LED ZEPPELIN I SCARCE UK 1972 DUAL MATRIX A/B REPRESS EX++ LP, SUPERB SOUND.

	£		31
	$		41

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Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

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ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: LED ZEPPELIN

Album Title: Led Zeppelin

Producer(s): Jimmy Page

Executive Producer: Peter Grant

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Good Times Bad Times; Babe I’m Gonna Leave You; You Shook Me; Dazed and Confused.

Side 2: Your Time is Gonna Come; Black Mountain Side; Communication Breakdown; I Can’t Quit You Baby; How Many More Times.

Label/Format: Atlantic – first Kinney repress with deeper green and brick red labels. These have matt, smooth surfaces and the CBS style ring ridges. Early Kinney repressings do not have the small Warner logo on the rims.

Label Conditions: Both clean, fresh and very attractive. Spindle marks are quite light and faint showing under light. This record plays superbly.

Cat Number: K 40031

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of Record: 141 grams. Actually heavier than some earlier pressings.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Moderate, even on the Plum labels, this album justifiably sold well, condition is a major factor. This copy has dual (original and new) matrixes, the new Kinney ones without stamper codes as described below, these pressings are arguably rarer than plum copies. This record also in superb condition and very well pressed on pure, thick vinyl.

Original Year of Release: 1969 [this copy from 1972]

Matrix Nos: K 40031 A [588171 A//1 1 3] & K 40031 B [588171 B ? 1 1] all machine punched

Musicians: Jimmy Page – Robert Plant – John Bonham – John Paul Jones.

Brief Info: Formed from the ashes of The Yardbirds, this self-assured debut album immediately established the band in their own right. Faultless musicianship combined with strong material to create an emphatic statement of power and purpose. Blues standards are extensively reworked and original songs are as immense and memorable as found on any debut album ever made. Page’s guitar explores the instrument’s potential with dazzling runs of sonic inventiveness, while Plant takes the lead vocal into new realms of expression. Raw and loud this has moments of true brilliance and many still are convinced this was their best ever album – a tough call for sure. Of all the Led Zeppelin albums I find, this first album is always the one that seems the most played, often in the poorest conditions. Okay it’s the oldest, but not by much. It simply was adored by early owners and often played into submission on the most basic or mono record players. Thus I have no qualms in offering this superb early Kinney repressing which appears little used with two superbly clean playing surfaces. Pressed on heavier than usual, and pure vinyl, this plays very well indeed. Even that difficult organ introduction on side two is superb, that as I always state, far from easy. The lack of distortion or crackle on this most challenging passage means the difference between average and exceptional. Especially on less well looked-after, or more used copies, this organ introduction can sound terrible, the complex sound breaking up into a mass of distortion and crackle, no such issues on this copy, the sound fully intact and very powerful, and that massive drum beat that gets the song really going is still packs a massive punch. Still with the fully laminated cover, this has hardly aged either, cover-protected from the one owner from new. A copy too hold, play and enjoy without the massive cost of a plum first pressing, makes perfect sense to me.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a fully laminated, single format. Printed and made in England by MacNeill Press and includes the plain white inner sleeve.

Lamination – Front & Back: This iconic rock cover is hugely attractive indeed and retains a very high degree of freshness and I will never state this lightly. The laminate both sides retains gorgeous shine and clarity with hardly any dulling. Minimal creasing with barely a trace away from the edges which are ultra fine and faint. The same for lifting – this a cover that is rarely ever seen without it – just the odd trace near top of the back spine edge, and possibly the least I have ever seen on this famed cover. Just the same as the first prints, this has four exposed laminate ends – one on the front, three on the back – even these areas have pretty much avoided the ugly grubbiness these normally acquire over time, and the difference it makes for viewing pleasure is immense. Just on the back under light, are very gentle and very faint and ultra shallow press mark blemishes seen near the bottom, but so light, I doubt few would ever even mention them. The graphics both sides are fantastic, fresh and vivid and that very famous zeppelin cover will seldom be seen cleaner or better no matter when it was made.

Top & Bottom Edges: Both are superb with full laminate which is smooth, fresh, straight and clear.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Any thickening traces very few and light, these are very impressive. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Still solid, mostly straight with a little patchy compression near the bottom. All text is perfect and unworn under the solid clear laminate.

Corners: Barely any trace of wear with better than excellent shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A very attractive and unusually fresh example that has withstood the test-of-time due to cover-protection for decades. One to please many, and maybe even most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: a plain white unlined inner with the patent number 1,125,555 text. Both window circles are very crisp and undamaged with no edge splits or tears, the paper only quite lightly darkened with age and just a little mild creasing to one lower corner.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a very impressive visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and quite heavily pressed, especially for a record at this time. A copy with minimal modest plays on all the evidence with any surface blemishes very few, equally light and faint as seen critically under bright light, hardly any at all really. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. Visually a super record that should please many, if not most collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic hard rock album plays even above it’s high visual grading with hardly anything to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Full-on raw power, this album and copy does not hold back, and even this one is fast approaching half-a-century old, but this was a fantastic play-grade. I almost hold my breath on that incredibly challenging organ opening on side two, knowing how terrible it often can sound on lesser well-pressed or more used copies, this one did NOT disappoint. It plays brilliantly with any trace of contact sound minuscule, and so few ever really do. And that drum slam after the organ fades is simply stunning – play this as loud as possible for maximum affect – this copy more than handles its massive range and dynamics, this really made my LP12 ‘sing’. Few available copies will outperform this early Kinney repressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played only quite lightly and has been exceptionally well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It will prove very difficult to find better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same – just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.