A HARD DAY'S NIGHT Beatles UK LP 1st Press Mono EX Play
$
50
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Description
This is a circa 1964 1st pressing original mono stamper matrices XEX 481-3N / 482-3N, PARLOPHONE first label variation from 1964. The cover is VG- condition showing handling and typical creasing. The back shows fair darkening but still fairly clean, has a small sticker. Not trying to bash this cover, it isn't in bad condition but not well cared for. Comes with original EMITEX sleeve in VG- condition.
The strength of this album is the play condition. There are a fair amount of spindle marks on each label, KT stamp on side 1 and Parlophone Co. on outer ring. Vinyl is VG+ visually with light hairlines on each side, still has sheen. Shows moderate handling but nothing that plays. Play is EX, very clean and clear sounding throughout, rills are moderately quiet. Little vinyl background, even And I Love Her plays clear with light backround. The weakest track is I'LL BE BACK with light vinyl backround toward the end but no irritating pops. Generally, though album looks handled it plays very strong and clear. It sounds close to a copy I have sounding unplayed and cost $150. This is a great player for relatively little invested. I was surprised how nice the album sounds. Not trying to be a salesman, but giving an honest assessment as a collector with a passion. Please feel free to send questions.
The album is play graded on a Linn Sondek LP12, using a Grado Gold1 cartridge. Album has been cleaned on a VPI vacuum cleaner.
A brief note on monaural lps: I've read people making comments of the play of monaural albums, saying the left or right channel having more noise than the other. Playing a monaural album straight through a stereo playback system will add phasing, brightness, and anomalies not intended for playback. The best way to play a monaural album is with a dedicated mono cartridge. The 2nd way is to wire a stereo cartridge into mono either at the cartridge head or using Y-cords to combine the 2 channels. The 3rd is using a mono switch on your preamp to combine the channels. These ways will cancel out much of the "noise" you may be picking up. As your system permits, you may wish to turn off all but one of your speakers occasionally. This will allow you to listen to a monaual lp the way it was really intended to be played back. Also, don't be afraid to use a good equalizer judiciously. Many audiophiles get hung-up about using tone controls, but back in the '50's and '60's that is exactly what hi-fi was all about. I have a picture of Brian Epstein's apartment showing one of the '60's low-profile stereo cabinet systems of the day. I can imagine Brian and George Martin sipping a glass of wine listening to an acetate of The Beatles newest album on that system with augmented cabinet bass and electronic high-end. Correct playback will help the listener really enjoy the beauty of some of these lp's and you may be extremely surprised in your listening experience.
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