Grateful Dead

The recent epidemic of malfunctioning discs should not be ignored or dismissed with comments like "It will all come good in the end." It should not have gone so badly wrong in the first place and Rhino should be left in no doubt that their market finds this unacceptable.

Whether or not it has anything to do with cost cutting is something Rhino is unlikely to divulge. That the discs are noticeably thinner and more flexible than the norm and that they are made in Mexico may or may not contribute to the problem, but most sentient beings could put 2 and 2 together and get 4 as the answer.

To dismiss complaining about this situation as endless whining seems so absurd that it seems aimed purely at provoking a reaction. I hesitate to use the "T-word" but how else should it be described.

My message to Rhino is: Give us quality products for our money. Surely this is not too much to ask?. What may be too much to ask is for the elusive Dr. Rhino to post an explanation of what has gone amiss recently, but it would be a nice gesture to those having so much trouble trying to resolve issues that they have with recent releases that came to a head with Dave's Picks Volume 28.

As I understand it, the people who speak out against receiving a poor quality service make more of a positive contribution to the culture surrounding the product in question than those who don't. Surely, if a profit making organisation can make more profit by cutting costs, they will do so. If, in cutting costs, the quality of the product deteriorates, then it is up to everyone who purchases that product to point out what has happened, with a view to rectifying the situation. If they care about what they are buying, that is.
Hopefully we have got way past the point where we are mere passive recipients.

.... sorry I'm late, but to say I tied one on New Year's Eve would be an understatement. Didn't wake up until noon yesterday, and no, I didn't wake up to find out that I was the eyes of the world. I woke up looking for my Excedrin. Here's to a grate 2019 for everyone! Dave's Picks so far sure don't hurt very long..... shameless plug into this!!....
https://youtu.be/r0oY7OEg4Ik
....the chills start at the 15:00 mark. The chills peak at 16:45. There's an I Know You Rider in there trying to escape. Sploooooosh....then it gets really dark, and really weird. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Have not seen a post from Bolo in a long time. Maybe concides with this release and the defective CDs?

Lol, no I don't work for Rhino. But that's telling, that you think a rhino employee would talk to a customer like that. It just shows how out of touch you are, and belligerent toward the system. The reason I posted my comment is because you are a drag. If it were one time that would be one thing, but you complain about everything, all the time, multiple times. That's reason number one that I posted. You are a buzz kill.

Reason number two is that I don't want you to f*** it up for those of us who don't think that the occasional exchanging of discs is worth sandbagging the organization that brings us all of this great music. It has never taken me more than an email thread to resolve a product defect. I'm talking mere minutes. You on the other hand make it sound like they're pulling your fingernails out, repeatedly, about the same damn thing. I consider myself a stakeholder and you drive down the stock every time you shoot off your loud mouth. So no need to guess about my motives, you have them right here.

Included on Dick’s Picks to let you know that they weren’t studio recordings and the tapes might not be in the best condition.
Probably should have used it on the PNW Box to warn that Wall of Sound shows often start with fiddling of the controls to get it just exactly perfect. Seems that a lot of people think they have defective discs because the vocals drop out.

Now disc skipping, that’s a legitimate defect.

A new caveat emptor is now needed to warn that your CDs might contain skips.
My replacements of DaP28 CD3 are supposedly in transit but, based on the post from Judysparty, I’m wondering about the quality of the redo. If it still skips on Let It Grow then that would suggest that the negative used for pressing is defective and wasn’t replaced.
At this point I wonder if they even still physically stamp a blank, or if they just bought a couple hundred duplicators and now just burn discs.

My past defects:
5-5-77 CD2
8-24-72 CD3

Golden Road and Beyond Description Boxes (I didn’t try to get replacements):
Skull Fuck, Dead Set, and another that I don’t remember at this moment.

And a weird one with Road Trips v1n2+bonus where it plays fine on the stereo but has many skips when copied to a hard drive. I used two different computers and burners and both copies had skips and dropouts, but in different places. After making 5 copies I was able to piece together the good fragments and get a copy on my music player.

Rockin’ the Rhein:
CD3 was missing.

Other people have reported other problems over the years that I never experienced. But, it seems that the frequency and overall number of defects is increasing.
That’s not a good sign.

I forgot who said it below, the box cutter blues may have been annoying, but at least the CDs were not defective.

I was acknowledging a previous post and I also have been buying literally hundreds of discs and I can only go by what has transpired in the past with what is transpiring now. So, you do what you want to, no one told you to do anything that you don't want to do. You go ahead and blindly purchase your product and I will wait till the reviews come in and we will see who is the happier for it. I guess you have all the time in the world to chase defective disc replacements, I do not. I agree with you that most problems are corrected and Marye is the best person for getting that done. I also agree that you have every right to disagree with what I said, but your tone is rather harsh, do you work for rhino? I know in the past there were no problems with disc, then, all of a sudden, there are, what would you contribute that to? I never mentioned Mexico or inflated costs so where that came from is anybody's guess, I did state that I missed the good old days when Grateful Dead products were made in the USA, yes, and that is true, I do miss those days, but don't try and put words into the conversation that I never said. Also, if you don't think that rhino is making a rather substantial profit from these sales, than you are delusional. Finally, I stated that I would gladly pay more for a quality product, so no one was bitching about the cost, again, you jumped to your own conclusion which is way off base and just, well, wrong. I stand by what I said and if you don't like it, oh well, some folks just can't connect the dots as you put it. I do know one thing, I don't care what you think about my outlook or my grasp of reality, which, by the way, is your opinion, which is wrong again. I don't follow the limited 2 per order comment, but you started to ramble then and the rest is gibberish. I can tell by your demeanor that something I said pissed you off, might it have been the wall/bridge comment? Anyway, something I said upset you and for that I say sorry, but I call them like I see them. 2019 is going to be a great year for me, and my outlook is nothing but positive, and based in a brighter reality than you seem to have and I will continue to speak my mind even if you try and tear me down, "bro"

You assume too much. Like for example, how do you know that the problem stems from the discs being made in Mexico is the reason there is a problem? You don't know that making them in the USA will solve anything. And how do you know that the defective disc issue resulted from a move to increase profit at Rhino (and NOT a move to prevent cost increase to the buyer?)

I've purchased literally hundreds, probably over a thousand Grateful Dead discs from Rhino at this point, and have had very few problems. The problems I have had in the past have been resolved by either Customer Support, marye, or Dr. Rhino.

Go ahead and cut off your nose to spite your face if you want, but I for one, recognize how fucking good we have it, to be able to purchase all of this music at normal prices. And the prices are normal, you just have to buy in bulk to make the system work. So don't bitch about their profit or what you're paying either.

You see that sign that says "Limited 2 copies per order?" That's Rhino listening to the people, so get that straight in your head too bro.

You'd be a much happier person with a more positive outlook, not to mention one that is better set in reality, because you do connect a lot of dots on assumption. Maybe 2019 will be a better one for you.

January 2, 1970, Fillmore East was my first Grateful Dead concert. 49 years ago today. I remember it quite clearly. How much tickets cost ($4.50, $5.50), where our seats were, the light show, the opening bands, thus spake zarathustra, the scene on the street. "If I told you all that went down it would burn off both your ears". 12/31/81 was my first New Years Eve Dead concert. Wild times. Thank you Ken Kesey. As for the quote "If you remember the 60s you weren't there", is inaccurate and misleading. And I love Robin Williams and Grace Slick. As for defective discs, some of you remember the 1972 Rolling Stone interview with Jerry Garcia when he talked about defective Skull and Roses vinyl that skipped and how it pissed him off. The Dead have always stood for high quality. Get it together Rhino. Happy New Years.