Vinyl Audio

Music => Vinyl Grooves => Topic started by: BSD2000 on December 31, 2011, 09:23:56 AM

Title: Jimi Hendrix records
Post by: BSD2000 on December 31, 2011, 09:23:56 AM
I stopped by the local record shop yesterday and while digging through the bins, I found a mother load of Hendrix albums. Looks like someone sold off their collection of Hendrix imports. Most of them I never seen before and a lot of them were still sealed. I ended up buying 5 of them.

Two of them were really unique:


Jimi Hendrix - Turn 'Er On!
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This one I can't find any information about it anywhere on the web. There's no manufacturing information on it - it doesn't even have a label. I didn't listen to it yet so I can't comment on the sound quality. Maybe it's a bootleg or a dub plate?


Jimi Hendrix - The Crash Landing Masters
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This one is a mystery too. It looks like a numbered, very limited edition (#40 of 88 made) on colored vinyl (in this case, 'speckled'). I can't find anything on this one either.

Anyone have any information on these?
Title: Re: Jimi Hendrix records
Post by: BSD2000 on December 31, 2011, 01:36:13 PM
The sound quality of the 'Turn 'Er On' LP is poor, but that's to be expected I guess with bootlegs. It was definitely sourced from a tape since there is a lot of drop outs and frequency shifts.

The 'Crash Landing Masters' LP was a surprise - the sound quality is really decent. I expected maybe a clear vinyl with speckles but it's actually black with light speckles / streaks of other color vinyl. Pretty cool looking.

Out of the five Hendrix LP's I picked up, the 'Rainbow Bridge' LP was by far the best sounding. I'd go as far as saying it's the best Hendrix LP I ever heard, sound quality wise. Every Hendrix album should sound this good!

I never understood how some bands from the 60's had such a hard time releasing albums with good sound quality. Hendrix, Led Zepplin and the Beatles come to mind - among others. Once in a while I'll find one or two that sound great, but it's rare. It's not that the technology didn't exist - it did. Neumann condensers & ribbon mics were standard issue at almost all recording studios at the time. 15ips full frequency tape decks, fantastic sounding tube mixing boards, etc. have been around since the mid to late 40's. There's a ton of 50's and 60's jazz recordings that sound phenomenal (Dave Brubeck comes to mind). I just don't get how some of the most influential and amazing bands just couldn't get it right when it came to the quality of their vinyl releases. Even today, with all of the technological improvements we made in sound quality, I don't understand how some vinyl pressing companies (RTI comes to mind) can still press such bad sounding vinyl (the Led Zepplin 'Mothership' release was a waste of vinyl!).

I'll have to find out who engineered the Rainbow Bridge album. If it's Eddie Kramer, I'll be really surprised. It sounds to good to be recorded by him.