Another official release at the wrong speed (2nd Fret)

[falconwhit]

The Live at the Second Fret set included as Disc 5 of the Loaded Deluxe starts about a 1/4 tone too slow then gradually gets worse, with Sweet Jane being a semitone too low. I know it's nobody's idea of a great recording, but I kinda like it. Just realized that the reason it sounds tired is because of the speed issue. Really wish someone at Rhino at paid a bit more attention. Coming from a legit label, it's kinda shocking that Rhino/Atlantic put so much effort in putting a beautiful boxset but didn't bother fixing that speed issue.
(Assuming this was a problem w the original tape machine as the the January 1970 2nd fret bootleg lp is 1 semitone too slow too.)

(And then there's Problems in Urban Living / La Cave 68 which is a semitone too fast, making it sound painful to listen to - lazy bootlegers)

End of rant.

[nick257]

I was planning to speed correct this in the next week or so, but its disheartening to hear that the speed problems get worse through the recording. Someone on the Hoffman forum posted this comment a while back, which was going to be my starting point:

"I don't have the set, but going on the youtube video which was sourced from the master tape, "Sweet Jane" is about 3% slow. I don't know if that is consistent for the whole tape or if the two transfers are even at the same speed, but I'd start there.

Btw, someone on the velvet forum pointed at that "I'm Waiting for the Man" on the box is missing about 4 minutes compared to the old bootlegs. Since the box sources the master, I don't know what went on there."

[nick257]

I just checked - it was a user on Hoffman called rnranimal who made that comment in November 2015, the link to the comment and discussion on that forum is below

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/ ... t-13260583

[falconwhit]

FWIW, the Loaded boxset did not use the master tape for 2nd Fret according to Bob Kachnycz who had taped the show (I don't recall if he mentioned this in a public forum or in a direct message w me - but the gist of it was that he wasn't happy that the label hadn't used his master)
re the tuning, IMO adjusting by 1 semitone would get it in the ballpark and would be a major improvement even if it's not 100% perfect

[Kill Mick]

I just checked - it was a user on Hoffman called rnranimal who made that comment in November 2015, the link to the comment and discussion on that forum is below

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/ ... t-13260583

rnranimal is a valued member of this forum as well. Maybe he can add some further info.

[falconwhit]

Regarding the origin of the 2nd fret show on Loaded Anniversary set, I just found the conversation with Bob Kachnycz about his 2nd Fret recordings - this was part of an PM exchange on FB in December 2014: "I wish Polygram had seen fit to release the tapes I have, but they didn't, so that's why I put the full show I still had up on YouTube. They copied my tapes in 1998 but then the bootleg series was not much of a success.
"

[nick257]

Bob K later said that eventually they did use his master, and made a fresh transfer for the release of the box set. He complained that they did not do the transfer correctly. He is member Vinylbob on the Hoffman forum, and his comments responding to complaints about the poor audio quality are below, with the link:

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/ ... 55/page-20

"I agree. I have not bought the box set, but I guess I will now, to see how bad it is (I did not like the Loaded album). I have some mp3's that they sent me very soon after they got my tapes to do a fresh transfer, and they do not sound as good as the 1998 transfer they did, which I have a copy of, so I can compare the old and new transfers. The highs on the new transfer are missing and it is all muffled. There may be a simple explanation for this. No one from Rhino asked me for advice, just wanted the tapes brought or sent to New York to a mastering studio: the show was recorded on the left channel only of a stereo recorder, a friend's Sony that was better than my little mono reel to reel. I only had one mike. To play them back on my mono, I had to shift the 1/4" tape with a jury rigged mechanism to raise the tape so the track met my playback head at the right height. When they did this transfer, they must have assumed wrongly to simply playing it as a mono tape, without trying to shift the tape head to look for the best sound. Without the tape lined up, the highs are gone. I have the tapes back but I have no reel to reel to see whether the tapes have simply deteriorated over time. It's ironic, if this is true, that they already had a decent copy of the tapes that was edited as well.

Other than that, there was no Hans to be the band's sound man that night in May, it was just the three of them, so the vocal monitors were not loud enough, and the tiny audience was up front while I was in the back so I could plug in. It probably sounded okay up front."

[falconwhit]

I stand corrected. I forgot about that part. If anyone is able to create a new version at the proper pitch/speed, would love to hear it!