BEEFHEART DOC AT THE RADAR STATION METAL ACETATE POSSIBLE MASTER DISCS RARE

$

50

Captain Beefheart metal acetates of Doc at the Radar Station. 

Perhaps an original "acetate master" or an original "mother plate" or test pressing made during the mastering process.

This item consists of two discs, each packaged separately in a plain sleeve with stenciled labels.  The discs have an aluminum core with a vinyl coating.

Doc at the Radar Station was mastered at CBS Studios in New York City during 1980 which would correspond to the labels on the disc (see photos).  Both discs have dual holes (see photo and description of mastering process below).

Only one side of each disc has a label.  Additionally, each disc has an extensive scratch through their respective first two songs.  This is clearly intentional and possibly a method to mark the discs as unusable for the manufacturing process.  These songs are essentially unplayable, but the rest of the tracks are clean.

Acetates of this type are extremely malleable and successive playing will wear out the grooves quickly.  These are collector's items in a memorabilia sense and have little audio value.

Disc 1 ("Part I") - The labeled side (marked "Side A") is the first side of Doc at the Radar Station.  The first two songs were deliberately scratched.  The rest of the tracks play clean.  The song order is identical to the final album.  Although there are minor sonic differences when compared to the actual album, this is probably due to the wear of the acetate as opposed to any "alternate mixes".  The unlabeled side is side two of the album, but the entire side is deliberately scratched.  Clearly not meant for "play".

Disc 2 ("Part II") - The labeled side (marked "Side B") is the second side of Doc at the Radar Station.  The first two songs were deliberately scratched.  The rest of the tracks play clean.  The song order is identical to the final album.  The unlabeled side has the first two songs from second of the album (Dirty Blue Jean and Best Batch Yet) and the start of the third song (Telephone).  These two songs are unmarred and play clean.  Although there are minor sonic differences when this music is compared to the actual album, this is probably due to the wear of the acetate as opposed to any "alternate mixes".

From a description of the LP mastering process written by Paul W. Brekus:

"The Acetate - The first step in the record pressing process is the creation of the master disk, or acetate, which is cut directly from the master tape of the recording. An acetate is a piece of aluminum coated with a layer of vinyl, into which grooves are cut, like a record. Unlike records, however, acetates are usually one sided, and come in pairs, one for each side of the album. They also often have two center holes; one hole is the standard center hole which acts as the axis for rotation, and the other hole is used by the guiding arm to turn the acetate while the writing stylus cuts the grooves.  One or, at most, two acetate sets are typically made for an album.

Plating - The plater coats each acetate with a thin layer of silver which is then electro-plated with nickel. When this plate is separated from the acetate, the metal that was facing the disk now has protruding ridges where the grooves were. This plate is called the father or master plate. The acetate disk usually gets destroyed in this process.

The father plate is oxidized, and plated again. The resulting plate, when separated from the father, becomes a metal duplicate of the acetate, with grooves again. This plate is called the mother plate and can be played on a turntable to check for errors in mastering or plating. Like acetates, mothers and fathers also come in one-sided pairs."

Vinyl: Poor.  Both discs have deliberate scratches through the first two songs on each disc.  The rest of each side plays clean, but due to the limitations of the material the grooves will wear significantly with each play.

Cover: EX - These covers may either be made by the studio or, more likely, by a collector as, due to their function, these discs did not "come" with covers.

(see below for grading descriptions)

The images are of the actually item put up for auction.

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Grading Scale:

Mint (M)   Perfect in every way.

I WILL NEVER GIVE ANY RECORD I SELL, NO MATTER HOW GOOD ITS CONDITION, A MINT RATING.

Excellent (EX)   An almost perfect record.

No obvious signs of wear should visible on the vinyl. The sleeve will have only minor defects or signs of slight handling.

Very Good Plus (VG+)   Will show some signs that it was used and handled.  Played, but well cared for by a previous owners.

Record surfaces may show some signs of wear and may have slight scuffs or very light scratches that don't affect listening.  The label may have some ring wear or discoloration. Picture sleeves and LP inner sleeves will have some slight wear, lightly turned up corners, or a slight seam split. An LP cover may have slight signs of wear also and may be marred by a cut-out hole, indentation or corner indicating it was taken out of print and sold at a discount.

Very Good (VG)   Similar defects found as in a VG+ record will be visible to a greater degree in a VG disc. Surface noise will be evident upon playing, especially in soft passages, but will not overpower the music. Groove wear will start to be noticeable, as well as light scratches.

Labels and sleeves may be marred by writing (excepting artist signatures), or have tape, stickers, or their residue. The same will be true of picture sleeves or LP covers.

Good (G), Good Plus (G+)   A record in G or G+ condition can be put onto a turntable and will play through without skipping. But it will have significant surface noise and scratches and visible groove wear.

A cover or sleeve will have seam splits, especially at the bottom or on the spine. Tape, writing, ring wear or other defects will start to overwhelm the object.

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