08/06/2026
Runout groove poetry for vinyl detectives 🕵️
The etchings in the “Dead wax” area of a vinyl were originally used for displaying information about the pressing such as catalog numbers, plant codes, and mastering information.
By the 1960’s, mastering engineers began adding personal signatures, jokes, and cryptic messages within this space. Because these etchings are hard to spot during normal listening, it became a kind of hidden communication between manufacturers and the vinyl collectors.
George Peckham was one of the most famous figures associated with this tradition. He used to inscribe messages such as “A Porky Prime Cut” and “Porky’s Prime Cuts”. Collectors began actively searching for his inscriptions because they indicated a high quality mastering job.
Here’s a cool etching our engineer did for
