SOFT MACHINE Third - RARER 1970 Orig A1 to D1 Matrix LPs

	£		30
	$		39

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.25. Europe (including Russia) £12. Rest of World £16. ALL signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes.

NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P prices as low as possible after the very significant Royal Mail price increases and will never compromise on solid, safe packing.

Artist or Band: SOFT MACHINE

Album Title: Third.

Producer(s): Soft Machine.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Facelift.

Side 2: Slightly all the Time.

Side 3: The Moon in June.

Side 4: Out-Bloody-Rageous.

Label/Format: CBS – original deep orange format (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: All four clean, fresh and attractive with spindle marks ranging from light to less than moderate. The odd faint handling trace when scrutinised right up close, but these will not be too easy to find much better.

Cat Number: 66246.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of these Records: 155 / 147 grams. Impressively heavy and to a fair degree above average.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Moderately scarce in terms of a heavy jazzy prog album.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: S-66246-A1 / S-66246-B1 / S-66246-C1 / S-66246-D1 [these first press matrixes are far less easy to find]

Musicians: Mike Ratledge – Hohner Pianet, Lowrey organ, piano; Hugh Hopper – bass guitar; Robert Wyatt – drums, vocals, organ, Hohner Pianet, piano, bass; Elton Dean – alto saxophone, saxello. Guests: Lyn Dobson – soprano saxophone, flute; Jimmy Hastings – flute, bass clarinet; Rab Spall – violin; Nick Evans – trombone.

Brief Info: A double masterwork and for me, their very best album, this massive huge set is truly essential. Progressive jazz-rock, complex and compelling this a true tour-de-force and remains a hugely important work from the ‘Canterbury’ scene. Uncommercial and not to everyone’s taste, but I love this album – ‘Facelift’ is simply blistering after the energy builds slowly from an errie beginning. I enjoy more challenging music and this is just that. Four sides, four tracks, three instrumentals. Electric keyboards, winds and drums, no-one sounded quite like the early ‘Softs’ - this is truly inspired stuff. This one being a very first issue with the elusive A1 to D1 matrixes. A little muted in recording, but the earliest pressings do seem a little more open and detailed. Overall, this is a strong copy.

Cover Grade and Format: NEAR EXCELLENT: arguably better for one that rarely wears well. Finding any early copy devoid of ring wear is near impossible, especially with heavy, thick records inside. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt surfaces. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group (only slightly later ones were printed by MacNeill and had a more shiny surface).

Cover Front: This is a cover that rarely, if ever escapes ringwear. Thin card and thick heavyweight records mean this trait normally occurs – and often far heavier than seen on this one. This front has a fairly small and quite gentle rim arc rub to and bottom, and put into context of most seen, only very light. There is also a small chip near the bottom right corner but not a great deal else. Still clean, fresh with barely any creasing at all. Somewhat above average.

Cover Back: The back has a similar chip near the bottom left corner, but the lack of deep penetrating ring wear on this side is a massive bonus. In fact any traces are very light, small and very faint indeed and few will even get close. I have seldom seen this cover back better than this.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Super in all respects – great band artwork and with any blemishes tiny, very few and faint – this looks magnificent.

Top Edges: Light to moderate, patchy rubbing, both straight.

Bottom Edges: Moderate rubbing.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, mostly sharp with little wear, any burring or thickening minimal, both are guaranteed untrimmed. Records entered on these edges.

Spine and Text: Solid and thick, straight with barely any compression and folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. This shows minimal fading for which this edge is vulnerable, often seen totally bleached out, but not this one. A little gentle patchy surface crinkle and the odd small rub, but the really good news is, the text is fully present with barely any trace of wear which can never be taken for granted (to say the least).

Corners: Quite light to moderate tip rubbing with fine to very fine shape retained.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this very unforgiving early 70’s cover, one that could prove very difficult to find much better. Also remember, only slightly later versions, printed by MacNeill, had a more shiny surface that were a little more wear resilient, these flat matt ‘Day’ covers were less tolerant (and rarer). with most wear on the storage edges and largely out-of-sight, this splendid item should please many collectors..

The Inner Sleeves: The owner of this album put his records inside replacement lined heavy-duty inners and these are the only ones that come with this set.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR EXCELLENT: a very fine visual pair that are clean, shiny, intense black and quite heavily pressed. With normal viewing, these appear superb. More critically viewed under bright angled light reveals ultra fine and faint whispy surface marks, but purely superficial with no audio consequence. In fact both these vintage records offer super sound with little unwanted. Visually strong, but quite perfect enough for the more discerning visual collector, but many will enjoy them for sure.

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 B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: These two records play above their visual grading with very little to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is as good as it gets from a very early cut, but the album has a slightly muted production that is well known. The earliest copies offer that little bit more I am sure and with a little added volume, this double set sounds great. The music contained in these four sides is quite magnificent and equally groundbreaking. This is progressive jazz-rock at it’s scintillating best with some incredible soloing and reedwork. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and total silence is near impossible as this does have some ver quiet passages, none more so than the beginning of side three. This opening has very fine and compacted grooves and will always be a difficult part of this album. I remind, I do play all my records on very revealing equipment and few more clinical than the Linn LP12. With passages of quietness, the odd other sporadic pop and click will in most cases be present, but only few on this quite modestly played copy. I am certain the fine surface marks seen up close under bright angled light, are the result of dry-cloth cleaning, they have caused no hard and are merely faint visual blemishes for the more discerning. Few copies will outperform this ultimate first pressing significantly I feel sure. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading these classic records and without any doubt, finding them a great deal better will prove very difficult with the prized A1 to D1 matrixes. Unless absolute silence is mandatory – which is a huge and difficult ask on this complex and challenging album – this is one I am happy to highly recommend.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded 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 as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will 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 its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, 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 Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 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 D5000 SLR Digital 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.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand+ based on over 8,000+ items sold in over 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, 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 and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.25

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16 (£17 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can 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 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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, actually 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.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.