Gordon Lightfoot Sundown MFSL 1-018 Original 1/2 Speed Master Recording NM Play

$

51

• Gordon Lightfoot.
• Sundown.
• Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab 1-018.
• Half Speed Remaster By Stan Ricker.
• Pressed in Japan using JVC "Supervinyl" developed for CD-4 Quadradisc LPs.

Item Details
Manufactured in: USA and Japan
Recorded: 1974  Eastern Sound Studios, Toronto
Lacquer Cut By: Stan Ricker (SR/2 in matrix below) at JVC Cutting Center Hollywood CA
Pressing by: JVC Yokohama Japan
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab MFSL 1-012
Original Issue: August 1974
This Issue: 1979
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab 1-018
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (etch:) MFSL-1-018-A3 SR/2 (stamp:) 1 3 1 ?
Side 2: (etch:) MFSL-1-018-B3 SR/2 (stamp:) 1 3 2 ?

Half speed mastering allows the cutting head twice as much time to render the groove. This means more fine detail on playback (especially in the highs) and less waver on long sustained notes.
Was gifted to me by my good audiophile buddy Dave when he was converting his music sources to digital. Dave took pretty good care of his vinyl but always put some kind of stickers on the LP covers as part of an indecipherable filing system. You can see where one fell off on the front upper right corner. While under my care it had a limited number of plays only on an expertly setup high-end audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge. Has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit) to prevent warpage.
Was cleaned on a VPI HW 16 with Audio Intelligent solutions and ultra-pure water rinse (50X purer than distilled water) before my pre-sale sound check. I wear nitrile surgical gloves while cleaning and play testing to avoid any chance of transferring finger oils to the vinyl.

Very sensitive play testing was performed straight off my Ayre P-5xe fully balanced phono preamp over Sennheiser HD 600 headphones using a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with Voskhod Soviet matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
1: Somewhere U.S.A, High And Dry, Seven Island Suite, Circle Of Steel, Is There Anyone Home.

2: The Watchman's Gone, Sundown, Carefree Highway, The List, Too Late For Prayin'.

I never take "distant" photos nor the so-prevalent type with the LP sticking halfway out of the jacket. I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. It is virtually impossible to know the true vinyl condition from any photograph. That takes very bright and close visual inspection PLUS play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment.
Grading Details
Note: Record grading by text characters is subjective and does not fully describe quality levels. Please see photos and my detailed descriptions below.

Outer Jacket Inspection:
VG+/VG+
Easily seen in the front upper right corner is where Dave's filing sticker fell off. I didn't have the courage to try and chemically remove the glue residue. If you decide to try that DO NOT use acetone as I have already proven that won't work on a different LP. This face has just the slightest sliding wear that is very hard to see even if held at oblique angles under bright light. There are mild creases on both top corners, noticeable rubbing wear on the sleeve edge and lower right corner. The rear face is in overall better shape but for the upper right corner crease and the "X" next to the "Sundown" text. Must have been the only song on it Dave liked. The spine has a cross-hatch pattern of color-breaking creases. I'll pair the spine with the front face and give it a VG+. The rear face has to take some kind of a hit for that "X" writing so I'll go with VG+ for that side too. But you the buyer must always make up your own mind what is worth more or less based on the conditions I show you and describe as fully as I can.

Vinyl visual inspection:
Side 1 looked perfect except for a very thin reflective line thru the end of Track 3. I made a note to check that area closely for any ticks that might be caused by it. There were also the usual cosmetic burnishing swirls from sleeve insertion and removal seen in the lead-out area. Side 2 has a LAST vinyl wear prevention treatment sticker that Dave placed there when he treated it. I saw a long very narrow reflective hairline trace running thru tracks 1&2 and made a not to fully check during play test.

Play Testing:
NM/NM
Extensive play testing was performed after visual inspection. I listened to the beginning, middle, and end of each track for a few minutes on each needle drop. I also listened to all lead-in, lead-out and transition grooves between each track. Some tracks were played and monitored all the way thru when digitizing my favorites to 192k/24-bit WAV files. Continuous written notes were taken. Here is rundown of each side from my notes.

Side 1 Play
T1 started out with crisp percussion and very good separation between vocals and instruments. I couldn't hear any vinyl noise at all during this whole track so the trace I saw was only cosmetically affecting the very top surface of the vinyl. A few very small ticks were in the outgoing transition groove. They weren't strong enough to ever be heard while music was playing. I listened 100% thru T2 also and again no vinyl noise nor any in its outgoing trans-groove. T3 was a long track so I did did more needle drops to get good coverage. T4 was one of my favorites. I did hear a few small random ticks on this track but they were low in level versus the music (on a par for even a new MFSL). T5 is in my top 2 for the album. Its about a person that's not able to open up and express their true feelings to another.

Side 2 Play
The first track on side 2 is another top pick for me. T2 (Sundown), although a big hit it never did much for me but it does play perfectly on this MFSL recording. T3 - (Carefree Highway) is way better than Sundown in my opinion and I recorded it. Listening all the way through, there was nothing I could attribute to that reflective trace I noted in my visual check. I would place the final track (T5) in my top 2 cuts. Red's classical guitar playing on this one is really beautiful.

This LP played just as good as I can ever remember it. I listen to all transition grooves because it really lets one know what the underlying vinyl noise floor is made of. Nearly all the transition grooves on all sides were near dead quiet. This copy's pressing is really excellent and the audio quality is so fine I would swear it sounds as good as an unplayed copy. I have no reservations giving the play grade an NM/NM.

Packaging

• Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Record has been placed into a new genuine MFSL "Original Master Sleeve" sleeve, as the original, even though plastic lined, may be holding onto some dust. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean during shipping and ultimate buyer usage.
• Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
• Sent in good quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners.

Shipping

• Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $3.98 per single album sale.
• A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed on the same day($3.98 plus $0.50 for each additional LP).
• If you do buy more than one LP  on the same daydo not pay immediately but wait for my all-combined invoice. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.