Why is "had cut" (past perfect) used with "pressed (past simple) in this sentence?

Question

First up we bring you THE FEATURES who were another old Roxy Club Punk band from Orpington in Kent. Both tracks have been taken direct of the master acetate that the band had cut in 1978 and pressed up 500 copies on their own Progress label.

^{(Source: Detour Records - V/A - Bored Teenagers Vol 10 LP (NEW))}

Can somebody explain to me why had cut is past perfect and pressed is past simple, as it is obvious that before making a record, you cut acetate. Or is it because a long time passed between the cutting and the pressing, or maybe it is had cut and had pressed, but I don't see in either case the reason of past perfect.

I would understand past perfect it it was were taken but with have been present is included.

Answer 1

I believe you are misunderstanding had cut, and that you should read this as which the band had cut (by some other agency) in 1978 and (the band) pressed up 500 copies on their own Progress label.

Answer 2

First off, I think the person has just omitted the other "had", which can be done in these types of situations; therefore, "pressed" is not the past simple; it's the past participle. It just looks like the past simple because many past participles in English look equivalent to their past simple forms, i.e. marked, marked, but not always, cf. did, done.

Second, even though the present perfect is being used above, the meaning of the present perfect is to talk about some unknown time in the past. The speaker is pointing out that, while he either doesn't know the exact time in the past or the exact time in the past doesn't matter, hence the use of the present perfect in the passive voice, i.e. "have been taken", he would still like to point out that the two other events, i.e. "had cut in 1978 and (had) pressed up...", had occurred prior to "both tracks". This construction is not always necessary in English; it's a bit formal and often people would just say the simple past, but the speaker seems to want to point out which past events had occurred before the main event of his sentence occurred. That's all.

I hope this might have helped you out. Take care and good luck.