A milestone!

[docb]

After a very long haul, the last title of Series One is starting to ship today. TP-010 will be going out at a rate of about 50 albums per day. That's about the maximum rate at which we can package things and still keep the packing QA up to snuff.  Thanks to everyone who has patiently waited for the series to reach completion. In retrospect the learning process of the production cycle during this first series was at times overwhelming, but we stuck with it because we love what we are doing (certainly weren't doing it for a paycheck - maybe someday...). I will probably be a little scarce here for a while while I change hats and finish putting together new websites for both Tape Project and Bottlehead. 

There will be more TP-005s and a batch of alignment tapes coming up next, then on to Series Two! We are waiting for three new licenses to show up in the mail. The minute they do I will announce three more Series Two titles  All other Series One titles besides TP-005 are now in stock for individual sale.

[xcortes]

Congrats!

It's been a long way. And as I said on the phone the first time we talked about the TP over the phone more than two years ago: you guys make sure you have fun.

[ironbut]

As a card carrying member of the "Early Adopters" club, (lots of my gear have serial numbers under #10) I can say from experience that I've certainly seen bumpier roads. And while producing these tapes has proven to be much more involved than some guy designing and marketing an amp or preamp out of his garage, (after all, he wouldn't have to figure out how to build two hundred in a whack) the results are so worth the wait that it hardly seems related.

So, hats off to the whole TP crew. Like I've said before, I believe you guys are creating something Of Lasting Value and isn't that what dreams are really made of.

[Ben]

Hey I am still building my new PP amp,on the kitchen table. I can not fantom
building 50 or 60 of them at a time.:) I plan to buy more tapes only after
I find out of all the titles listed in Series II and saved a bit more money.
I am the 'get it while I got the cash' club. :). Good luck in getting those
titles.

[mikel]

i want to echo the thanks and congrats for completeing Series One; and i think we are all excited about your processes being more streamlined for Series Two distribution. you have set the bar high with standards for music, recording and production....and kept to those standards. i hope this has been a good thing all around for all of you and has justified all your efforts.

i'll be holding my breath in anticipation of delivery tomorrow of TP-010......

[ironbut]

The line starts with you Mike (it used to start with me or Larry boohoo).

Once the sweet scent of fresh TP tapes hits the air, I find an unusually large number of members loitering around this forum.
Hmm,.. I guess I'm one of them. What are we doing here? After all, in a day or so we'll all be listening to it and knowing that someone else likes it (or loves it) won't change the way it sounds.

I guess it's just that Santa Schmalle brings out the kid in us.

[oneobgyn]

Hey Santa

I feel left out in the cold. If you are shipping 50/day I would have hoped to have received mine by now (TP088).

Any guestimate on ETA

[docb]

I wish I felt left out in the cold. It's pushing 100 here today! We're coming up on your serial number, Steve. A shipment of the TP-010 B reels took longer than usual to arrive from the studio. When those showed up we dove right in and got the 30 albums out that went out yesterday. There are a lot more tapes sitting here ready to be packaged (in the cool basement). We are just waiting to hear from the manufacturer of the custom cut gold foil spine labels for the slipcovers, about a shipment that I expected to see last week. When it is delivered we will be back in full swing shipping mode.

[docb]

Ten more TP-010s are shipping today and we should be able to ship ten more tomorrow. As soon as our gold foil labels arrive (we are told our order is at the top of the list at the label manufacturer) we will be shipping the rest of the outstanding subscriber albums.

I am told that we have a few TP-005s owed, that are just waiting for gold labels to ship as well. Those will go out ASAP.

All other titles are caught up and we have single albums in stock. We have only one TP-003 Arnold Overtures in stock, and just a couple of TP-007 Exotic Dances from the Opera. If you have been thinking about buying a single copy of either of these tapes or if you have been considering a Series One subscription I would suggest doing it now. We are now in full swing on producing Series Two tapes and it may be a while before we can produce more of these low inventory Series One titles. Price for individual albums is $500 plus shipping.

[oneobgyn]

any comment as to when the other 4 of series two will be announced?

I know it is a ways out but for series lll I would recommend that all titles be announced before we pay the amount in full for the entire subscription in order to glean the discount. Most of us have paid the full subscription price at least 7 months ago when only 6 titles were announced.

[AlexZ]

[All other titles are caught up and we have single albums in stock.[/quote]

Well, then why I have not receive "Suite Espanola" and "Waltz for Debby"  yet ?

Thanks,
Alex

[docb]

Hi Steve,

We are waiting for the paperwork to come from the label we are dealing with. It is our policy not to announce a title until we have a signed license. Believe me Steve, I wish I could have already announced them even more than you do. But we have seen cases where we had agreements in principal that didn't go through and these negotiations have been going on for more than 7 months. It's seems to be a sure thing now, to the point that Paul has scheduled time to drive down and pick up the masters next week. So I would guess the announcement will be any day. I have called Romo and asked him to check the mail twice today. ;^)>

We do appreciate that our subscribers have shown great support for Series Two. Many decided to opt for a selective subscription for the six titles we had announced, which seems like a reasonable approach to me. They can add the other titles to flesh that out to a full subscription at subscriber pricing as they see fit once the last four are announced. That has always been our policy for selective subscribers. The titles that we are working on closing are from a major label and I think folks will be pleased with the selection.

Hi Alex,

See my mention above that we have four TP-005 Suite Espanolas waiting to ship. Yours is one of the last four albums that are awaiting their spine labels in order to ship. Regarding Waltz for Debby, our records indicate that two tapes were shipped to you, number TP-007 and TP-008 on 6/19. We find a delivery confirmation at the USPS website for one of those packages on 6/26. Presumably that was TP-007. We had 10 albums from that day's shipment that were somehow delayed in USPS's system. A person Eileen spoke to at USPS the next day said that they will be delivered and we have since seen delivery confirmations for a couple of them. You might wish to contact Eileen at queen at bottlehead dot com if you need help to track that one down.

If anyone else is expecting albums TP-001 through TP-004 or TP-006 through TP-009 and hasn't received them please don't hesitate to contact Eileen. We don't have the manpower to actively pursue a followup on every package we ship, so we won't know if you have been waiting for a package an inordinately long time unless you contact us.

[AlexZ]

Dan,
Thank you for the update (and huge thank-you for the Seduction playback amp)!
Alex

[astrotoy]

UPS just rang the doorbell. TP-10 has made it to Northern Cal.  Hurrah!  Funny thing - Romo was just here a couple of hours ago (for a non TP related purpose). He saw my row of TP tapes and asked whether I had gotten TP-10 yet. I wasn't prescient enough to tell him it was on the UPS truck as we spoke.  I'm about to rewind it up to play.  Can't wait.  Larry

[JoeG]

Mr UPS man sent me an email yesterday to tell me TP 010 is on it's way to the Philadelphia area!! If it were not so hot and humid, I would hang out in the shrubbery by the house waiting for the big brown truck. I guess I don't have to, as one of my dogs can recognize the sound of the UPS truck 1/4 mile away and starts barking until it either stops at our house or goes on by.

Thanks again to Doc, Romo and Paul for all your hard work and dedication to make sure we all get our tapes. Your labor of love has spread a lot of great music to a lot of audiophiles, and for that we are all very grateful.