Nevermind

Black vinyl test pressing with MFSL company labels for the 1996 reissue on high definition vinyl. Most copies seem to have come in plain white die-cut sleeves with handwritten catalog number and notes from the pressing plant on the sleeve and labels as shown in images 1-4. Each of those seems to have been numbered. One copy with blank labels came in an unnumbered retail sleeve complete with inner stiffener and rice paper sleeve. There is just a faint impression of the gold ink used to number the regular copies. According to the seller, this copy came directly from a mastering technician at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in Sebastopol, California.

"A-2" and "B-2" written on the sleeve and labels refer to the number of the cut, and is also reflected in the matrix code. The lacquers were mastered at half speed by Ken Lee at Original Masterworks, as seen from "KL/2" in the matrix code [1]. The two cuts may have been done individually, but more likely by two lathes working in tandem. The records were pressed by MoFi in Sebastopol, California. Proper test pressings of the A-1/B-1 cut have not been found, but a white label made while adjusting the cycle time has been found with those numbers.

Six copies have been sold on eBay so far.

Tracklist

Side A

• Smells Like Teen Spirit - 
• In Bloom - 
• Come As You Are - 
• Breed - 
• Lithium - 
• Polly

Side B

• Territorial Pissings - 
• Drain You - 
• Lounge Act - 
• Stay Away - 
• On A Plain - 
• Something In The Way

Matrix

Side A

MFSL 1-258 A-2 KL/2

Side B

MFSL 1-258 B-2 KL/2

1. Copy 1, side A

2. Copy 1, side B

3. Copy 1, text on sleeve

4. Copy 3, side A and sleeve

5. Picture sleeve copy, blank label

6. Picture sleeve copy, number area

References

• [1] MoFi employee
• Image credits: eBay member yn2skynyrd (4), Enrico Vincenzi (5-6)