BEATLES: RUBBER SOUL 1st PRESS STEREO PARLOPHONE EX+

	£		80
	$		106

ARTIST

 THE BEATLES

TITLE

RUBBER SOUL

LABEL

PARLOPHONE (PCS 3075) STEREO 1st PRESS

MATRIX NOs

   YEX 178-2/YEX179-2

YEAR

1965

COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE

UNITED KINGDOM

CONDITION

LABELS

THIS IS AN ORIGINAL 1st PRESSING ON THE BLACK AND YELLOW PARLOPHONE LABEL AND IS A RARE STEREO PRESSING, THIS BEING MUCH LESS COMMON THAN THE MORE FAMILIAR MONO VERSION. BOTH LABELS HAVE THE WORD 'STEREO' IN LARGE PRINT INDICATING A 1st PRESS. LATER VERSIONS REDUCED THE SIZE OF THE LETTERING. BOTH LABELS ON THIS LP ARE IN CLEAN, UNMARKED CONDITION WITH NO WRITING, TEARS OR STICKERS. THERE IS NO WEAR AROUND THE CENTRE HOLE AND JUST A FEW LIGHT SPINDLE MARKS ON EACH SIDE.  OVERALL, IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.

COVER

FRONT: THERE ARE A FEW LITTLE CREASES AROUND THE EDGES AND SOME LIGHT CREASES ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE WHERE THE SLEEVE HAS BEEN HELD OPEN TO INSERT THE RECORD. OTHER THAN THAT THE FRONT OF THE COVER IS IN VERY GOOD PLUS CONDITION WITH JUST A HINT OF RINGWEAR AND LIGHT RUBBING. THE LAMINATE IS INTACT WITH NO LIFTING. NO WRITING, STICKERS OR TEARS.

BACK: THE BACK IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION DISPLAYING JUST ONE NEAR INVISIBLE CREASE. THERE IS NO OBVIOUS RINGWEAR. ALL OF THE FLIPBACKS ARE INTACT THEIR LAMINATE IN GOOD CONDITION. THE LOWER FLIPBACK HAS VERY MINOR DAMAGE ON THE CORNER BY THE OPENING. THERE IS A LITTLE MINOR DISCOLOURATION HERE AND THERE AND SOME MINOR HANDLING MARKS ALONG THE OPENING EDGE. THERE ARE NO STICKERS, WRITING OR TEARS.

CORNERS/EDGES:  MODERATE WEAR TO THE CORNERS WITH A LITTLE FURRING. BOTH EDGES ARE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION WITH ONLY VERY MINIMAL. THE TOP AND BOTTOM BY THE OPENING ARE JUST STARTING TO DEVELOP INTO SPLITS ALTHOUGH THIS IS VERY MINOR. NO OTHER DAMAGE. THE OPENING IS STRAIGHT AND UNDAMAGED WITH JUST LIGHT FEATHERING. 

SPINE: THE SPINE IS INTACT AND READABLE WITH JUST THE ODD TINY MARK OR CREASE. LIGHT RUBBING AT THE VERY TOP AND BOTTOM. THERE ARE NO SPLITS OR OTHER DAMAGE.

COVER GRADING: OVERALL, DISPLAYING LIGHT TO MODERATE USE BUT WITH NO MAJOR DAMAGE. NO WRITING, TEARS OR STICKERS. MANUFACTURED BY GARROD AND LOFTHOUSE. THIS RECORD COMES WITH IT'S ORIGINAL 'EMITEX' INNER SLEEVE. GRADED AS VERY GOOD PLUS TO EXCELLENT.

RECORD

VISUAL GRADING: UPON INITIAL INSPECTION BOTH SIDES OF THE RECORD DISPLAY VIRTUALLY NO MARKS WHATSOEVER. CLOSE INSPECTION REVEALS ONE VERY LIGHT NEEDLE LINE ON SIDE ONE RUNNING FROM THE CENTRE TOWARDS THE OUTER EDGE. THIS IS COMPLETELY INAUDIBLE AND HAS NO EFFECT WHEN PLAYING. THE REST OF SIDE ONE IS BASICALLY UNMARKED. SIDE TWO HAS A SMALL SURFACE MARK ON ONE TRACK AND JUST THE ODD VERY LIGHT SURFACE LINE THAT IS NEARLY INVISIBLE AND ONLY SEEN WHEN TILTING THE RECORD BACK AND FORTH. THERE ARE NO NEEDLE LINES OR SCRATCHES. ONLY WHEN VIEWED IN STRONG SUNLIGHT CAN SOME FAINT SLEEVE REMOVAL LINES BE SEEN. THE VINYL STILL RETAINS AN EXCELLENT SHEEN AND IS CLEAN AND BRIGHT, LOOKING VIRTUALLY BRAND NEW. THERE IS MINIMAL GROOVEWEAR AND IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THIS RECORD HAS ONLY HAD LIGHT USE AND HAS BEEN HANDLED WITH GREAT CARE. OVERALL, THIS LP GRADES VISUALLY AS AN EXCELLENT.

PLAY GRADING: BOTH SIDES PLAY WITHOUT FAULT. SURFACE NOISE IS VIRTUALLY NON EXISTENT AND THE SOUND IS CRISP AND CLEAN. THE RECORD PLAYS WITH NO STICKING, NO JUMPS AND THERE IS NO CRACKLE ON THE RUN IN/OUT OR BETWEEN TRACKS, JUST THE OCCASIONAL SOLITARY TICK. MORE IMPORTANTLY, BOTH SIDES PLAY WITH NO DISTORTION AND JUST THE OCCASIONAL EVIDENCE OF LIGHT USE. THE STEREO SEPARATION ON THIS LP IS FANTASTIC WITH A VERY DISTINCT SPLIT BETWEEN THE TWO CHANNELS. WITH A VIRTUALLY SILENT PLAYING SURFACE AND NO AUDIBLE SCRATCHES THIS WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT ADDITION TO ANY BEATLES COLLECTION, ESPECIALLY AS IT IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST PRESSINGS. OVERALL, THIS LP PLAY GRADES AS AN EXCELLENT TO EXCELLENT PLUS.

SUMMARY

  SLEEVE

VG+

RECORD

EX-EX+

GRADING DESCRIPTIONS

MINT: A record that I know to be unplayed or one that is still sealed. The cover will be as new.

MINT-(MINUS): The record will be unmarked with no scratches or surface/scuff marks. It will probably have extremely faint sleeve removal marks visible under strong light. The cover will have the lightest of storage marks.

EXCELLENT+(PLUS): The record may have one or two very light, inaudible surface lines/marks but no scratches. There may be the occasional pop or click caused by dirt in the grooves due to age only audible between tracks or on the run in/out. Surface noise should be virtually non existent. the sleeve will show signs of use, but will be complete with no tears, splits or writing and no heavy creasing.

EXCELLENT: The record will be showing signs of light use with sleeve removal marks visible under strong light and inaudible surface marks. Record may have light needle lines, but not deep enough to be audible. A small amount of surface noise is possible due to dirt in the grooves. Still a very acceptable copy. The sleeve will display light use with some small creases but no splits or tears.

VERY GOOD + (PLUS): The record will have been played quite a few times and will have surface marks and light scratches, although most will be inaudible. It may have some light surface noise and a few pops and clicks caused mainly by dirt in the grooves due to age. The sleeve will have moderate wear with possible spine splitting and maybe some writing, but will still be acceptable.

VERY GOOD: The record will have been played quite a lot and will have light, audible scratches, but no sticks or jumps. The sleeve will be as above (VG+) but with the possibility of small tears.

GOOD: The record will be showing signs of heavy playing with quite a few audible scratches, some possibly heavy, but will still play through ok. The sleeve will show signs of heavy wear.

FAIR: The record will be just about playable, but will probably jump or stick. The sleeve will be badly damaged and torn.

I HAVE BEEN COLLECTING VINYL FOR THE PAST 35 YEARS AND SELLING FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS. ALL OF THE ITEMS THAT I OFFER FOR AUCTION HAVE BEEN CLEANED AND PLAY GRADED BY MYSELF ON QUALITY EQUIPMENT. I TRY TO BE AS HONEST AS I CAN WITH MY DESCRIPTIONS AND USE STRICT GRADINGS. IT WOULD NOT BE IN MY INTEREST TO DO OTHERWISE. HOWEVER, IF YOU ARE NOT 100% HAPPY WITH YOUR PURCHASE THEN PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME. A SOLUTION CAN ALWAYS BE SOUGHT. I OFFER A NO QUIBBLE, MONEY BACK GUARANTEE ON EVERYTHING I SELL SO PLEASE BID WITH CONFIDENCE. I WOULD APPRECIATE PAYMENT NO LATER THAN 7 DAYS AFTER THE END OF THE AUCTION. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BIDDING AND THANK YOU FOR LOOKING!!!!