Originally Posted by
soulster
You were right. Like most other record companies, Motown used more than one pressing plant. The reason was simple, for distribution purposes. On in Indiana, one in New Jersey, one in Los Angeles...the typesetting isn't really important, but it is cool for today's record collectors!
Now, most pressing plants on the East coast, the South, and midwest, used vinyl pucks for their 45s, while the one on the West coast usually used styrene. Some record companies, like Atlantic, printed plant codes on the label, while most others engraved then on the runout groove along with the cat/tape number and the engineer's stamp.
Some pressing plants and labels only used vinyl, like Capitol, and one printed the label right onto the vinyl, like the one Bell used on the East Coast. I know an expert who knows all the minutiae about record pressings. I can put you in touch with him, if you like.
Many collectors consider styrene to be of lesser quality than vinyl, but I have no issue with it. If that styrene is played with a Shibata-type stylus, more commonly known as a Fine-line or Microline stylus, and if the tonearm and cart are not 100% calibrated on your turntable, you can actually shred it. I've shredded exactly two records, and that was only when the tone arm tracking force was off a bit. Otherwise, I have no problem playing styrene 45s on my Audio Technica 150mlX cartridge. LPs are never an issue.
During the oil embargo in the 70s, some pressing plants started using cheaper quality vinyl with more compounds and garbage scraps, or used smaller pucks, or pressed the records thinner. Motown, again, was no different. And, Motown somehow developed a reputation for releasing bad-quality pressings in the late 70s, but I have never encountered any problems.
Anyway, have fun collecting 45s [[and albums) with varying typesetting, label colors, and pressings.
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