Thoughts on My Father's House on NEBRASKA LP: Asian pressings and its relation to the Japanese discs (Part 2 of 2) — Notes on CBS/SONY's stamper numbers

Upper: The front sleeve of the Taiwan pressing (left) is of significantly
lower printing quality than the Japanese release (right, the obi removed).
Lower: The rear of the Taiwanese sleeve (left) is unique in featuring the
lyrics compared to the standard sleeve (right, Japanese).

In appearance, a Taiwanese copy of NEBRASKA LP in my collection is like a typical Asian pirate pressing that differs notably in several aspects from the official releases in the U.S., U.K., and Japan. First, it is licensed by an obscure company (Lee Ming Records Ltd.) with a unique catalog number (LMSP-004). Second, the front picture of the album sleeve is inferior in its printing quality (which is also true for the Korean LP), losing the details compared with the Japanese LP (CBS/SONY 25AP-2440), and strangely carries the lyrics on the back. So, the cardboard inner sleeve is not contained. Third, the record labels are amateurish in black & white with completely different looking from those of the Columbia/CBS Records, depicting what is considered a company or label logo, "Star Power." All these observations might be enough to conclude that it is a product of piracy activity.

Like the Korean LP, the spine is white with a unique catalog number (top
and middle). The manufacturer is listed on the bottom of the rear sleeve
(bottom).

Surprisingly, however, the vinyl sound is excellent on par with the regular pressings. Having checked the dead-wax space of the disc, I found that the stamped matrix numbers and symbols are identical to the Japanese pressing as shown below (straight, stamped; oblique, hand-etched), additionally with the Taiwan-specific hand inscriptions. Like Japanese releases, the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) logo and the company's abbreviation (CS) are stamped only on the Side A run-off.

• Side A:  25AP-2440A1  〄CS   LMSP-004-1      1 A 6
  
• Side B:  25AP-2440B1            LMSP-004-1      1 A 6
  

〄, Japanese Industrial Standards; CS, CBS/SONY (see 9/25/2014, 11/20/2016, and 9/19/2017 images for these symbols)

A simple interpretation is that the Taiwanese disc was pressed with the stampers derived from the mother plates provided by CBS/SONY (Japan) after the Taiwanese-specific LMSP codes were engraved (i.e., official). Alternately, a copy of the Japanese vinyl was "converted" to a Made-In-Taiwan product by replacing the record labels (i.e., piracy). I have seen some "fake" test pressings of Springsteen's albums made in this way, using standard vinyl discs. These bogus discs generally show glue splotch or traces of chemical treatments to remove the original labels, especially on the dead wax space. However, my copy of the Taiwanese pressing is clean and in great condition with no traces of such fraudulent manipulation, supporting that the latter case is unlikely. 

Record label and matrix/stamper numbers on the Side-B run-off groove
of the Taiwanese LP. See 10/2/2016 for matrix number images of the
Japanese and Hongkongese pressings. The track-length listing is identical
to that of the Japanese LP, which is slightly different from both misprint
and correct lists of the U.S. edition (TC 38358; see 9/28/2016 for the
images of the U.S. labels).

I have several copies of the Japan-pressed LP. So, I compared their matrix information with the three Asian pressings mentioned here and in the last post (4/9/2022), as summarized in the table below. The six Japanese pressings in my possession showed a minimum variation in the matrix numbers on each side (A1 or A2 on Side A; B1 or B2 on Side B). That's not unexpected because, compared with the U.S., the total copy number of a given title was much smaller in Japan. Furthermore, CBS/SONY owned one pressing plant in Japan, whereas Columbia Records had three in the U.S. in the vinyl era. These different situations had resulted in far fewer variations in matrix codes of Japanese LP. My Taiwanese and Hongkongese pressings carry an A1/B1 combination, suggesting that these were probably out around the same time as the first or second Japanese release in 1982. A single stamper ring was found on each label of these pressings, and their size differed from each other. The Taiwanese disc showed the largest diameter (35 mm), followed by the Hongkongese (30 mm), with the Japanese as the smallest (25 mm).

Stamper numbers are sometimes more informative than matrix numbers, especially when comparing different vinyl copies of the same title pressed around the same period. They are typically stamped at the diagonal position of a matrix number in the case of CBS/SONY's discs. Although styles vary among record companies, to my understanding, "1 A 6" on Taiwanese vinyl's Side A means that the stamper used for pressing this copy was the sixth plated off the mother disc called "1 A," probably the first mother disc created, which originated from the first master lacquer cut "A1" (25AP-2440A1). 

So, theoretically, no Japanese copies exist with matrix/stamper numbers "A1/1 A 6" on Side A and "B1/1 A 6" on Side B since the stampers for such pressings must have been exported to Taiwan and not available in Japan. Nevertheless, if present, the used stampers might have been shipped there. As you see, my collection includes the Japanese pressings with stamper numbers "1 A 12" for Side A or "1 A 9" for Side B, indicating that both Side-A and -B mother discs were not so exhausted when the "1 A 6" stampers were produced.

One final note. Unlike Japanese and Taiwanese LP, the Hongkongese pressing adopts stamper numbers of one-number/one-letter codes. What interested me was "B" of "1 B" on Side B since this indicates that Hongkongese B-side was pressed using a mother different from that used for the Japanese or Taiwanese. I have never seen a "B" code used in stamper numbers for any Japanese releases, including NEBRASKA, except for multi-disc sets like THE RIVER and LIVE/1975-85 or a monster hit album BORN IN THE U.S.A. Therefore, stamper numbers on CBS/SONY's releases need to be investigated further in detail, especially in relation to these Asian pressings.

— Back to Part 1.