----- Original Message ----- From: "David S Sager" <[log in to unmask]> > I am presently going through a whole bunch of 12" 78s in this series and > finding anomalies in the run-off area that make me wonder if these > represent different takes, dubbings vs master pressings or what...for > example > Victor 11-9175 (Rob't Merrill) "A side" shows (using the embossed > "11-9175" as 6:00) a numeral "1" at 9 and 12:00 positions, while another > copy shows no such characters but does have what looks like "lE" > followed by a star. Still, another copy shows the "1" at 9 and 12:00 > but also has a numeral "4" at about 7:00. > Any insight is most welcome. The numeral at the 9:00 position of virtually all (RCA) Victors is the take number. Many Victors which were still in the catalog in the mid-forties were dubbed and had lead-in and lead-out grooves added or altered, and these often don't show takes. In 1951, they began showing matrix numbers, and the take followed by a letter follows that with a hyphen (i.e. E1-xx-####-1C). I believe the other numbers in the run-out area designated stampers/molds, but don't have any details... Steven C. Barr