. 
 

Two various artist promo CD rarities from SONY Japan featuring
Born In The U.S.A. They are released in the early 1990’s with a
booklet. The deluxe packaged COMMEMORATIVE COMPACT DISCS
(SONY TDCD 90042-90043) is a double CD set that includes both
domestic and overseas artists. HAKURAIKUN ENCYCLOPEDIA
(SONY XDCS 93098-93101) is a 4-CD volume containing foreign
artists exclusively. "HAKURAI" means seaborne or imported
articles/goods/products while “KUN” is a honorific suffix
mainly used for males. It is of note that the HAKURAIKUN set
uses facial shots of a company executive and an employee
on the front and rear sleeves, respectively (and that’s why
the images are not shown here).

And then the Japanese pressings (CBS/SONY 28AP 2850 for test, sample and regular releases; 30AP 2878 for Mastersound issue). As shown above, compared with the early U.S. pressing, the test pressing has an obviously narrow dead wax space, and this observation is also true for the first pressing (shown here is a sample copy with an original vertical obi). Interestingly, the dead wax space of the second pressing (the issue with a horizontal obi) has become narrower than those of the test and first pressings, which means that it was pressed using newly cut master lacquers. This reflects the differences in machine-stamped matrix number suffixes (28AP-2850A1 versus 28AP-2850A2 on Side A and 28AP-2850B1 versus 28AP-2850B2 on Side B of test/first versus second pressings, respectively). The Mastersound disc shows the same dead wax width on Side A as those of the test/first pressings although this release has yet another combination of matrix numbers (30AP-2878A2 on Side A; 30AP-2878B1 on Side B).

By the way, a series of CBS/Sony's Mastersound releases in the 1980s are processed by either one of the following methodologies: digital recording (DR), digital mastering (DM), half-speed mastering (HM), or direct disk (DD) cutting. Unfortunately, the Springsteen album is subjected to DM whose effect on improving the sound quality (of analog recordings) is the most questionable among the four available (even though the disc is thick and made from high-quality material). So, I still prefer the loud sound of the original U.S. edition among various vinyl pressings worldwide that include Japanese releases mentioned here.

Finally, what is the most widely known Springsteen's song in Japan?  Born To Run, Thunder Road, Hungry Heart (his first smash hit single here) or Dancing In The Dark ?  No, no, it's most probably Born In The U.S.A. because of the album's sales and the impressive opening performance during the promotional world tour that stopped in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, in the mid-April 1985. Therefore, the title track of the best-selling album is featured more often on Sony's custom promo compilation albums than the aforementioned classics are (pictured above are two examples of such CD releases). So, you can easily guess the stereotype or fixed image most Japanese generally still have of him.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 4 of 5)

Another flawed copy of the album from my
collection is the U.K. first pressing, as indicated
by the matrix number CBS-86304-A1, which
comes with the blank label on Side One.

As mentioned in the last post, the original or early copies of BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP (Columbia QC 38653) manufactured in the U.S. have wide deadwax on Side One, which in addition to the matrix hand-etching RL, is a feature associated with the vinyl pressings mastered by Robert "Bob" Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME. On the other hand, the later pressings with narrow deadwax, where his initials are absent, are not cut by this Mastering Maestro, despite whom the album production credits refer to as mastering engineer on the album inner sleeve. This fact just made me wondering about the deadwax width of various copies of the album pressed in countries other than the U.S. Here for making comparison, I picked up several of the copies randomly from my collection.

Two horizontal dashed lines of green color on top of the image indicate the width of deadwax space of the early U.S. pressing. Not sure if the Italian and Mexican copies shown here correspond to a very early pressing released in each country (matrix numbers are CI 86304-1L-16-5-84 and 50-04-16122-1B-1, respectively, on Side One).

Initially, I thought that the "wider deadwax" pressings were confined to the early U.S. copies with the matrix RL inscription because Ludwig had nothing to do with lacquer master cutting for non-U.S. pressings (i.e., mastering and cutting of the lacquers for vinyl pressing were done independently in individual countries after master recording tapes were received from the US Columbia Records). In fact, as shown above, the (supposedly early) copies released in the U.K., Italy, and Mexico show variation in deadwax space with narrow width.   [By the way, in Japan and probably in other countries, Direct Metal Masters (DM or DMM) were used instead of master recording tapes for pressing the subsequent two albums, LIVE/1975-85 (Columbia C5X 40558) and TUNNEL OF LOVE (Columbia OC 40999). So, there are probably no differences in the deadwax width (and sound quality) between non-U.S. and U.S. pressings for these albums. The deadwax of such pressings is commonly inscribed with MASTERDISK which often accompanies a DM or DMM hand-etching.]

Both Filipino and Dutch pressings carry a MASTERDISK stamp on each side of deadwax space, an indication of the U.S. origin of master lacquers that were utilized for vinyl pressing in these countries.
 

Upper: The Filipino LP is known for the modified front sleeve that
uses orange fonts for artist name and additionally mentions 
five featured tracks beneath the album title/artist.
Lower: The deadwax carries the matix number information 
just like that of the early U.S. pressings
(RL inscription is encircled).

Contrary to my thoughts, however, "wider deadwax" pressings do exist, except for the U.S. release. The composite image right above shows Dutch, Filipino, and ex-East German pressings whose deadwax space is comparable in size to or even wider than that of the early U.S. copy. Notably, the Made-In-Philippines disc is machine-stamped with MASTERDISK and inscribed with RL in addition to the unique Filipino-specific codes with the prefix QCL (see below). According to Discogs, there is a U.S. (Pitman factory) pressing with the same matrix numbers (suffixes, -3AA/-2AL; both stamp and initials present), indicating that the lacquers, metal mothers, or stampers were most probably imported from the U.S.

     Side One:  P AL-38653-3AA   MASTERDISK  RL   QCL-22110-A
     Side Two:  P BL-38653-2AL   MASTERDISK  RL   QCL-22110-B
                      (hand-etched, italics; stamped, upright font)

What does the inscription NL refer to?  Initials for an unknown mastering engineer?  Nah, I guess Netherlands (totally no evidence, though). BTW, my Dutch copy comes with a red sticker which is specific to the initial pressing?

The Dutch pressing also has the machine stamp, but instead of Ludwig's initials, a two-letter code, NL, is inscribed on both sides of record's trail-off area. It may represent the initials of yet unknown mastering engineer who did cut this Dutch pressing. I suppose a different case: the U.S. Columbia Records (hence, Bob Ludwig or his colleague at Gateway Mastering Studios) prepared lacquers, mothers, or stampers specially for the Dutch pressing, just because of my speculation that the two matrix inscriptions, INT and NL, could mean "International" and "Nether Lands," respectively. No evidence and pure speculation, though.

     Side One:  B    PAL-38653-INT   MASTERDISK  NL    01-86304-4A-1 A
     Side Two:  A    PBL-38653-INT   MASTERDISK  NL    01-86304-6B-1

The ex-East German disc, on the other hand, has obviously no relation to the U.S. pressings in terms of master cutting, as it has machine-stamped unique matrix numbers (8 56 222-1B    I 86  I  C/8 56 222-2A    I 86  I  C for my copy).

Then, how about the Japanese pressings?
— To be continued.

Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Matrix numbers of the earliest U.S. pressing and an error copy with off-centered labels (Part 3 of 5)

The width of the dead-wax space is about 21 mm long for the early
vinyl discs and 13 mm for the repressed copies.

Back to the early U.S. pressings of the mega-hit album. In the first post of this topic, I wrote about the three features that are prerequisite for such vinyl pressings: a blue & white sticker pasted on the shrink wrap of the album sleeve and two signatures (MASTERDISK stamp and RL inscription) on the run-off groove space of the vinyl disc. Additionally, there is yet another point by which a given copy can be distinguished from the later pressings. The early discs mastered by Robert "Bob" Ludwig have an apparently wider dead-wax space compared to the repressings. This difference is found on Side One only. It is of note, however, that some vinyl pressings lack the RL hand-etching even though the run-off area is wider. As I mentioned in the last blog, one such example is the copies with the matrix number PAL 38653-3L. I don't know if he happened to forget to inscribe his initials on the master lacquer or if this particular pressing indeed is not mastered by him (though unlikely).

The difference in stylus-tracing groove length per unit time affects 
the fidelity of sound that a vinyl record can reproduce.

Dead-wax spacing is one of the various factors that affect the sound of vinyl disc; the others include the generation of master tapes used, the condition of the tapes, the mastering process, the equipment used, and so on. Given a same recording on LP format, less dead-wax spacing (meaning the wider groove spacing) seems to provide more dynamic sound. However, such a spacing would cause relatively less sound fidelity as the playback progresses and the stylus gradually moves towards the center hole. This is because the stylus runs at slower rates of speed through inner grooves than outer grooves (i.e., the circumferential length per rotation becomes shorter as the stylus traces from the outer to the inner groove of a record even though the disc spins at a constant speed of 33⅓ or 45 rpm). So, the wider dead-wax spacing (= narrower groove spacing) results in less usage of the lower-fidelity inner grooves. Not being an audiophile but just a vinyl collector, I'm not sure if my understanding is correct. The fact that needs attention here is that Bob Ludwig's mastering gave greater amount of dead wax on this LP.→ The updated information is available (10/10/2020).
— To be continued.