Hit jazz dealers first. That's where the deep-value discoveries live. Fusion bins, Blue Note bins, Impulse bins. Look for RVG stamps, Liberty-era Blue Note, original Atlantic / Columbia / Prestige catalogs.

Skip the "obvious classics" overpriced bins. Beatles, Led Zep, Pink Floyd commercial bins are usually marked at premium. The deals are in "less famous but better-recorded."

Focus on engineer/producer credits. Flip the back cover. If you see a recognized name on the credits (see Recording Engineers section below), slow down and verify the pressing.

Verify dead wax against tag claims always. Label tells you the label, not the plant.

Sterling — Sterling Sound, NYC. Excellent across decades.
Masterdisk — Bob Ludwig's home base for decades. Look for "RL" etch (Ludwig's mark).
MPO — French pressing plant, top-tier for European releases.
RTI — Record Technology Inc., California. Premium modern audiophile plant.
Pallas — German plant, exceptional quality control.
MAPS — MAPS Records UK pressings, generally strong.
KG — Kevin Gray etch (modern mastering legend).
BG — Bernie Grundman etch (legendary).
GM — George Marino etch (Sterling pre-2009, top-tier).
RVG — Rudy Van Gelder etch. Jazz only, essential. Hand-etched on Blue Note, Impulse, Prestige originals.
PORKY / PECKO — UK pressings, both signals of quality cuts.

Pitman — NJ plant, Warner Bros used heavily 1970s-80s. Below-average pressings. Avoid when a better option exists.
GZ — Czech plant. Inconsistent, often poor.
Rainbo — Budget plant. Avoid for anything you care about.

These names on the album credits signal likely-excellent recording quality. They're not mastering engineers (different role) — but their presence usually means the master tape is well-recorded, which gives any good pressing more material to work with. Pair with a good plant + mastering engineer and you have a winner.

Under $20 NM with quality credits + good plant = run to checkout. These are the steals.

$20-40 NM with audiophile-tier reissue branding (AP, MoFi UHQR, Tone Poet, Impex, DCC) = legitimate buy. Fair price for the quality.

Over $50 it better be: original UK, MoFi half-speed master, AP/Tone Poet/Impex special edition, or first-press with hype sticker. Otherwise walk.

Pre-1975 originals: condition matters more than later pressings. A VG pre-1975 original is sometimes still better than an NM later pressing — but for $40+ insist on NM or better.

Bright LED flashlight — for dead wax inspection in dim show lighting.
Clean cotton gloves — if you want to handle premium copies.
Phone with Discogs price-check ready — verify current market mid-decision.
Cash for tier-1 pickups — many dealers offer better cash discounts at shows than at shops.

Warner Bros. used multiple pressing plants simultaneously — Pitman (NJ), Warner's own Burbank plant, and others — all producing records with the same label design. The label tells you the label, not the plant.

The only label-only tell: Burbank palm-tree label (1973-1978) correlates strongly with the Burbank plant and Bernie Grundman cuts. The later white shield label does NOT carry plant association.

For all other Warner pressings: dead wax verification is non-negotiable before buying. The shop grades condition honestly — that's their job. Pressing plant identification is on you as the buyer.

Same caution applies to CBS/Columbia (Pitman, Terre Haute, Santa Maria), RCA (Indianapolis, Rockaway, Hollywood), and EMI (Hayes vs other UK plants). When a major label used multiple plants in the same era, the label alone won't tell you which one pressed your copy.