First up it is important to know that Dr. Ebbetts does not use any EQ. To
understand the differences in sound of many of the Beatles records you
need an encyclopaedia to outline the endless permutations of mixes of both
their singles, EPs and albums that were sent around the world. To suggest
that Dr. Ebbetts cranked up the bass on the early Beatles albums is
incorrect. If you look through the Dr's catalogue you see many transfer of
the early albums that range from sought after Canadian pressings, the
interesting Brazil LPs and the different mixes that made the German
market. If you listen to some of the MFSL and UHQR needledrops this is
where you hear the altered EQ and the main differences of opinion as to
the worth of this. Dr. Ebbetts has transferred these as well. It is
possible that you thinking of the needledrops by Mirrorspock who does
tweak the EQ. As a result of Mirrorspock's tweaking Dr. Ebbetts has
redone some straight needledrops, no EQ, of some of Mirrorspock's best
work (to my ears) which is the transfers of the DMM White Album and the
Pro Use Abbey Road.
However, it is true that to have a complete remaster of the LZ catalogue
is way overdue. Regrettably it is the repacking of old technology that we
are seeing. But again, I have high hopes for the Dr's work with LZ. And
at this point its all we have.
Brad
--- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Thomson" <zeppelin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "FBO" <Zeppelin@xxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2008 1:08 AM
Subject: Re: Dr Ebbetts and LZ
Interesting although I've heard some of the Beatles Dr. Ebbetts stuff and
they're not as tremendous sounding as one might expect. The Dr. seems to
have added some EQ and boosting here and there. For example, the early
Beatles LPs were known to have had their bass turned down at the
mastering stage because the technicians at EMI didn't think record
players in those days could handle it. Therefore, Dr. E cranked the bass
on some, and it's audible. Last year I completed the entire Beatles UK
studio album on vinyl with early 80's UK reissues of the older albums and
70's Japanese reissues of the final four. All of these sound much better
than any Ebbett's I've heard. Don't get me wrong, in some cases, they're
better sounding than the commercial releases, especially the first four
LPs, where they played mono master tapes on a stereo machine and then
combined both outputs to mono (with all the resulting phase problems,
extra hiss, etc. A lot of fans do swear by the "Purple Chick" series of
fan-made "Deluxe Editions" which combine the best Dr. Ebbetts versions
(he keeps upgrading them whenever he finds a better source LP) along with
a lot of outtakes, alternate mixes, etc. For hardcore Beatles fans (I'm
not really one), these must be amazing.
As for Zeppelin, if he didn't mess with the sound, it'd be welcome by
some. Early pressings generally are good, and the Classic Records
resissues were not all consistently amazing. I still think that Classic
nailed LZI, IV, PG, Presence, TSRTS (original), ITTOD, and Coda but II,
III and to a lesser extent V are problematic. I finally got to hear an
entire LZII RL recently and I have to say it is very right sounding. In
fact, I took the best sounding version of LZII I have, the MFSL release,
and used EQ matching software to apply the EQ curve from the RL to it and
I'm just blown away by the sound. In every case, as soon as you put on
the track, you realize that's how it should sound. Everything is
balanced. You realize details such as how important the upper midrange
part of JPJ's bass was to the slam of Whole Lotta Love, how intricate
Bonzo's percussion work really was, just how rich and resonant Jimmy's
guitars and amps sounded, just how expressive Percy was. Of course you
can hear these in all versions, but the sense of balance and naturalness
is more there (and no, sorry, don't send me requests for a copy as I
don't trade studio recordings).
All of these reissues of needledrops, fan-made deluxe editions, etc.point
to one very obvious fact. There's a demand out there and a void to be
filled. As much as I want to see the J's make new music and get on with
life without Percy, I hope the don't abandon the Led Zeppelin canon. The
studio catalog deserves a proper remastering not just repackaged three
decade old technology. There are lots of possibilities for outtakes,
alternate mixes, and live stuff that would, as someone on the Hoffman
forum wrote recently, make everyone forget about any other celebrated
live albums by other groups as being the best live albums out there. My
God I was listening to some of Osaka, 1971-09-29 last night and thinking
how incredible that WLL jam would sound on an official release. Think of
those European March '73 releases in good sound!
Brad wrote:
Well,
The good doctor has finally done it. He has ventured into the LZ
catalogue. For those of you not familiar with Dr. Ebbetts he is
responsible for (in my opinion and many others) for THE best sounding
vinyl transfers of many albums, mostly Beatles but also Dylan, The Who,
The Monkees and not many other bands.
For LZ the Dr has gone with first issue USA pressings not 200 gm classic
series. The Dr (who has a good ear) has maintained that to his ear
these were the best sounding. He does make the particular point however
that LZ II is NOT a Robert Ludwig disc and that all of the vinyl used
were near mint copies of the "1841 Broadway issues".
Can't wait to hear what the Dr. Has done with this stuff. I have high
hopes.
Please....do NOT ask me where to get these. This is for information
only.
Cheers
Brad