A Guide To Deciphering Dead Wax

The dead wax marking can be machine stamped, hand inscribed, or a mix thereof. What you’ll usually find may include a string of numbers and letters, a signature, and a symbol of some sort. What these inscriptions mean varies from record label to record label (and sometimes from pressing plant to pressing plant), but there are some commonalities. After you get your bearings, it’s possible to even make some educated guesses even if you don’t have all the info.

So What Sort of Story Are These Scribbles Telling Me Here?

This is the cool part. This is where you may find out that you won the first and/or rare pressing lottery. The long stream of numbers, sometimes prefaced by two or three-letter code, are typically a catalog number or part number identifying the stamper used. Essentially, this is your album’s ID. Immediately after this is commonly followed by a dash and a number/letter combination such as “-1A.” There is some variation on this, but typically this would indicate that the record is a first pressing and you’re looking at side A.

After the catalog/part and pressing information, you may see “RE” inscribed into the dead wax. This symbol indicates that the album is a repressing. Keep in mind that back when records were pretty much the only way to get music, albums were pressed by the millions regularly. So, repressings can still be from the year of the album’s release. A RE pressing may or may not be as collectable, but there’s still a good chance that it will have similar mastering and sound as an initial pressing.

Mastering is very much an art and, like a lot of artists, mastering engineers have been known to sign their work. The next inscription that you’ll probably see is the initials of that engineer. Other than checking to see if you have a first pressing, this is probably what you’ll most like to know about the record you’re holding. Each engineer has their own style, so if you find one that you like you should definitely learn their signature and keep an eye out for more. Some are easy to guess such as “RL” for Robert Ludwig, “MILES” for Miles Showell, and “KG” for Kevin Gray. Some are less so like “Pecko Duck,” the nom de plume of George Peckham.

Further down the dead wax rabbit hole there is typically some inscription that tells you where the record was pressed. Just like engineers have their reputations, so do pressing plants. Some use slightly different vinyl formulations than other plants use and may have higher QC standards as well. Some just have that undefinable mojo going for them. If you see, for instance a triangle with “IAM” written in it, that would be a Capitol pressing from Scranton. A horizontal line with a sideways triangle with its apex touching the line indicates the record is also Capitol, but was pressed at the Winchester plant. CT or CTH is Columbia Terra Haute. At one time, there were many pressing plants in the U.S. Now there are maybe thirty. So, when you’re decoding the dead wax of older albums, you may see a pretty wide variety of pressing plant inscriptions. Many albums had copies pressed at different locations to cut down on shipping times. This could explain why that cool Count Basie record you have sounds different than your friend’s copy of the same album.

Is There A Practical Use For This?

What? Trivia isn’t enough for you? Fair enough. The real benefit of cataloging dead wax inscriptions (also known as matrix numbers) is so that you can tailor your collection to your liking. If there is a mastering engineer or pressing plant that you like the sound of, this is how you ensure that you find what you’re looking for. Also, if someone is trying to sell you a first pressing and you’re just not quite sure what to look for, understanding what is in the dead wax will put you on your first step of authenticating or debunking the seller’s claims. If nothing else, you’ll look like a wizard to your friends as you hold a record up and proclaim its provenance.

Are There Other Things Hiding In The Dead Wax?

Tons! In addition to the above information, many artists have been known to sneak stuff in there. From Neil Young’s “Goodbye Waterface” in the dead wax of Tonight’s the Night to the messages found on every album Third Man Records has ever pressed, you can see little welcome notes from the people that brought you the music. Some are funny, some are weird, a few might be rude. It’s all part of the magic.

OK. This Was Pretty General. Do You Have Any Specific Examples?

I do!

Engineers:

MILES = Miles Showell

RL = Robert Ludwig

BG = Bernie Grundman

Pecko Duck = George Peckham

GC = Greg Calbi

Øphase = Ashley Burchett

Pressing Plants:

Symbol of a drum with two drumsticks = Artisan

PRC = PRC

SP = Specialty Records

Symbol of a “U” inside a circle = United Pressing

STERLING (stamped) = Sterling Sound

P USA = Pallas for US export.