The Smiley Smile Message Board

As one of (if I read it right) several posters whose Rega Planars are in the loft, or in some way consigned to the vaults for now, I'd be thrilled to hear the low-down on the various bits of circular vinyl I can for now only look longingly at in this magnificent box.

Go.

Ha ha!! I actually work up in the loft, beside my out of action Rega player! I tried the LP on it the other day but it's running slow so I'm hoping the postman is delivering a new belt today that will hopefully sort the problem. I'm desperate to hear the vinyl. Unfortunately it's a Rega Planar 3 and doesn't play 45s as far as I can tell so they will be for display purposes only.

BTW, someone at the Hoffman board pointed out that there are little slits in the CD folder that can hold the 45s. I had no idea as the 45s were loose in my box. Just a heads up in case anyone else is as unswitched on as me.

Replaced the belt on my turntable. Good news - vinyl sounds great. Bad news - there seems to be a small scratch in worms that lasts about 40 seconds. I hate to be anal about these things but I think I may try and get the vinyl replaced as it does ruin the end of Worms somewhat.

I think the Rega *can* play 45rpms. All you need to do is (having first removed the platter) move the belt from the motor's upper pulley wheel to the lower, larger one. A bit of a palaver, I know, and the "feature" which always put me off buying one, but worth it, I reckon.

The "reconstruction" of the Smile LP is astoundingly well done and the cleaned-up tracks never sounded better, on both the HDCD and the LP.  There are some "Free As a Bird" artifacts where things were obviously flown in and pasted (vocal for I'm In Great Shape, the coda to Surf's Up from the 1971 completion, hum-be-dums in GV).  Some holes remain (i.e., where there were no lyrics or vocals done for "Do You Like Worms", "Holidays" and "Child").  So it is clearly unfinished but has the "sheen" of a finished structure, that can be played all the way through.  The reassembled "Heroes and Villains", "Wind Chimes"  and "Vegetables" stand out as audio alchemy at its best.  Some of the scholar types are wringing their hands at the assembly, but at least the thing is a presentable listen, which is the whole point.

The 2-LP vinyl is a good transfer and has some nice surprises: really good stereo mixes of some songs like H&V and Vega-tables, and on one 45 a stunning reassembly of the "alternate" version of Heroes and Villains, with the "three score and five" lines and the instrumental fade.  This is a recreation of how the fabled "H&V Part I and Part II" single might have turned out.  It is the same version included in the 1993 box set but they got a much better source for it.  The Surf's Up/Vegetables single sounds great too.

Wow, just googling Rega Planar 3 on the off-chance that there's some secret way that it can play 45s and waddyaknow - there's a secret way that it can play 45s! I had no idea as it was handed down to me.

However, the middle bits of the 45s are pushed out so I need one of those spacer things to play them  >:(

Are everybody's 45s this way?

Also, having complained to sainsbury's entertainment.com about my scratched LP within the box set, they're going to send me a replacement box, BUT possibly allowing me to keep the existing one?!! I'm thinking they must be mistaken here, but we shall see ...

perhaps if we  complain to our suppliers , each of us can get a duplicate? SWEEET!!

Just move the switch from 33 to 45, problem solved!!

No, no - this thing's from the past. You have to lift the glass platter off, then move the rubber belt off the little wheel and on to the big wheel. Enough to put you off 45s for life!

My 45's are like that.

Also, in some fantastic design c*ck up of my turntable, I can never get the needle to hit at the right spot of H&V part 2 - It starts at the second 'dit'. Luckily, I bought H&V part one and two off iTunes, so if I was to needledrop them that wouldn't be an issue.

Bah, it does it on all of them, actually. There's enough 'lead-in' space on the 45's, my automatic turntable arm just flies over that and lands on the first few seconds.

That's the extent of my complaints about the box, at least  ;D

Hey HarveyW,

Thanks so much for this tip. I somehow missed your post earlier and found the info in a desperate google. I can't believe I didn't realise this all these years!

You can pick an adapter up for just a couple bucks.  I actually don't have one myself (don't play many singles), but my record clamp holds them in position fine.  I just have to put them on the platter carefully before locking them down.

It's a proper turntable.

Yep you do as described above. The Systemdek/Dunlop/Audionote decks are similar.....as of course is most high end gear.

There was a special Rega Planar 78 for playing shellac

Rega's latest still do this but you can get an electronic speed change too for the higher models. I have 2 Regas, upstairs/downstairs, including this one which is stunning: http://www.rega.co.uk/html/p7.htm

Regas are great turntables (I have a 30-year-old Thorens myself) but if money is a problem to fix an old one,  get one of those USB turntables from any electronics store or, if one's in your town, a record store.  Got one for my dad and he loves it.   You can even get replacement needles for the cartridge if you use it that much (not always the case with more tweaky "audiophile" cartridges, where the styli can't be changed).

45 adapters can be found there too, but don't rule out going to yard sales and flea markets, where the adapters are in boxes of old records.

Please Mention to me in some discreet electronic form when rips of the vinyl-only tracks become available...some of us still don't have turntables!

BEST sounding mono I've ever heard!

FANTASTIC!!!

I actually got a bit teary being able to slide Smile in there between Pet Sounds and Wild Honey!!! ..... and Smiley!

I know it's not the real album but it's as close an approximation as is humanly possible!

The fly-ins are hissing and all that stuff that people have been complaining about are barely noticeable on the vinyl. The vinyl is perfect. I can't wait for my power to come back on so I can just sit in with my record player for days.

Yeah, I noticed absolutely zero glitches.

And those big heavy inky black shimmering slabs of vinyl are soooooo sexy with that rainbow Capitol label!!!

I'm also really pleased they made room for a 4th side of bonus tracks. They could have just compressed Smile onto one disc! Was a thoughtful bonus!

Also, upon sitting there listening to Smile and staring at my record shelf like a zombie: seeing that Smile spine finally at home between Pet Sounds and Wild Honey, it seems more clear to me (in my twisted mind at least) than ever that Wild Honey (or something along it's lines) is still and forever will be the rightful heir to Smile!

It's obvious, of course, that if Smile had indeed been released in 67, we wouldn't have been given Smiley, so what would have happened?

My theory: Smile would have gotten rave reviews, would have sold a bit better than Pet Sounds, maybe the Boys would have played Monterrey, but let's face it, The Beach Boys still weren't hip and never would be. Not in the late 60's reality. Sgt. Pepper would have come out and rocked Smile off the map, Brian would have had a meltdown (maybe not such a bad one) and the Boys would have regrouped and Wild Honey would have come our way. It makes sense. Van Dyke would still be out of the picture and if the Boys regrouped as a family, it's natural Brian and Mike would write... lots. So, maybe we would have gotten a bit more adventurous version of Wild Honey, but it would still have been the same basic animal. Smile was a mountain to climb under even the best circumstances. What was Brian going to do: Smile 2? 3? 4?