PINK FLOYD_DARK SIDE OF THE MOON_MFSL_1-017_BLOCK LETTERS_STAN RICKER MASTERED

$

139

A VERY 1ST “STAN RICKER / SR-2” PRESSING FROM 1978!

PINK FLOYD

DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

MOBILE FIDELITY SOUND LAB / MFSL 1-017

JVC “VICTOR COMPANY OF JAPAN ON SUPER VINYL"!

ORIGINAL 1STCOVER W/THE BLOCK LETTERS!

LATER PRESSINGS FROM THE 80’s HAD SLANTED/ITALICIZEDLETTERING!

MFSL-1-017-A 2-2 SR/2 (221 STAMPED)

MFSL-1-017 B 2-1 SR/2 (215 STAMPED)

 VINYL   =    NEAR MINT!

COVER =    VG (WATER DAMAGE / SEE PHOTOS)

INSERTS      =    NEAR MINT!

LABELS =    NEAR MINT!

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab first began releasing vinyl LPs in 1978. These "Original Master Recordings" were custom pressed in Yokohama, Japan by the Victor Company of Japan (JVC) on Super Vinyl, an exclusive compound that was used to achieve maximum clarity and quietness.

The results were some of the finest audio quality albums ever made. The first Pink Floyd Original Master Recording album released by MFSL was Dark Side of the Moon, issued in June of 1979. It was the 17th overall release by the company.

Production Runs: MFSL produced Original Master Recordings in very limited editions. In fact, their advertisements guaranteed not to produce more than 200,000 copies of any release. According to Gregg Schnitzer, the Director of Product Development at MFSL from 1980 through 1986, and Chief Engineer from 1984 to 1986, the total production run for Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl was only 25,000.

In a recent interview, he explained the production runs, "For vinyl it was directly proportionate to the number of lacquers cut. Some titles only got as high as A1 and B1 or even A2 and B2. Others would go as high as A9 or even A11 or A12.

Look on the disc. Just outside the label land where the lead out groove is at the end of the record side, you will see a scribe mark of the lacquer side and who did it. Stan Ricker would be SR/2, Jack Hunt would be JH/2, John LeMay would be JL/2 and so on.

NOTE: Stan Ricker cut all of the MFSL lacquers for Dark Side of the Moon. Ricker had been the cutting engineer for JVC in the 1970s, and had been cutting CD-4 quad albums for JVC prior to working for MFSL.

Record Debut: In a recent interview published in Goldmine Magazine, Herbert A. Belkin, former President of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, recalled the debut of the MFSL Original Master Recording LP of Dark Side of the Moon. He was quoted as saying, "We presented Dark Side of the Moon at the Chicago Consumer Electronics Show in June of 1979.

The response was so amazing. The commercial response was so amazing that the company literally was turned upside down, and these two fellows, neither of whom had a great deal of business experience, were swamped.

Record Production Process: The MFSL Original Master Recording record production process began with the use of the original stereo master tape. Herbert A. Belkin, who had worked for Capitol Records and ABC Records before becoming President of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, originally worked for MFSL as a consultant and helped MFSL gain access to the original master tape for Dark Side of the Moon in 1978. Using the original master tape, MFSL cut a disc lacquer.

This was done on a disc cutter turntable, which was driven by a quartz-lock motor that rotated the turntable at 16 2/3 rpm, one half the speed an LP plays at (33 1/3 rpm), while the master tape was played at one-half the actual recorded speed. This half-speed disc cutting process allowed the cutting stylus twice as much time to carve an accurate groove in the disc. Although half-speed cutting uses only one quarter of the power needed for normal speed cutting, two 600 watt per channel cutting head amplifiers were used, producing significantly better top end and overall frequency response.

No transformers, limiting, or compression were used during the process. Immediately after the metal lacquer was cut, it was refrigerated for protection. For the plating process, the metal lacquer was sent to Japanwhere the metal master (negative), and the mother stamper (positive) were created by the Victor Company of Japan (JVC) for MFSL. A test pressing was then made for approval by the MFSL production department.

After their approval, the vinyl records were stamped. The system used for cutting the albums was made by Ortofon, and used 17 op amps in series with the gain path.

Note: The metal master is indicated by the number following the written matrix number. For example, MFSL-1-017-A1 indicates metal master number 1. The stamped matrix number, such as 2105, indicates stamper set 2 from master number 5.

Title: Dark Side of the Moon (MFSL - 1st issue)

Record Company: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

Catalog Number: MFSL 1-017

Lacquer Cutter: Stan Ricker (SR/2)

Release Date: June 1979

Release Information: Original issue. Half-speed Original Master Recording on high quality vinyl.

Front Cover: Black with prism, and ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING in a yellow strip across the top. Matte. The "ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING" lettering across the top of the cover is in STRAIGHT BLOCK LETTERS.

Back Cover: Black with an inverted prism, and ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING IN A YELLOW STRIP ACROSS THE TOP. The "ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING" lettering across the top of the cover is in straight block letters.

A white, cardboard, 4-page, wrap-around inner sleeve cover with "SUPERDISCS, SUPERTAPES, SUPERSTARS, SUPERQUALITY" on the front, and "An Audiophile's Dream Come True" on the back. The inside is blank.

An 8 inch by 5 inch yellow certificate of Limited Warranty from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, with a form on back for return of a defective record.

An 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch advertisement for MSFL that with a picture of a record coming out of a sleeve.

Labels:  White MFSL label with black text. At the top in brown text it says " ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING TM MOBILE FIDELITY SOUND LAB." At the bottom, it says "Mfd. & dist. by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab under license from Capitol Records, Inc. P 1973 The Gramophone Company Ltd." PRESSED IN JAPAN.

100% GUARANTEED or FULL REFUND!

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