Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II

It’s not a hot “mix”, it’s cut hot during the mastering and cutting of the lacquer.

Picked up a legit copy of this press on eBay at a decent price. Spent a couple weeks cleaning it - a few wood glue applications, wet cleans, more wet cleans, etc… and was able to get both sides playing pretty darn clean. As others have said, even VG presses of this sound quite incredible because of how hot the record is cut. Most background noise is covered up, but can still be apparent in some of the quieter ages. Not a massive deal though since the quieter ages are quite minimal on the album overall. It’s such an aggressive album.

Yes, this sounds incredible. I’ve A/B’d this to numerous other pressings from the 70’s and there is no comparison. This press is just so in-your-face and powerful. Honestly never heard this album in this way before and it’s a wonderful listening experience.

I guess the point of this rambling is that if you’re willing to put some work into getting a cheaper lower quality copy sounding better, it’s definitely possible. It will take some elbow grease, but it’s worth it.

It´s time for proper reissue with original, identical RL´s hot mix, ´cause who has money (gosh, 200€ + for one record) and to step up "higher" in social ranks, ´cause you can afford it. Ludwig´s mastering is fantastic, so make it fantastic for everyone.

Even with VG level background noise this pressing sounds incredible as d

This is one of the most stunning things I have ever heard.

So I'm looking for some identification help. Just got a sealed copy with the "Whole Lotta Love" sticker on front. There is no sticker on the back. Any way of knowing? Thanks

Just came across a copy of this last month at a Used Books store for $18. It has RL SS on both sides. It sounded like absolute hot garbage when I first played but, but after several real good cleanings, this is now one of the prizes in my entire collection. Every time I listen to it(and I do it quite often) I still can’t believe how lucky I was to find this. The record sounds absolutely amazing with very few pops and no distortion.

The pressing and mastering is nice, but I prefer the new ones done by Page.

Heard Paul Cavalcante discussing this on WFUV NY last night and then found this fascinating article. I now realize my copy is an RL version. ST-A-691671 on side 1, and ST-A-691672 on side 2. Just RL on side 1, but RL plus SS on side 2. LH is on both sides. Side 2 has the narrow run-out and the cover has a round "Promotional Copy Not for Sale" sticker, as I worked in radio at the time it came out and got my own copy. Fun knowing it's an unusual version. It does sound fantastic!

I wrote Robert Ludwig in the last week and he wrote me back. All the versions from sterling are the same hot mix. The subtle variances between them are all simply from the slight differences in making a hand-made analog lacquer disc, at least one of which was sent to all the pressing plants at the time. The CTH plant got a lacquer that was half RL and half LH (Lee Hulko, his partner) but was of the SAME MIX AND MASTER, based on RL's notes. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME, aside from subtle variances and should be valued the SAME no matter who's initials are in the dead wax. They are all the same master from STERLING SOUND! Here is my reply from Robert Ludwig. Let this be the final word in this debate. Thanks!
Hi Jim,
I'm surprised about Lee Hulko's initials being on some of the parts. In all these years I had never come across any copies with his initials before.
When there were big orders of certain titles and there wasn't physically enough time for one person to crank out the lacquers as fast as the record company wanted, sometimes we would help each other out.
For instance, my initials might appear on a Beatles record that Lee mastered.
In every case, compared to now, those titles were relatively easy to master. Once one of us mastered an album and it was approved, we made careful notes, either one of us could cut it and it should come out the same. Back then, Lee and I shared the one room and worked different hours so it is possible one of the plants blew a part and needed a replacement right then with no delay.
So after I mastered the album (which Eddie Kramer & Atlantic approved) it was shipped to all the radio stations and the initial pressing was all from me and Sterling Sound.
Amhet Ertegun at Atlantic heard the album (which Eddie demanded be as hot as possible) and apparently it skipped on his daughters little turntable. Instead of calling us at Sterling and asking us to lower the level a little and telling us where it skipped, they had the disk cutters at Atlantic use my EQ'd cassette file copy and they cut it WAY lower than my original cut plus, in my opinion, it sounded dull and generally not very good sounding in comparison.
So all the disks that were played at the radio stations and all the initial pressings world wide came from me (and apparently Lee cut a part or two) and that was what "sold" the record and made it a hit. A year later, whenever I visited someone I would look at their Zeppelin II album to see if it was my cut or Atlantic's cut. It was easy to see by eye, the Atlantic cut ended much farther from the label and the grooves to the naked eye looked very conservative.
I still got to Master "Houses of the Holy" later on, no skipping problems with that as far as I know!
I hope this clears this up for you.
All my best,
Bob Ludwig
Gateway Mastering Studios Inc
428 Cumberland Ave
Portland Maine 04101
207 828 9400
[email protected]