RMAF 2018

Hendrix Alert: Only 1000 Stereo Copies Left

Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 5, 2018

At an early morning press conference at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, presented jointly by Sony and Acoustic Sounds, the latter company's Chad Kassem announced that of the 5000 stereo copies pressed of the company's new UHQR LP reissue of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Axis: Bold as Love, only 1000 remain. (The 1500 mono copies pressed are already sold out.) Hand-pressed, one-at-a-time, on 200 gm clarity vinyl that has no incline, the $100/each stereo copies are housed in an expensive Teflon jacket, and come with lots of documentation. Copies can be ordered online from Acoustic Sounds.

Chad explained that it only took him 20 years to get the rights to the pressing. "There's years, and there's Pink Floyd years," he quipped. "The Hendrix years aren't quite as long, but it still takes a long, long time."

Chad also announced that two years after he purchased Doug Sax's fabled mastering lab equipment, it has finally been restored to vintage state, and is ready to roll out recordings in Acoustic Sounds' Salina, KS church facility. Acoustic Sounds can now do everything in-house—from recording to pressing and distribution—save for printing the album jacket.

With the restoration comes a return to direct-to-disc recordings. Shelby Lynne has already signed on, and Dave Mason has expressed interest. Whether Kassem will also make simultaneous DSD recordings of these sessions, for issue on SACD and file format, is under consideration.

Acoustic Sounds is now the only approved pressing plant for the Beatles in the US. The LP release of the remastered The Beatles (aka The White Album) is due on November 9.

You read it here first.

COMMENTS
Anton's picture
Submitted by Anton on October 5, 2018 - 12:35pm

Have these Hendrix albums shipped?

I ordered last December!

mauidj's picture
Submitted by mauidj on October 5, 2018 - 12:39pm

So what if there are only 1000 copies remaining. How about actually shipping the damn things. Almost a year since I ordered mine which is a disgrace.
This article is a sales pitch for them and is not news at all.

dalethorn's picture
Submitted by dalethorn on October 5, 2018 - 1:07pm

Wonderful to hear that there are movers and shakers in this business who press for quality (no pun intended) ahead of just cranking out new stuff for highest sales. We tech people still have much to learn about analog music and analog processes, and everything we do learn helps to make our digital processes better as well.

Robin Landseadel's picture
Submitted by Robin Landseadel on October 5, 2018 - 3:08pm

Thanks but no thanks, I'll stick with my $2 used CD and skip the IGD.

DougM's picture
Submitted by DougM on October 5, 2018 - 9:52pm

How much for the limited edition eight track tape version?

tonykaz's picture
Submitted by tonykaz on October 6, 2018 - 3:07am

I wonder if there are ( still ) more than 5,000 paying customers for Jimmy Hendrix ?

I met an Old Geezer ( my vintage ) a few weeks ago thats still buying Disney's New Releases of Mickey Mouse stuff, I'm surprised that Disney is still creating New Mickey Mouse items.

Tony in Michigan

ps. is any RMAF Demonstration Room playing Hendrix? , I doubt it.

DougM's picture
Submitted by DougM on October 6, 2018 - 3:42am

Hendrix still sells millions of records, to people who have good taste in rock music, which probably precludes anyone demonstrating at RMAF. I have no doubt that JA would though, as he's a bass player, and a fan of classic rock.

tonykaz's picture
Submitted by tonykaz on October 6, 2018 - 3:57am

Thanks for the laugh.

I've heard some Jimi recordings, I'll never be a fan, I'm more Opera and Acoustic stuff.

Thanks for writing and the corrections, I'll go back to bed now.

Tony in Michigan

Robin Landseadel's picture
Submitted by Robin Landseadel on October 6, 2018 - 12:51pm

There's a lot of interesting things in the Jimi Hendrix catalog—the closest thing Rock has or had to Paganini—but with all the noise and distortion, not exactly what I would call "audiophile" stuff, though now and then it is ear candy. But Axis is a rough sounding recording to begin with, nothing will ever make it "audiophile".

ok's picture
Submitted by ok on October 6, 2018 - 1:12pm

..but somehow Hendrix was also the first popular electronic composer of worth.

Robin Landseadel's picture
Submitted by Robin Landseadel on October 6, 2018 - 2:20pm

I'm not so sure about that "first popular electronic composer of worth" business. Not to denigrate Jimi's musical gifts. I suggest they lay more in the direction of an unusually gifted blues guitarist. On the other hand, devoting an absurdly OTT pressing to this particular Album strikes me as a waste of very expensive vinyl, at least as regards sound quality.

Is "Telstar" an electronic composition of worth?

By the standards of avant-garde electronic composition, John Lennon actually hit the mark with Revolution #9, a particularly successful example of Musique Concrete. There's bits of that in Hendrix, but as regards a pure example of Musique Concrete, not so much. Maybe you were thinking of OMD's "Dazzle Ships"? On the other hand, that wasn't "popular", in fact, it very nearly sank the band.

By the standards of Popular electronic music, Esquivel got there first. As to its actual artistic worth? Yeah, well, that's just your opinion, man.

ok's picture
Submitted by ok on October 6, 2018 - 3:46pm

Are You Experienced (year prior to #9) simply compensates for it all, while Bold As Love being the definite guitar rocket acceleration trip to where no man had gone before..

dalethorn's picture
Submitted by dalethorn on October 6, 2018 - 6:19pm

Hendrix was a smash hit (heh) after Woodstock, and fairly popular for a couple of albums, but when he died unexpectedly the market was flooded with massive amounts of unreleased junk, not even mentioning the bootleg albums. His work on those 2 biggies while he was alive are worth a relisten on whatever media you like to play, but believe me most of the junk on his formerly unreleased material isn't worth having.

I remember a time when people were talking about "heavy" music or a heavy sound coming out of the psychedelic era, and Hendrix was definitely at the forefront of that genre.

Cooking Man's picture
Submitted by Cooking Man on October 6, 2018 - 10:01am

I too ordered both mono and stereo versions getting on a year ago.I recollect AP slated release in the spring.About 3 months ago my retailer suggested delivery late summer. That to me suggests August. Now he’s being told late autumn (fall to you guys across the pond).Why can’t trealistic release dates be given?Fortunately I haven’t had to pay up front. I’d be really pissed off if I had.Chas,any comment?

Anton's picture
Submitted by Anton on October 6, 2018 - 1:12pm

How many copies left now?

;-D

carl478's picture
Submitted by carl478 on October 8, 2018 - 10:07am

Just got off the phone with Acoustic Sounds and they gave me the latest - the stereo and mono version will ship simultaneously in Dec. 2018 or early 2019.

Jason Victor Serinus's picture
Submitted by Jason Victor Serinus on October 8, 2018 - 2:47pm

Chad said nothing about the release delays at the press conference. In fact, given that I don't have an analog rig and don't follow analog releases, I simply assumed that the album was currently available.

I now understand that his talk about how long it has taken to get Doug Sax's mastering studio up and running, how he had to enlist the help of the man who originally worked with Doug in setting it up 40 years ago, and how much it has cost, explains why the release date for this pressing has been delayed so long. Not that hearing that is going to assuage the frustration of anyone who has been waiting and waiting for their Hendrix.

Lesson learned. Next time I cover a press conference when someone talks about a recording release, I will be sure to ask for the release date. I do so routinely in terms of hardware and software.

Anton's picture
Submitted by Anton on October 9, 2018 - 8:03am

To paraphrase Otter: "You screwed up, you trusted him!"

;-D

BKinTheBK's picture
Submitted by BKinTheBK on October 8, 2018 - 6:27pm

Was this Jimi record and the upcoming "The Beatles" record made with Sax's equipment? The timeline of when Sax's stuff came (is coming) online is a bit unclear. No worries if you don't know ...

Jason Victor Serinus's picture
Submitted by Jason Victor Serinus on October 9, 2018 - 10:43am

that Doug's equipment is finally up and running. It seems they had no idea how long it would take, and how much they'd have to spend, to restore everything to top running order.

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