Today I got some nice old UK mono vinyl. At about €3,- a piece I couldn't resist, of course. A couple of the sleeves have had a bumpy life and the LP's gathered quite some dust, but after an afternoon of attention and a good cleaning, they look and sound fine again. I'm amazed again how good these more than 60 years old records still sound.
One thing I noticed was that, especially some 50's songs, sound quite different than how they sound on other (US, German etc) pressings. The mastering/EQ is very different to my ears. I looked around on the internet and read somewhere that, in the 50's a d 60's, British sound-engineers used to emphasize on midtones more than bass tones remastering the tracks. The reason would be that British recordplayers were less "bassy" than US sets. I don't know if that's true, but the difference in (mono) sound is obvious to me.
Maybe a (British) vinyl collector on this board can shed some light on this? Did they indeed master them differently? And for what reason?
BTW...These are my new "buddies":
Elvis' Golden Records, UK 1958, mono
Elvis' Golden Records Volume 2, UK 1960, mono
A Date With Elvis, UK 1959, mono
Elvis Is Back, UK 1960, mono
GI Blues, UK 1960, mono
I'm happy with these oldies!