Butchered 'T

[freddy333]

[KB]

Sweet............very sweet

Even though I was tricked into clicking this thread

Ken

[CharlieUK]

Wow Freddy, this looks great!

More pics please!

I think I remember seeing your build thread a loooong time ago!

Awesome work!

[freddy333]

Thanks. There are more (watch) pics in the 1.2 update thread.

[Sylar]

Freedy that is beautiful mate.

Congrats.

[Demsey]

Whoa. The alternative 'baby jokes' cover for "Yesterday...............And Today". Is that for realz?

Nice watch too, but I'd rather have that pressing.

[freddy333]

Whoa. The alternative 'baby jokes' cover for "Yesterday...............And Today". Is that for realz?

Yes, but it is actually called the 'butcher cover'.

[Toadtorrent]

Yes, but it is actually called the 'butcher cover'.

This shot shows off the new bezel nicely. In the other pics the numbers seem to stand out a lot more...but this particular shot makes me see more your fondness of this insert. Great pic.

[southcoast68]

Yes, but it is actually called the 'butcher cover'.

So how much is a "butcher" cover Yesterdays and Todays album going for these days? I seem to remember something about there being a super rare Stereo edition of this album as well. Thats right kids, there was a time when you had the choice of Stereo music and ack..Mono. Ok, I'm starting to make mysefl feel old, I'd better stop now.

Oh, and the GMT looks sweet!! Looks like this project is comming together in grand fashion, wear it well.

[Stephane]

Yes, but it is actually called the 'butcher cover'.

Me too I wouldn't mind having one

[freddy333]

So how much is a "butcher" cover Yesterdays and Todays album going for these days? I seem to remember something about there being a super rare Stereo edition of this album as well. Thats right kids, there was a time when you had the choice of Stereo music and ack..Mono. Ok, I'm starting to make mysefl feel old, I'd better stop now.

I have not been active in LP collecting for many years, but the last time I checked (20 or so years ago), it was worth $400-$600. I am guessing that its value has approximately doubled since then. Unfortunately, I sold my stereo copies when I started a business many years ago & kept only the 1 mono copy. And not to hijack my own thread, but I kept a number of other Beatles LPs (& picture sleeve 45s) that are rarer than the 'Butcher Cover' (this is 1 of my old insurance pics)


Compared to the Butcher Cover, there are FAR fewer of these still in circulation (the numbers are, at best, in the 10s)

[Stephane]

Freddy you kill me.

I sold them all

Two Virgins, Wedding album...first UK pressing of first album of The Beatles, bootlegs, jingles, interviews...

Ah, what a stupid assxxxx I was.

Now I'm buying a new HiFi with a modern Thorens turntable and will have to buy them all back...

You lucky man...you are...

[freddy333]

Give me a couple of minutes...........

[freddy333]

I sold them all

Two Virgins, Wedding album...first UK pressing of first album of The Beatles, bootlegs, jingles, interviews...

(Includes all of the original album items, including the slice of 'wedding cake')

I have a number of Beatles bootlegs, but this is the very 1st 1. It appeared in Canada just days after the Beatles' 1st appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (Feb 64) & is also noteworthy because, until the release in 96 of the Beatles Anthology, it was the only source for the original version of 'Love Me Do' with Ringo playing the drums instead of the version George Martin ultimately released that featured a studio musician Martin hired for the session (Ringo only played tambourine on the officially released version)

[Demsey]

Oh man, I knew I was going to open Pandora's Box. Now I'm eating my heart out. That is one very impressive collection.

I have every Beatle record I ever bought. The first was Revolver the week it broke. Then I bought all the previous retroactively from Woolworths. And then waited with the rest of the world for Sgt. Pepper's. Who knew then how pivotal it would be. At one point I had only Beatles records and a few Disney LP's (Fantasia with the Nutcracker Side Two is an awesome sound track) from childhood to make the entire collection. But, my first phonographs were junk so they are pretty much ruined. I have a old stylus I install just to play those old disks. Funny, the unique *pop and scratch* on the ingrooves and outgrooves of the songs are as nostalgic as the tunes themselves. There is this one sequence of *pop, pop, zzzzzzzzzzzzz, pop, pop, zzzzzzzzzzz, pop, pop zzzzzzzzzzz* right before the opening horns of Magical Mystery Tour that gets my heart racing still anticipating the track.

Thanks for sharing.

[freddy333]

Thanks for the history Demsey. My experience is similar.

Back onto the 6542, I have unearthed a couple of interesting tidbits about Perspex, the material that was selected for the original GMT's bezel insert.

Apparently, it was not by chance that Rolex settled upon the relatively fragile Perspex. In fact, the name Perspex has been ringing bells in the back of my head for months now, but I have been unable to make the connection. Until today. While I was going through some of my old British motorcar manuals doing some research for a friend, I found the answer.........Beginning in the 1940s & continuing well into the 1950s, (Standard) Triumph, Morris Garage (MG), Jaguar & other British sports car makers used a plastic material called Perspex to make the fixed & sliding windows that preceded roll-up glass windows in some of their cars (for some of you younguns, it was not that long ago when roll-up glass windows were an expensive option in sports cars)

More importantly, the same material, Perspex, because it was easily molded into many shapes & was somewhat anti-reflective, was also used to make windscreens & machine gun turrets in planes used in the 2nd world war

Of course, due to Pan Am's familiarity with airplanes (Pan Am was an airline, after all), Perspex was an obvious (& readily accessible off-the-shelf) choice for the GMT's insert.

So, now we know how & why the GMT got its Perspex insert

[southcoast68]

Woww, this is fast becomming one of thee coolest threads we have here!! Were the service replacements for the original inserts made of perspex as well? Some folks refer to the early inserts as being "bakelite".

Thanks to Freddy and Demsey for the cool stories and pictures. Unfortunately, I have no such original Beatles memories to share, although I always enjoyed their music and enjoyed each members solo carrers after they broke up. It was a sad day when Lennon was shot, and unfortunately it happened on my birthday (Dec. 8 ), so every year it comes to my mind.

Thanks so much for sharing folks, you add a new dimension to an already great community.

Cheers

[freddy333]

Were the service replacements for the original inserts made of perspex as well? Some folks refer to the early inserts as being "bakelite".

Although many refer to the original plastic insert as being Bakelite, that is incorrect. I believe that Rolex replaced the Perspex inserts with standard metal parts late in 1956. The change to metal was mostly due to the fragility of the Perspex material, which is why it is relatively rare to find an original 6542 with its original insert & even rarer to find an original insert in good condition. But there are a few mint examples out there

Thanks to Freddy and Demsey for the cool stories and pictures. Unfortunately, I have no such original Beatles memories to share, although I always enjoyed their music and enjoyed each members solo carrers after they broke up. It was a sad day when Lennon was shot, and unfortunately it happened on my birthday (Dec. 8 ), so every year it comes to my mind.

A bittersweet way to celebrate what should be a happy event.

[Stephane]

Oh man, I knew I was going to open Pandora's Box. Now I'm eating my heart out. That is one very impressive collection.

I have every Beatle record I ever bought. The first was Revolver the week it broke. Then I bought all the previous retroactively from Woolworths. And then waited with the rest of the world for Sgt. Pepper's. Who knew then how pivotal it would be. At one point I had only Beatles records and a few Disney LP's (Fantasia with the Nutcracker Side Two is an awesome sound track) from childhood to make the entire collection. But, my first phonographs were junk so they are pretty much ruined. I have a old stylus I install just to play those old disks. Funny, the unique *pop and scratch* on the ingrooves and outgrooves of the songs are as nostalgic as the tunes themselves. There is this one sequence of *pop, pop, zzzzzzzzzzzzz, pop, pop, zzzzzzzzzzz, pop, pop zzzzzzzzzzz* right before the opening horns of Magical Mystery Tour that gets my heart racing still anticipating the track.

Thanks for sharing.

Great story to read Demsey.

I will soon have the same heart racing again when the turntable comes in.

I too have all the beatles LP, but only the regular ones, no bootlegs no rarities.

I'm pretty sure I will hunt for more again, like when I was 14 in the seventies.

My big regret is that I was born in 1960, not ealrier

It must have been fantastic to cue at the record store on june 1st 1967

@Freddy: the wedding album is a very nice object, isnt'it ?

Of course, the music is ...hmmm, a litle special

[freddy333]

It must have been fantastic to cue at the record store on june 1st 1967

It was indeed. I only wish I could have been in Liverpool & Hamburg in 1961-1962 to see them live when they were 'just a great little band'. I have friends who were fortunate enough to have been there & the Beatles really were 'more popular than Jesus' to those who caught their bug

 

@Freddy: the wedding album is a very nice object, isnt'it ?

Of course, the music is ...hmmm, a litle special

'Object' is absolutely correct. Because, as a record, it sucks.

I have been a Beatles & Lennon fan since late 1963 when I 1st heard 'She Loves You' blaring out of a neighbor's window. Of course, at that time, I had no idea who the Beatles were or who sang that song. All I knew was that I had never heard anything like it before. And the Beatles, individually & collectively, have rarely failed to produce similar emotions when they got down to the business of making serious music. But Lennon, when left alone with only Yoko & a tape recorder, has come up with some truly classic crap over the years. If you think the 'Wedding Album' is special, try 'Life With the Lions' (the album in the bottom left corner of the previous multi-album pic).

[Stephane]

Yeah, Life with the Lions, I almost forgot that one.

Well, some how it all started with Revolution N

[freddy333]

Well, some how it all started with Revolution N

[Demsey]

@Stephane

I only have a few years on you, but being first generation 'Merican from Britain, my early life was filled with cousins coming over to the US regularly, as well as a stream of 'friends of the family' (beautiful Scottish lassies and English girls) who served as au pair, or 'nannies' to gain Green cards to the US. It helped them having a 'job' lined up and a family sponsor. They all brought Beatles, Kinks, and Stones records over to trade for American releases of Little Richard, Elvis, Beach Boys etc. So that was my introduction. I was only 9, but remember buying Sgt. Pepper's for an outrageous sum of 5.13 usd. Righteous bucks in '67 I can assure you. Most albums were less than three dollars then, we were being gouged because of the hype. I remember loving the record straight off, thinking Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) was the most raucus thing I had ever heard! Later that Summer Rolling Stone (newspaper back then) reported a 'drug influence' and drug references possible on some of those tracks..........I was so crushed as a kid! My Beatles, dopers! The thought scared the hell out of me Oh well. I have read your account here with regard to Paul's Meet and Greet. Sad story! Not so sure you could consider John the affable one. There are countless stories and testimonials of him being a right bastard right from the early days. I think Paul just got jaded as the years took their toll. Everyone wants a piece of Maca.

But Lennon, when left alone with only Yoko & a tape recorder, has come up with some truly classic crap over the years. If you think the 'Wedding Album' is special, try 'Life With the Lions' (the album in the bottom left corner of the previous multi-album pic).

I'll say! I only had one album you could call 'unique', perhaps vauable, out of the usual catalogue; the live performance Live Peace in Toronto: The Plastic Ono Band. The first side was the Beatles concert that never was with Clapton, Alan White (drums) and Hamburg friend Klaus Voorman (bass). It is great. The track "Cold Turkey" had Yoko wailing withdrawl screams in the background. Sounded like someone stepping on a skinned cat. Then the side B; "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand In the Snow) and "John,John (Let's Hope For Peace)" more scream therapy as 'art' for Yoko. I suppose that was just John 'growing'. I loved all his solo projects that were released mainstream especially "Walls and Bridges" which appealed as it was the most 'Beatle like' production piece. "#9 Dream" is missing only George Martin's production hand , Paul's Bass and harmony. A great piece of work. Beautiful. The song "God" stands as the shining moment where I discovered my own personal philosophy had crossed, and momentarliy, I finally understood "Lennon".

I'm not so sure where the Beatles would have gone without George Martin. If you give a listen to The Beatles Anthology CD set, a lot of the tracks as 'works in progress', just the raw ideas the group members brought into the studio having recorded them on small cassette recorder 'note books' and reel-to-reels are pretty horrible and far from the polished finished masters. All those horn and string arrangements? Mastery. Way and above the Beatles' early resources as 'musicians'.

Speaking of 'raw' <>

OK, I think this thread has been stepped on pretty well. Maybe most of this could be transported to "Off Topic" That would be fun.

I actually did try and research 'Hesalite' for a good bit this morning, but came up with nothing relative to the composition or to add to the thread. I would be interested in the history of that material. Cursory, it appears it is just an Omega marketing term for 'plexiglass'? Intersting; used specifically in the Moon Watch (and display back delete) as it does not shatter to pieces when broken as would sapphire glass. In zero gravity that c'aint be good....................

[dluddy]

I actually did try and research 'Hesalite' for a good bit this morning, but came up with nothing relative to the composition or to add to the thread. I would be interested in the history of that material. Cursory, it appears it is just an Omega marketing term for 'plexiglass'? Intersting; used specifically in the Moon Watch (and display back delete) as it does not shatter to pieces when broken as would sapphire glass. In zero gravity that c'aint be good....................

Hesalite is a tradename Omega used for a "new" type of acrylic crystal. Supposed to be stronger than acrylic but not in the same hardness league as Sapphire.

[freddy333]

Bumped for new members.