A truly unique Ramones collectible–the two original Reel to Reel master tapes for their 1978 album Road to Ruin (one for Side 1, one for Side 2.)

We acquired these from Ramones producer/engineer/mixer (and all around great guy) Ed Stasium, and included are his signed letters of authenticity detailing the history of the tapes, as well as a high resolution digital transfer on CD made by Ed.

As explained in Stasium’s letters  (one for each tape), “Audio Mastering is the process that in this case prepared the assembled master tape for release on vinyl. I always have the extremely talented Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound master my projects. During the process Greg would alter equalization, compression, limiting, volume etc to optimize the transition from tape to vinyl. It is a very specialized field in the audio industry, especially cutting the lacquer masters. This master reel contains all equalizing, limiting, etc. used in the disk transfer. This reel was recorded at the same time that Greg cut the original acetate and was made directly from the original master tape. The Ramones classic LP “Road To Ruin” was recorded and mixed at Mediasound NYC. (Calbi cut the master and this tape from the Un-EQ’d master–so this is indeed the EQ’d master tape for each side.)

As Ed explains in an accompanying document, tapes from the 1970’s need to be “baked”–or heated in a controlled environment–before playback; the binder used to attach the magnetic particles to the backing can be unstable after many years. Ed baked this tape before transferring it digitally in his recording studio; we suggest the owner not try to play it.

This auction is for this tape, transfer and documentation, sold as a collectible only. No rights of reproduction or copyright are included or inferred. As illustrated below, we have commissioned a frame for this tape which can be hung on the wall or displayed on a table. The frame can easily be slid open and the tape removed. The frame is shown only as an example of how this tape might be displayed and is NOT INCLUDED but can be ordered separately.

A unique opportunity to obtain a truly one-of-a-kind Ramones collectible.