Collecting log: BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP ー Bob Ludwig has recut the master lacquer for SIDE ONE

Selling 15,000,000 copies in the United States only, the U.S. pressing of BORN IN THE U.S.A. LP (Columbia QC 38653) is quite cheap and widely available, making it the most mediocre or insignificant vinyl collectible among his entire back catalog. However, there are many variations in the dead-wax matrix numbers simply because of the huge copy number, hence numerous different pressings. This has prompted me to seek out the matrix numbers for the earliest U.S. edition of the best-seller album, which has been reported in a five-consecutive blog last year (08/14/2019 to 09/30/2019). 

The latest purchases of the three U.S. copies with a mastering maestro's "RL" dead-wax marking cost less than one coin (= 500 Yen) for each: one shrink-wrapped with an original blue/white sticker while the other two without shrinks. These discs are not VERY early pressings as evidenced by the matrix numbers (whose suffix codes are labeled in green on each copy), but collector-wise, I found some interesting facts on the dead-wax portion of these discs.

For most of Springsteen's vinyl albums from the 1970s to 1980s released in the U.S. from Columbia Records, early pressings are knowable by matrix number suffixes that encode a given disc's pressing history. They are usually a combination of a single number (referring to the version of master tape used) and alphabetical letter(s) (reflecting the lacquer-cutting number from a given master tape; one-letter codes denote earlier cuttings than two-letter codes). From what I've observed, the suffix codes for this album are roughly grouped into two types: those for the relatively early pressings typically start with "3" and "2" on Sides One and Two, respectively, followed by one or two letters (like 3B or 2AC), whereas the late pressings further add a "G" at the beginning of codes (like G3V or G2AD)*. As I previously posted (08/14/2019), the earliest example of Side One/Two combinations found in my collection is 3A/2A (the full matrix numbers are shown below).

     Side One:  G1   PAL-38653-3A    MASTERDISK  RL     
     Side Two:  G2   PBL-38653-2A    MASTERDISK  RL
              (hand-etched, oblique; stamped, straight)

The suffix codes are interpreted to mean that Side One was pressed by a stamper derived from the first lacquer cut from the third master tape, while the first lacquer plate from the second master was used for pressing Side Two. "G1" and "G2" at the beginning of the matrix codes indicate the disc's origin at the then-latest Columbia's pressing plant in Carrollton, Georgia.
*An exception of the late pressing in my collection has "G1A" on Side One. 

Another measure that distinguishes the early pressings from the late copies is, as I reported before (09/11/2019), the width of the trail-off groove area, or dead-wax space on Side One, which is noticeably wider on the former (about 20 mm) than the latter (ca. 15 mm). Checking out my collection, I also noticed that an "RL," the initials inscribed by Master/Cutting Engineer Robert C. (Bob) Ludwig, was exclusively found among many (though not necessarily all) of the wide dead-wax pressings, but none from the narrow ones. So, I presumed that the coupling of Ludwig's signature with the wide dead-wax constituted yet another hallmark for the early pressings. At least with this album, he always inscribes his initials on the right of a MASTERDISK machine stamp.

Bob Ludwig has cut Side One of BON IN THE U.S.A. differently, as indicated by the difference in the dead-wax width of two pressings. The upper images show the narrow dead-wax pressing that is a relatively late (newer) copy with the matrix number suffix "3BB." The lower images show an example of the wide dead-wax copy with the suffix "3A," which is by far the earliest known code for Side One of the U.S. pressings (see also 08/14/2019).

However, the recent purchase of the three used copies (shown on top of this page) obliged me to reconsider this presumption. When I checked the matrix numbers, the three pressings showed a combination of one number and two letters for the suffix codes, 3AA, 3BB, and 3BC, on Side One. According to Columbia Records' rule, these suffix codes specify 12th, 24th, and 25th lacquer cuttings, respectively, using the third master mix. So, they are not very early pressings, although the dead-wax "MASTERDISK RL" marking was clearly visible on the individual discs. What made me surprised a little was that, concerning Side One, the dead-wax width was not wide but narrow on the following two discs! (the remaining pressing had the wide dead-wax, as shown in the image below) 

     Side One:    P    o    PAL · 38653-3BB    MASTERDISK RL
     Side Two:    P   (T-D) PBL-38653 G2S

     Side One:    P      PAL · 38653-3BC       MASTERDISK RL
     Side Two:    P      PBL-38653-2BD         MASTERDISK RL
              (hand-etched, oblique; stamped, straight) 

This means that the maestro engineer recut the master lacquer for this side. You may ask me which sounds better, the original wide or redone narrow dead-wax disc?  Unfortunately, I'm just a collector, but not an audiophile and don't own Hi-Fi stereo setups. So, I'll leave the answer to someone who is interested in this small finding because these used copies have been available cheap. Just for your information, these discs are New Jersey's Pitman pressings, as indicated by the leading single letter "P" (however, "P" of "PAL" or "PBL" has nothing to do with Pitman).

The identical matrix information (P AL-38653-3AA  MASTERDISK RL) was shared on Side One by the U.S. (left) and Filipino (right) pressings. The inset on the upper right corner shows additional matrix inscriptions (QCL-22110-A) found on the Filipino disc on Maestro's initials' right. On the other hand, the U.S.pressing has extra codes P <JM-P> that precede the matrix number (not shown in image).

Finally, what is interesting to me with the remaining pressing with the suffix codes 3AA/2AM ?  I previously showed a Made-In-Philippines copy with the U.S.-specific matrix numbers (09/29/2019), indicating that at least part of the Southeast Asian pressings employed the lacquer master(s) imported from the U.S. Now, this idea is supported by one of the recently obtained U.S. copies that had exactly the same matrix numbers with those of the Filipino disc, including Ludwig's signature, as shown in the above images. A trivial, but interesting aspect of collecting vinyl records.

P.S. Finishing up the blog post last night, and early in the morning, I found that the Atlanta '78 performance is finally available as part of the official live archive series. Just great.