Vinyl Me Please Essentials

bettim84 said:
So… with all these replacements flying around, what are y’all doing with your defective Mars Volta LPs?

I’ll happily pay for someone US-based with duplicates to ship me your worst-sounding copy!
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I'm in the same boat as (mostly) everyone else and have a replacement copy on the way. Asked for credit because I actually meant to swap this one, but no luck. Feel free to DM me or respond to this message, if you want my spare. Honestly, the distortion sucks and everything, but the packaging is really cool.
 
Hey y’all, thought I’d drop in to report on my MV copy for issue tracking purposes.

First copy had severe surface noise on A/B, much the same that others had experienced, so I requested a replacement. I received that today, and while there’s still some noise and pops (even after cleaning), it is dramatically better.

Hilariously, the noise is the other thing better about the “replacement” copy; A/B has a significant warp, busted corners on the outer jacket, and seam splits on the inners. No such issues on my first copy though.

I think I satisfied with the replacement. Between the two, I can Frankenstein an acceptable copy. But on the other hand, $40+ for an allegedly “premium” product in this condition is…😑 So I’m torn between dropping the issue or pressing it with VMP.
 
I am disappointed but unsurprised to add myself to the list of people that got a defective copy of MV. I swapped Abby Lincoln for it at my gf's request. Now we are both disappointed.

I'm going to go for one replacement copy. If that one is unacceptable then they are going to give me my money back - this is ridiculous for a $40 record.
 
I almost feel guilty saying this, but my copy of MV arrived yesterday and it’s perfect. I was fully expecting all the noise at the beginning of A/B that everyone else has posted about, but it’s just not there. If nothing else, I’m happy to provide further proof (although seemingly the minority) that there are clean copies out there. I hope everyone eventually gets a good one, either via replacement from the current batch or from a repress.
 
Even if you're happy enough with the copy you've received, I encourage you to follow up with VMP. They're tracking how widespread an issue it is, and they're absolutely going to take silence/giving up as a sign that there are enough good copies out there.

I have no stake in this particular record, don't like anything this band has ever made, but VMP/GZ has too much of a history for me to not be aware it will eventually affect me. I was one of the customers who sent in a video for Stars which helped force an investigation (scratched stamper) and a repress.
 
I also got a copy of De-Loused with heavy static in the first 60-90 seconds of side A and then it goes away. Side B has a similar issue but side A is the worst and it's pretty much all in the right channel for some reason. Sides C and D have no static on the intro at all but there are random clicks and pops all over, even after wet clean & vacuum. The right channel thing made me double check my azimuth but it seems ok, plus the clean C/D intro is reassuring that my cartridge alignment is probably fine.

I think it might have something to do with the metallic effect in the vinyl. On some of the passages with static I feel like it's lining up with streaks of iridescent powder or something in the wax that is visible in the right lighting. They already created a replacement order so hopefully that one is better.
 
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