Label/imprint: American Records Corporation “Special Editions”

[Woody]

I’m curious to know whether anyone has experience with 78s ARC released as “special editions.” They’re repressings of earlier records, though I’ve seen the dates of the repressings falling in both the 1930s and 1940s. Do they sound okay? And what kind of material are they pressed on?

I’ve considered picking up a record or two, as finding the originals has been tricky, but it wouldn’t make sense to buy them if they sound garbled or will get chewed up by my older machine.

[edisonplayer]

I believe they're dubbings from the original recordings.edisonplayer.

[Woody]

I believe they're dubbings from the original recordings.edisonplayer.

Thanks. I was wondering if that was the case. If they’d used the original stampers, they might be fine, but I’ll pass on second-generation copies.

[pallophotophone]

I can speak specifically to Special Editions number 5001-S. It contains 2 previously unreleased recordings by Russ Columbo. Both recorded on August 31,1934. Matrix LA 201 "Too Beautiful For Words"with Jimmy Grier and his Orchestra
And Matrix LA203 "I See Two Lovers" with the same orchestra. The record seems to be a Columbia pressing on very high quality laminated shellac. Superb audio quality on both sides so they are not dubs !! This is the first edition of the 2 recordings.
The shellac has absolutely no grit in it so I would never play it with anything less than a modern pickup