Defective Summerteeth vinyl

[owl]

I ordered the new Summerteeth LP from Amazon, only to discover that the 1st track skips right out of the package.

 

I sent it back and got a new copy. The new copy skips in the exact same spot. I looked at it and there are no scratches whatsoever. However, upon closer examination, it looks like the left and right sides of the groove are fused together at the place where it skips. The entire rest of the album is fine. Bummer!

 

Anyone else having similar problems? If not, does anyone want to trade for my extremely rare defective copy?

 

I called WB today; I guess they're going to email me with a response. Was just wondering if anyone else was having the same problem.

 

P.S. If you have yet to buy it, you might want to choose somewhere other than Amazon. They may have a bad batch, while other places may have non-defective copies. I'll post my response from WB when I get it.

[willywoody]

Mine was ok in that regards but lp 1 is slightly warped. Plays well, though. Got it from Music Direct.

 

Funny thing is I had the exact problem with what must've been the 2nd or 3rd pressing of Being There, but that would've been pressed domestically unlike the new releases. Replaced it with , imo, the unlistenable import lp from a couple of years ago.

[gspinn]

my side d does play right. i whole disc is obviously warped but side c plays fine. then when i get to in a future age the notes start to bend and things get all dissonant. i suspect its something to do with the cd that was in the sleeve with the 2nd disc.

 

did this happen anyone?

 

and btw my track one did not skip.

[LouieB]

Welcome to the wonderful world of vinyl records....

 

I have not yet played mine, but at $26 bucks it better be perfect...(half kidding...) since we all waited so so long.

 

LouieB

[gabepride]

I ordered the new Summerteeth LP from Amazon, only to discover that the 1st track skips right out of the package.

 

I sent it back and got a new copy. The new copy skips in the exact same spot. I looked at it and there are no scratches whatsoever. However, upon closer examination, it looks like the left and right sides of the groove are fused together at the place where it skips. The entire rest of the album is fine. Bummer!

 

Anyone else having similar problems? If not, does anyone want to trade for my extremely rare defective copy?

 

I called WB today; I guess they're going to email me with a response. Was just wondering if anyone else was having the same problem.

 

P.S. If you have yet to buy it, you might want to choose somewhere other than Amazon. They may have a bad batch, while other places may have non-defective copies. I'll post my response from WB when I get it.

 

Yep, 'Can't Stand It' skipped the first time I played it. I've played it twice more since, and it hasn't skipped again. Have you tried playing it two or three times?

[HungryHippo]

just got a copy of Summerteeth today and my copy is fine.

 

there's no better feeling in the world than browsing through the new vinyl at a record shop and seeing Summerteeth amongst SBS, AGIB, W(TA), etc.

[owl]

Welcome to the wonderful world of vinyl records....

 

I have not yet played mine, but at $26 bucks it better be perfect...(half kidding...) since we all waited so so long.

 

LouieB

 

I hear you, and I know that there can be/are often imperfections. This is beyond imperfection, though. When two different copies skip in the same exact place, it's a quality control issue, IMO. Plus, it makes the track totally unlistenable because the groove is fused. When it gets to that point, the needle jumps out of the groove and skips 30 seconds ahead. This happens twice on that track. Sigh. I guess I'll try to return it to Amazon again and order a replacement from Wilcoworld.

[LouieB]

I hear you, and I know that there can be/are often imperfections. This is beyond imperfection, though. When two different copies skip in the same exact place, it's a quality control issue, IMO. Plus, it makes the track totally unlistenable because the groove is fused. When it gets to that point, the needle jumps out of the groove and skips 30 seconds ahead. This happens twice on that track. Sigh. I guess I'll try to return it to Amazon again and order a replacement from Wilcoworld.

This is pathetic but not unheard of. You are lucky they let you return it. That is not always the case with vinyl anymore (it used to be when all records were vinyl.)

 

LouieB

[jtrollmann]

I bought mine from a indie record store in southern California. Track one/ side one skipped in multiple places. I'm going to return it.

[LouieB]

Let us know if they take it back.

 

Wow, I gotta say, maybe some of you guys need new turntables. Either that or Nonesuch is having really bad quality control problem, which considering how long it took to get this thing out is really dreadful.

 

I buy old LPs from the 50s and 60s (and 70s and 80s) at resale shops that don't skip at all. They have a few snap crackle and pops in places of course..but some sound really good for having been played for 40 or 50 years.

 

LouieB

[owl]

This is pathetic but not unheard of. You are lucky they let you return it. That is not always the case with vinyl anymore (it used to be when all records were vinyl.)

 

LouieB

 

Amazon is pretty good about returns; I think that if something is truly defective, most big retailers won't try to deny you a replacement. I have to wonder, though, if some day Amazon will get out of the record-selling business—because there are people out there who really do expect their records to sound like CDs.

 

I am all set up to return this Summerteeth and get a refund from Amazon. I just have to mail it back.

 

I decided to order the AM/BT/ST bundle from Wilcoworld, which turns out to be a really good deal; I'm just going to have to wait 6 more weeks.

 

By the way, my turntable's only a couple of years old and it's a nice one. Wilco the Album plays great on it, so I tend to think it's a quality issue for Summerteeth.

[owl]

Either that or Nonesuch is having really bad quality control problem, which considering how long it took to get this thing out is really dreadful.

I have to wonder if that's why there have been production delays.

[jtrollmann]

I bought mine from a indie record store in southern California. Track one/ side one skipped in multiple places. I'm going to return it.

 

I went back to the shop where I bought Summerteeth told them of the problem. The store's return policy on vinyl is a basic "no returns on vinyl." The clerk checked the disk one. It looked immaculate. No scratches, etc. He seemed really sympathetic and disagreed with the store's policy. He even went so far as to call the distributor to find out if they'd heard of any problems with Summerteeth (the distributor was closed. It's Sunday). I wanted to show them, so I asked if they had a turn table, at least he could hear the skipping. We took it to the back room where he played, "I Can't Stand It." Played it all the way through with no skipping.

 

Hmmm. I may have to upgrade my cheapo turntable.

[cambot]

I went back to the shop where I bought Summerteeth told them of the problem. The store's return policy on vinyl is a basic "no returns on vinyl." The clerk checked the disk one. It looked immaculate. No scratches, etc. He seemed really sympathetic and disagreed with the store's policy. He even went so far as to call the distributor to find out if they'd heard of any problems with Summerteeth (the distributor was closed. It's Sunday). I wanted to show them, so I asked if they had a turn table, at least he could hear the skipping. We took it to the back room where he played, "I Can't Stand It." Played it all the way through with no skipping.

 

Hmmm. I may have to upgrade my cheapo turntable.

 

You can also try increasing the downforce very slightly or lessen the anti-skate - also very slightly at first.

[LouieB]

You can also try increasing the downforce very slightly or lessen the anti-skate - also very slightly at first.

That sounds like a good plan. Turntables do need adjusting. If there is too little weight on the arm it can skip, same with the anti-skating (which is why it is called that.)

 

LouieB

[stooka]

You can also try increasing the downforce very slightly or lessen the anti-skate - also very slightly at first.

 

[Edie]

 

[Kalle]

I got mine a couple days ago there's no skipping on any of the tracks and it isn't warped at all, maybe I got lucky?

[howdjadoo]

Am I glad after 40 years of collecting as not have to flip over a disc @22 min (at the max) again,gonna get me another HDD to fill up with Vinyl(or as we used to say back in the day PVC)rips

 

[Livin' in New Orleans]

Mine skipped at first, but then i brushed it with carbon fiber and it didn't happen again

[owl]

Well, I cranked up the anti-skate to 11 and added extra weight to the arm, and that seems to have done the trick. It still skips, but it doesn't jump like it did before.

 

Should I really have to do this, though? Max out the settings? Doesn't extra weight mess up the records? What about anti-skip? Louie, maybe you can fill me in.

[LouieB]

Well, I cranked up the anti-skate to 11 and added extra weight to the arm, and that seems to have done the trick. It still skips, but it doesn't jump like it did before.

 

Should I really have to do this, though? Max out the settings? Doesn't extra weight mess up the records? What about anti-skip? Louie, maybe you can fill me in.

Honestly I can't really give you any more details on the vaguries of vinyl records, except if it is still skipping you may need a new one. If your other records don't skip with the settings the same, you have a record problem. Generally (and again I am no audiophile, I use a nearly 40 year old Dual), you need about half a gram of weight, which can be upped to more if need be. Anti-skating should not be at the limit. It may be time to seek out a hi-fi guy and let him check out your turntable, re-set the settings, check the needle, motor, etc.

 

And yes, the more weight you put on the grooves the faster they wear out. But short of putting pennies on your tone arm, a gram of weight won't kill your record. Two or three, well maybe so. Again others who are more equipment geeks can tell you.

 

Funny story (which meant you had to be there....). I had a friend and roommate who had an old box style hi-fi, as in pre-stereo small suit case type thing. He had nickles and all sorts of stuff taped to his tone arm. It worked though, but I am sure it did his records no good. He bought a copy of Traffic's John Barley Corn (as did I at the same time) and the first copy skipped and he took it back and got a second and it skipped. I think he finally got a good one on the third or fourth try. Needless to say it may or may not have been the album. Sometimes albums are defective. If someone will take it back and give you another, go for it, otherwise save your pennies and buy a new copy in a few months. Hopefully this one will stay in print longer than the last one. Vinyl records were not made to last forever and those of us who bought them and millions of teenagers everywhere in the 50s through 70s just played them as if they would last long enough, at parties and on all sorts of semi-lousy equipment. This is why finding really good copies of old albums is not so easy. Records are ephemera!! As I said, I am always amazed at albums that looked beat to shit that actually play without skipping; of course they do have surface noise, which is all part of the charm, but this should not be the case of a $25 Summerteeth on audiofile virgin vinyl. At least the first 50 plays should be pretty good at 50 cents a pop. (I am now scared to play mine, since I have yet to do it.)

 

LouieB

[Analogman]

Whenever I see discussion such as this, I am reminded of my copy of Live at Leeds, which is very thick on one end of the record and normal size on the other end.

[LouieB]

Live at Leeds is a cool record, but I have always maintained that they intentionally put a bunch of surface noise on it to make it sound like a bootleg since that is what it is patterned after. Remember (and it is hard to accept this I suppose) records are pressed between two plates on a big old peice of molten plastic. Despite all the disclaimers about how much better they sound (if you want to believe that, fine) that's all they are. As with any mass produced product, it depends on how good the die is, how good the material is, how it is treated when it is taken out of the die, how carefully it is inserted in the sleeve, etc. Neeless to say (I keep saying that) time and tempurature and all other cirrcumstances impact the quality. I have bought pretty new used LPs that sound like crap (I had to literally throw away what looked like a perfectly clean copy of the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Sessions, because the surface noise was ridiculous. I also own a copy of Tom Waits' Mule Variations bought used that wasn't that old and didn't look abused and also sounds just this side of like shit.) I have bought really old LPs discarded after years off someone playing alot and loving them that sound nearly new. It is impossible to tell from looking at any album how it will sound. Also just as Analogman describes if the die is off, the record will not be of equal thickness, may have a whole that is slightly off center and this affects the sound, or any number of other problems occur. It's just a piece of plastic, that's all. Eventually all of them will develop surface noise, unless you are totally crazed audiophile, OCD motherfucker. The rest of us play and put them away and hope for the best each time out.

 

LouieB

[Analogman]

Live at Leeds is a cool record, but I have always maintained that they intentionally put a bunch of surface noise on it to make it sound like a bootleg since that is what it is patterned after. Remember (and it is hard to accept this I suppose) records are pressed between two plates on a big old peice of molten plastic. Despite all the disclaimers about how much better they sound (if you want to believe that, fine) that's all they are. As with any mass produced product, it depends on how good the die is, how good the material is, how it is treated when it is taken out of the die, how carefully it is inserted in the sleeve, etc. Neeless to say (I keep saying that) time and tempurature and all other cirrcumstances impact the quality. I have bought pretty new used LPs that sound like crap (I had to literally throw away what looked like a perfectly clean copy of the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Sessions, because the surface noise was ridiculous. I also own a copy of Tom Waits' Mule Variations bought used that wasn't that old and didn't look abused and also sounds just this side of like shit.) I have bought really old LPs discarded after years off someone playing alot and loving them that sound nearly new. It is impossible to tell from looking at any album how it will sound. Also just as Analogman describes if the die is off, the record will not be of equal thickness, may have a whole that is slightly off center and this affects the sound, or any number of other problems occur. It's just a piece of plastic, that's all. Eventually all of them will develop surface noise, unless you are totally crazed audiophile, OCD motherfucker. The rest of us play and put them away and hope for the best each time out.

 

LouieB

 

The crackling noises were present in the actual recording of the show. It was due to a problem with the recording equipment. Now, you are making me think of my Led Zeppelin records. I am the third person to have them, and they were bought new. They are so wore, that they are mostly unplayable.