The process-control system to keep track of lacquers, mothers and stampers did not require matching or sequencing, because it did not matter which lacquer was used, as they were all the same – as long as you had a Side 1 and a Side 2 stamper mounted in the press. Take that away and things work quite differently in practice. Many processes today are managed by computers, which have sequential logic built in. There was a reason why plants chose asymmetrical pairs, Side 1 and Side 2 stampers, deliberately from different lacquer sets. Symmetrical (1A/1A) and sequential pairs (1A/1B) are actually a quite rare occurrence. Most Columbia pressings have asymmetrical non-sequential pairings, such as 1D/1AC. The lacquer code can in theory be matching both sides (1A/1A), but if two lacquers were supplied to a plant, four Side 1/ Side 2 permutations are possible: 1A/1A, or 1A/1B or 1B/1A or 1B/1B, depending on which lacquers came to hand when being mounted in a press. Unanswered Question – Conventional Wisdom does not explain the asymmetrical pairing is Side 1 and Side 2 lacquers.Ī lacquer pair includes Side 1 and Side 2 of the record. So, typically: XLP 12345 – 1Aįive digit recording serial number, followed by a hyphenĪlpha lacquer identifier, starting with A through to L (11 unique letters in first cohort) then AA to AL (11 in second cohort) then BA to BL (11 in third cohort), and CA to CL thereafter. G 7th H 8th J 9th K 10th L 11th AA 12th ĪB 13th AC 14th AD 15th AE 16th AF 17th AG 18th ĪH 19th AJ 20th AK 21st AL 22nd BA 23rd BB 24th īC 25th BD 26th BE 27th BF 28th BG 29th BH 30th īJ 31st BK 32nd BL 33rd CA 34th CB 35th CC 36th ĬD 37th CE 38th CF 39th CG 40th CH 41st CJ 42nd ĬK 43rd CL 44th DA 45th DB 46th DC 47th DD 48th Īll lacquers cut are numbered in a standard matrix code format, stamped into the vinyl land lacquer between the grooves and label. Only the letters A to L were used, excluding I: A 1st cutting B 2nd C 3rd D 4th E 5th F 6th G 7th H 8th J 9th K 10th L 11th AA 12th AB 13th AC 14th AD 15h etc -“Ī 1st cutting B 2nd C 3rd D 4th E 5th F 6th “I n addition to the prefix code and job number, there would also be a number/letter combination at the end – the number indicates the tape/mix used, whilst the letter refers to the lacquer used. Lots of matrix information has been collected by record sellers and many thousands of early pressings have been auctioned.įirst, a recap of “conventional wisdom” – information gathered in good faith from partial experience, true of some circumstances, but not necessarily applicable to all. There is a record which is perfect to test the theory of Columbia matrixes to see how well it explains and dates the manufacture of Columbia records in practice – the immortal Kind of Blue.
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