The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I've noticed, in the course of trying to collect various issued takes of the Peerless Quartet's "Big Bass Viol" Victor 16507, comprising four issued takes on two separate dates in 1910 (please don't ask why I need to hear all four takes--being a completest is annoying sometimes!!!) that I don't see any take numbers in the usual position for this disc. Thus--horror!!!--I am unable to ascertain which take I'm listening to.

More seriously, I have noticed this on other early Victor double-sided discs, but particularly those circa 1909-1910. I'm not going to hypothesize as to a reason for this, but is there anywhere else on the disc that I can look for the take number if I don't see it in the nine o'clock position? Victor was usually excellent about this, and yet for this brief period, the information is lacking.

http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.ph ... _bass_viol

This isn't just an issue with black Victors, but also red seals of the era, it seems there was a period of nearly a year where they didn't put the take number anywhere on the disc. Annoying indeed, one of my never ending projects is to have all of my red seals in order by catalog and take number and sometimes all you can do in certain cases is listen for differences.

Sean

Thank you! It certainly can be frustrating for completists, but I'm somewhat mollified to know that I'm not missing anything from Victor's various numbers on the disc.

-Jon