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.

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.

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).