I'm not nearly as versed in this area as you or Don or George or Michael 
but something innately makes me think it is a chemical issue as well. 
I'm not sure if this is vinyl or styrene is there are a quick and dirty 
test for this?

AA



Steven Smolian wrote:
> This is true of their 10" discs as well.  It's pre-record sealing time.
>
> Some of the examples I've seen were new, still in the internal 
> cellophane sleve.
>
> There are similar problems with Mercury's covers of the period, on 
> some of which the coating bubbles, other where is fades and peels.
>
> Ill hazzard a guess that its a chemical issue, as I've only seen this 
> over the last 10 or so years.  I wonder what the early Mercs at LOC 
> look like?
>
> Steve Smolian
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Biel" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 6:45 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Pressing Haze: Help Needed
>
>
>> Aaron Levinson wrote:
>>> Don-
>>>
>>> You are suggesting that one pass with a very worn stylus produced 
>>> this kind of greying? That seems kind of hard to fathom
>>
>> Not if this is a styrene pressing rather than vinyl.  I have seen 
>> microgroove styrene pressings absolutely shredded when played by a 78 
>> stylus or a stylus with a sharp facet.  You haven't told us if this 
>> pressing is vinyl or styrene.
>>> considering all
>>> the other anecdotal evidence that suggests that Mercury and Emarcy 
>>> seem to exhibit this "record cancer" when almost no other labels do?
>>
>> Funny thing is that many early Mercury and Emarcy pressings are 
>> styrene when practically none others were.  A few Harmony and many 
>> Gold/Silver Crest LPs are also styrene, and Decca was using a 
>> slightly different type of styrene in the late 50s.  Most Columbia 
>> 45s were styrene.  Back-cueing them by DJs can kill the first seconds 
>> of these.
>>
>>> I have seen many records that have been played by a worn stylus and 
>>> are greying but none that I have ever seen, stop so abruptly as this 
>>> record does.
>>>
>>> AA
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Since most microgroove records are vinyl, I would expect that this 
>> would be almost everybody's experience.  But I have seen it happen.
>>
>> Mike Biel  [log in to unmask]
>>
>>> Don Chichester wrote:
>>>>  In a message dated 11/30/2009 5:12:06 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
>>>> [log in to unmask] writes:
>>>>
>>>> Mike  Gray wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Played with a *very* worn stylus that's damaged the groove  -
>>>>> Groove wear is a potential culprit Mike but in this case it can be 
>>>>> conclusively ruled out. This haze stops dead two thirds of the way 
>>>>> through track 2 only on the first side. The worn stylus theory is 
>>>>> simply not an option with a condition like this. I think it is far 
>>>>> more likely to be some kind of mold, storage and/or pressing  defect.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> AA
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My experience is that this exactly the cause of the haze.  The 
>>>> former owner played the record two-thirds of the way through track 
>>>> two--then noticed  the wear and lifted the stylus at that point.
>>>>  Don Chichester
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>