SXL 2225-7: PONCHIELLI - LA GIOCONDA - 3LP RARE DECCA UK ED1 WB(g) (EX to EX+)

$

202

FULL DESCRIPTION OF THIS ITEM:

SXL 2225-7:  PONCHIELLI - LA GIOCONDA. In our opinion this is a very rare Decca Stereophonic Box set and indeed it is the first time that we have had the opportunity to sell this item in over 20 years dealing in classical LP's! It is the earliest Wide Band Groove (ED1) 'Original Recording By' Decca on three discs. Gavazenni is conducting the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Despite the mono logo, the box is Stereophonic (see picture) 

The cast is as follows: Anita Cerquetti; Mario del Monaco; Giulietta Simionato; Ettore Bastianini; Cesare Siepi

VISUAL CONDITION OF LABELS: EX+

There are light signs of spindle wear

VISUAL CONDITION OF THE VINYL: EX (overall)

Sides 2, 3, 5, 6 discs retain their original lustre and apart from the occasional hairline and scuff look in excellent plus condition. 

Side 1 has quite a number of odd looking but mainly superficial marks across the disc and is therefore visually graded VG 

Side 4 also retains its lustre but also has a few light marks along with a small pressing fault

BOX / Libretto CONDITION: NM- (see pictures)

Front cover: in NM condition. 

Rear cover:  in NM condition 

Spine: in crisp, strong, solid condition. The LP code numbers (SXL 2225-7) are legible if one looks closely

SOUND QUALITY: EX to EX+

Owing to the rarity of this item, it has been played throughout so that you can be sure to know exactly what you are bidding on. 

Side 1 is mostly excellent but two thirds of the way through there are light, repetitive ticks that last for three minutes. This is the only major flaw in all six sides of music

Sides 2, 3, 5, 6 play in excellent plus condition with just a hint of brief surface noise in places

Side 4 has a little more surface noise in places along with a light knocking for five revs owing to the pressing fault

OVERALL A VERY DECENT COPY OF A RARE ITEM WHICH IN OUR EXPERIENCE WILL BE DIFFICULT TO FIND AGAIN !

ABOUT US

Classic-Choice was set up by Jonathan Kustow in 1994 and has since become a long established, international dealership in rare previously owned Classical LP's.  After considerable thought, we have decided to make our rare items available to the wider audience offered by eBay. The previous success we have enjoyed is entirely due to the longstanding, incredible loyalty of those who are on our catalogue mailing list, the personal referrals from existing clients, together with our unique pricing promise for catalogue items. The latter is an irrevocable, no nonsense guarantee, (which can be viewed on our website) which assures buyers that not only are the items listed in the catalogue accurately described, but has the added advantage of clients knowing they are are obtaining true value for money.

The LP’s which we will be offering for sale over the next 12 months are mainly early mono and stereo original British pressings from labels including Decca, Columbia, HMV, RCA as well as a host of other labels including DGG and Philips. These records come almost exclusively from private collections, including many from recording engineers and reviewers. The following grading of LP’s is based on 20 years experience and also in accordance with strict collectors guidelines. 

Please Note: All records are cleaned with a professional VPI Record Cleaning machine - this forms part of our service.

Grading is nearly always a combination of visual and aural inspection and for rarer items we will listen to the entire LP on a Garrard 401 turntable (unless the item is sealed/unopened). An inaudible paper scuff or a very lightly worn corner will lead to the record/sleeve being graded as NM-. If a record has any defects, we will let you know in the description. Records in less than EX condition are generally not listed unless we estimate their value, had they been NM, to be £100 or more.

LP GRADING:

Mint  - This is a sealed record.

NM (Near mint):  Exceptional condition and sound fidelity, with minor (if any) visible signs of use. Record appears virtually unplayed.

NM Minus (NM-) : Almost NM. There may be 1 or 2 inaudible paper scuffs or barely visible marks. There are no ticks, no surface noise or audible signs of wear

EX Plus (Ex+) : Visually, a few light, hairline marks may exist, as well as paper sleeve marks or other signs of incidental handling that will not cause intrusively audible surface noise. The sound may be ever so slightly affected by intermittent surface noise and the occasional light tick, but the music retains its full spectrum of fidelity, with no mistracking and no distortion of any description.  Audio quality far outweighs any marginal appearance flaws

EX :   A few more hairline and light marks. May be a few moderate ticks during play and one or two passages of occasional surface noise in places. In essence, the sound is only lightly affected and the music retains its full spectrum of fidelity, with no mis-tracking.

EX Minus (EX-) : A few more hairline and light marks still. There may be several passages of light background noise over the course of the LP, and/or slightly more pronounced ticks.

VG Plus (VG+) :  There will either be quite a few marks, a light scratch accompanied by more noticeable noise. This will be described in detail. Vinyl may appear somewhat dull and grayish. There may be wear or deformation of the spindle hole. We only list records in this condition if they are very rare.

VG : Well-played, dull, grayish vinyl with deeper scratches and wear causing distracting surface noise. The record will still play through without any skips. Labels may be significantly defaced or damaged.

SLEEVE / JACKET GRADING:

Mint  - This is a sealed record.

NM : The cover is virtually perfect, showing little or no wear, with no marks on front or back. Seams, spines, corners are not worn to any degree. Lamination completely intact 

NM- : The cover is vitually perfect with only very tiny marks, scuffing, creasing, but no handwriting, splits or tears. It is almost as new

EX+ : The cover may have some slight marks, scuffs, creasing or ringwear. There may be slight laminate peel but no handwriting, no splits or tears and no seam or edge damage. 

EX: As above but there may be some handwriting or a small split or tear to the cover. Possibly more laminate peel and small repair may be seen.  However, it still retains its structural integrity 

VG+ : More obvious signs of overall wear with larger tears or splitting of the edges, some creasing or scuffing of the seam. However, the jacket is structurally sound and is still worthy of collectibility. (See photo for clarification)

PAYMENT TERMS:

At the close of the auction, PLEASE WAIT FOR THE INVOICE TO BE SENT TO YOU BEFORE INITIATING PAYMENT

Receipt of payment for each individual item purchased is required within 5 days. 

•PLEASE NOTE: If you have won an item and wish to bid on further items,  in order to help you to keep postage costs down, we will be delighted to hold your initial purchase until other auctions in which you are bidding come to a close, but  PLEASE WOULD YOU RESPECT OUR WISHES TO HAVE EACH INDIVIDUAL ITEM PAID FOR WITHIN 5 DAYS OF THE AUCTION END. Once you advise us to send the items to you, we will provide a final invoice including the amended postage costs. 

•For eBayers with zero or excessive negative feedback, we will require you to send an email stating your intention to follow through with this transaction if successful.

METHODS OF PAYMENT:

1) Paypal: In order to use this payment method, please click on the link or visit www.paypal.com

2) Bank Transfer: 

Monies sent must be received in £ Sterling. Please ask for details

3) Bank Draft or IMO: payable to Jonathan J. Kustow, in £ Sterling, and drawn on an English bank. 

4) Cheque: (for customers with an English bank account) or Postal Order made payable to Jonathan J. Kustow. 

5) Cash: For those who prefer to pay by cash, please send £'s Sterling, and by Registered Mail. 

•Our phone number and e-mail address will be provided after completion of the auction.

•We submit invoices within 24 hours following completion of a sale.

REFUND POLICY: 

In more than 20 years of dealing in over 50000 classical LP’s, in all this time, only a handful of items have ever been returned. That said, we are human - mistakes may happen and defects can occasionally be overlooked or too small to detect.

So if you do feel misled in any way with the description of the item purchased, please let us know within one month of receipt.  We will always do our best to resolve any problems, so please do not return any records or leave negative feedback without having contacted us first. 

If at this stage you still wish to return the LP, a replacement (if available), full refund or credit against future purchases will be made without question, as soon as the item has been safely returned to us.

(The item must be returned by signed for registered post and return postage cost is to be covered by buyer)

SHIPPING INFORMATION & COSTS:

We ship worldwide and aim to ensure that all purchases are shipped within 48 hours once payment has been received

Please provide us with details of your delivery address and phone number (for delivery purposes only)

All records are sent in dedicated LP cardboard boxes with heavy duty cardboard stiffeners or styrofoam chippings as required. The vinyl is removed from the outer cover to avoid seam splits

**IMPORTANT**  

Please note that Classic-Choice is located in the UK and not in the USA

The $4  shipping price that automatically appears is INCORRECT as eBay does not understand that sellers on ebay.com may be located abroad! 

The $37 international shipping price that automatically appears is for parcels travelling to the Far East and America.  Please see below for correct prices shipping to Europe and within the UK

Due to the rarity of this particular item, we strongly recommend that it  be signed for and adequately insured 

against possible loss or damage whilst being shipped.

The correct postage & packaging costs are therefore as follows:

UK - $15 (£10) - 1st class signed for and fully insured

EUROPE - $27 - international signed for registered airmail and fully insured

REST OF WORLD - $37 - international signed for registered airmail and fully insured

•All the above come with a tracking number for extra peace of mind

Please Note: we do not ship international items by surface mail

IN MOST CASES, ESTIMATED DELIVERY TIMES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

UK: 1-2 DAYS 

EUROPE: 3-5 DAYS 

REST OF THE WORLD: 5-8 DAYS 

*And finally, if you have recently won an item at one of our auctions or ‘Buy it Now’  we would greatly appreciate it if you could pay for this item within 5 days, even if you are intending to bid on more than one of our items being auctioned*

We would be delighted to hear from you, should you have any questions

Thanks and happy bidding!

Jonathan Kustow (Classic-Choice)

+44 208 450 9698