New Jimi Hendrix UHQRs from Analogue Productions
A few years ago in 2019, Chad Kassem’s Analogue Productions launched their new UHQR (Ultra High Quality Record) series of records with mono and stereo reissues of The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Axis: Bold As Love. Pressed in very limited quantities (especially the mono version), they sold out very quickly and (at the time of this writing) command a hefty price tag on the secondary market.
By way of a brief introduction, UHQRs first achieved notability amongst audiophiles back in the early 1980s when Mobile Fidelity Sounds Labs (in their original incarnation) released a total of eight titles, including Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Holst’s The Planets. After these releases, UHQR titles more or less dried up. Until now.
When Acoustic Sounds acquired Classic Records back in 2010, the formula for Clarity Vinyl was part of the sale, including the rights to the Clarity Vinyl brand name. Kassem registered the UHQR and Clarity Vinyl trademarks, and set about producing them. These new UHQR records, which feature a flat profile, are hand-pressed from 200g pucks of Clarity Vinyl, on temperature-controlled presses.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Axis: Bold As Love was the first title to receive the UHQR treatment, and was mastered at 33-RPM. They were very well receieved, but audiophiles being audioplhiles, we clamoured for a 45-RPM UHQR version, and finally we’ve been heard! So now, for the first time ever at 45-RPM, both the stereo and mono versions of Axis: Bold As Love will be getting the UHQR treatment.
The lacquers were cut from the original analogue mastertapes by Bernie Grundman, and plated at Quality Record Pressings under Stan Bishop’s watchful eye. They each cost $150, and are available in limited quantities (4,500 copies of the stereo version and only 2,500 for the mono), and are available for pre-order today.