Grateful Dead

dead.net the official site

I received my 6LP box set that I had preordered for around $130 months ago. So excited when it came, but it had a horrible manufacturer’s defect with a huge gouge across the entire side one of album one. A straight deep groove from the center hole to the edge of the disc. I have emailed dead.net twice in the last 8 days to try and see if I can get an exchange, even if it was just the first album, and NO response. I’m feeling burned by this because I pay a lot of money for every vinyl release and this was my first real issue. I wish customer service would do the right thing and contact me. I agree with the other comments on here about the mixing and general sound quality of the other discs, but honestly I could live with that IF they would exchange the first LP only. There had to be better Wall of Sound converts to choose from that did not have the audio issues, but I’m surprised in the comments to not see anything else about having a gouged side one that is inaudible due to the loud popping. Customer service, please do the right thing and contact me. Thanks!

Can we get more vinyl please. Maybe some E72 or Warlocks '89 shows. Thank you.

Sorry your Vinyl is scratched. Best bet is to email dr.rhino@rhino.com Hope that helps! KCJ

Sounds like the main mic feed to tape got pulled or tripped over or something and they didn't figure it out for a few songs. The vocals we hear there are bleed from all the PA behind them bleeding in to the instrument mics and probably didn't affect the crowd. At least they've put them all on one side so you can skip if you want, but boy it's hard to skip that lineup of songs. Otherwise loving my vinyl!! The team they have mastering and cutting these things is awesome. Don't change a thing and keep em coming!!

I am having a similar experience, they have replied albeit very slowly - usually a couple of days in between replies. Almost a week for the first reply. I've had a horrible experience thus far. The box I received was banged up and damaged, no fragile label anywhere, one corner of the shipping box was completely ripped open. On a couple of sides - big river especially - had extremely bad and loud popping. On top of that, they should have absolutely notated the sound mixing issues so everyone knew ahead of time. Shady at best. In trying to return them for a refund, they expect you to front the shipping costs, are you freaking kidding me? For a damaged and defective product? Absolutely not - especially with UPS quoting a $41 charge. No way in hell. Still waiting for the response on that one. It's really disappointing and quite frankly insane to see people defending the Side C/Other sound mixing issues. Blind following/ koolaid drinking - how dare anyone question the almighty dead.net team. They are charging $130 and for that price, they absolutely should be held to a higher standard. Not to mention amazon is now selling it for $103 shipped. Really frustrated with this release and this whole experience, was looking forward to the vinyl and even bought an extra copy as a gift. They need to get their ducks in a row.

Thanks

I ordered this from Amazon a couple days ago after first test driving online--what a show! I haven't opened it yet, but Amazon customer service has always been top notch, and I have no doubt that if there's a defect, the return will be a snap. As OP says, Amazon is much cheaper, also. I'm also skeptical about this limited release of 7,500. They said the same thing when they released the Cornell show in vinyl a couple years back, then they promptly pressed a bazillion copies when the first run sold out. I don't buy records to resell and make money, but I went to a lot of effort to make sure I'd get a copy of Cornell, based on the premise that there would only be a limited press. That experience eroded my trust in this outfit no small amount.

Brewrow, I have the CD set, and all the songs that you mentioned Jerry sounding low on sound fine to me. He's really low in the 1973 shows, but I just didn't hear what you're talking about. I went back and sampled all the songs you mentioned and he sounds like he's at a normal level. Are you sure it's not your system? Honeyman, if you can afford 2 turntables, you can afford 2 copies of a release, so you don't have to get up to flip the record.

I doubt they’re any different, but I was referring to the LP. With all the comments I was a bit concerned that I may have been a bit jumpy on my comments. But after revisiting my vinyl copy, I feel the same way. I LOVE THIS SHOW, but Jerry’s guitar is really low for most of this show. Can I hear him? Absolutely! Just wish it was a bit more clear. Again, not “hating”, just giving my ever so humble opinion.

I'm just getting started. Listened to A and B last weekend and didn't notice a problem. This morning started with C and am a little concerned. The vocals are there somewhere but out of anything close to balance with the instruments. I'm hoping it is due to original tape and not the mastering and/or pressing of my set.Fingers crossed :-(

Let me first remove the egg from my face. Train, you were correct about my system. It IS faulty. My left speakers volume is really low and it turns out my receiver’s speaker connection is bad!!! Can’t wait for my new receiver so I can hear this show proper!!! Sorry for the bad info everyone.

At least I'm not alone. Those songs are vocal ones or at least its a big part of it. Oh well. Never perfect

I have the same issues with vocals on side C for the vinyl box set. Is there a remedy offered for this or did I get screwed out of $100?

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but.....

On the other hand, you have just bought yourself a fantastic record of The Dead at the absolute peak of their powers.

Just picked this up

I am deterred from buying this release mostly because they have chosen to track this show onto 12 (twelve!) sides, which is just ridiculous. It can be very easily packed into 9, saving one entire disk, without interfering with its running order or making any one side longer than about 24 minutes. Vinyl is already inconvenient - making you change a disk every 10 minutes (or 6) even more so! Reading the mix issues many are talking about just confirms my belief that I don't need this. Too bad - hot show, love vinyl.

There is nothing wrong with the vinyl mix, it’s the same mix that is on the CD.
Vocal drop outs, etc, are on the master reels.

Why would you pick this lousy recording for vinyl release.

I'll admit it does seem crazy to have only one 6 minute song on a side. This could have been condensed greatly. But I have found myself playing this album more than any other Dead show this year. It's hardly picture perfect...but I keep getting drawn back to it. Far more than I am to Dave's 34 -even though, logically speaking, that is a better show and recording.