BEATLES White Album UK 68 Stereo complete EX

	£		64
	$		84

Hi, I am Mike, a music collector for over 30 years now. 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 interested collector. You may notice I do not flood my Ebay site with large numbers of albums at one time: time does not allow it as I Play-Grade every record I offer (on a Rega 3 deck with Ortofon cartridge) - 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. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same treatment as far as I am concerned and will be treated with the same respect. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with my 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. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. Good luck.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance. Item wants are always welcome - email me with anything needed.

PLEASE READ ALL DESCRIPTIONS AND CHECK PICTURES CAREFULLY FOR ALL THE INFORMATION GIVEN.

Artist or Band: THE BEATLES

Album Title: The Beatles (White Album)

Cat Number: PCS 7067 Stereo.

Label and Condition: Apple. Superb deep rich dark examples that show moderate to light+ spindle traces. Nothing too heavy but this set has been played several times. These four labels look really lovely and are very clean (please see the two scans - picture limitation is the only reason the four are not shown, all look terrific).

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity Factor: Even numbered stereo copies of this massive album are getting hard to find now, especially complete copies that look and play well.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: YEX 709-1 / 710-1 and YEX 711-1 / 712-1

Album Information: Just when the world thought this band could not get any better, they released ‘The White Album’ a mammoth double set, their most diverse and varied album yet - a hugely daring and compulsive record. Every style is covered here: beautiful, delicate songs ‘Blackbird’, ‘Long, Long, Long’ and ‘Good Night’ to the Manic nirvana of ‘Helter Skelter’ and ‘Yer Blues’. And of course not forgetting the psych chaos of ‘Revolution 9’. The album also features Eric Clapton on the stunning ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. Every track is a gem and just gets better with every play. This copy on offer is a top loading stereo numbered copy (No. 0536644) (please see close up scan, this number is a little faded but still very clear). A fine all round copy that comes with the black inners (both ruffled, but in pretty good shape - always very fragile and prone to wear). The large poster (see pictures again) this is in super condition with little wear at all and unmounted. And lastly the four very important band picture cards, the original thick ones, again in superb condition. Both records look and play well and the cover is one of the better ones I have seen for some time. Being a double top loader these always seem to wear badly unless stored carefully. The heavyweight records and inserts always put pressure on this cover, thus making creasing, bending and ringwear almost the norm. Well this one has fared far better than many I’ve seen and still looks very attractive. A fine set that should please many Beatles collectors.

Cover Condition and Details: Excellent (maybe a fraction better), gatefold, laminated front, back and inside centrefold, top loader with numbered cover, embossed The BEATLES on the front, Printed and made by Garrod and Lofthouse International Ltd. two huge flipbacks in centrefold. Comes with 4 pictures, poster and black inners. A nice looking example of this famous sparse cover, more often than not seen in poor, grubby or heavily creased condition. This one shows little of that and is way better than average.

Cover Lamination: Very solid on all four surfaces, no lifting, peeling or dry areas. Still retaining a deep shine and with only minor creasing, little shows much and degrades little. Few, if any indents or press marks. The laminate on the centrefold is near perfect. Good solid 60s lamination.

Cover Front: Generally clean and unmarked, slight hint of toning towards spine edge only. Very light hint of a press mark if being critical, but many of these almost show the records right through if stored too tightly in a rack. The embossed lettering still stands very proud and is unflattened and pin sharp. The unique album number is a little faded but still quite readable and the embossed pressing for the number can still be felt (beware of the forgeries of this album around, with later pressings having numbers added to gain value).

Cover Back: Similar to front, the word stereo is printed on the top right.

Cover Gatefold Inner: This is in superb condition, super clean with little hint of any discolour at all. The flipbacks are rock solid, unlifted, no creasing, cracking or freying. The b/w pictures of the boys are pristine. Even the centrefold hinge fold has its laminate uncracked which is pretty unusual.

Cover Edges: All edges are very solid indeed with little wear, just a small ‘graze’ on the bottom right only. The spine is one area that suffers most on this cover: this one is very solid and retains its delicate shape well just slightly compressed towards the top only. Thre is some light laminate cracking on the outer spine edge but all remains very solid, again way better than average where many are seen with the laminate hanging off the spine or gone altogether. All round this is a fine example of the most delicate of covers - it should please most collectors.

Poster insert Condition: Excellent++, little to fault here. No tearing or defacing - its unmounted and clean. All the fold-lines are solid and intact. Still white and any ruffling is very light and minimal.

Cards Condition: Thick card originals. Ringo: Mint-, the only marks are printing flaws, very clean. Paul: EX+ light surface mark only, tiny tone mark on top left corner. George: Just about mint, superb. John: Mint- light surface mark only. All the backs have traces of ‘set off’ from the other photos when stacked inside the cover. All cards are uncreased and look really lovely.

Inners Condition: Ruffled but no splits or major tears - a couple of tiny ones on entry edges in millimetres only. These super frail black inners are near impossible to find perfect, they are soft and prone to freying. When all is said these are quite respectable inners, a high percentage of copies do not even include them.

Vinyl Condition: Visually: All four sides - EX+ - just a couple of very light surface marks/hairlines on each side. Both records pressed on very heavy vinyl (later copies were thinner). All marks are completely superficial and none sound as pops or ticks. In fact my play-grade revealed no pops or ticks at all - or none I remember. I would grade the playing as between EX to Mint(-) with superb undistorted sound. There is a little surface sound in a few places, but not many and I do emphasise light. Some tracks are very quiet, most sounds, if any are present, are lost in the huge dynamic sound. This album, like most by The Beatles were often played to death on vintage decks. Distortion and surface noise is often the norm. As stated often by myself, Beatles albums are not rare, that said White albums are becoming hard to find nice - tatty ones are often seen, leave well alone. This copy has been played several times but the sound is still quite wonderful. All frequencies are very clear with incredible detail - much of this fine detail is lost on the CD versions. The sound and production is sublime - another work of genius by George Martin. This is how Beatles albums should be heard from the original vinyl source, even with the odd light surface sound, nothing compares to this. This is the first stereo copy I have played for a while and it still takes the breath away. Mono vs Stereo? - well for Beatles albums both are essential. The stereo copy of ‘Helter Skelter’ contains the line ‘I’ve got blisters on my feet’ that is missing from the mono mix. The stereo imagery, especially on ‘Revolution 9’ is amazing with multi-channel effects. This copy will outperform many offered - the fact it plays without any pops or ticks is a massive bonus. I would doubt if many could match this. I will emphasise again any surface sounds are infrequent and light and the sheer quality of the music almost renders any unnoticeable. A copy that should please many collectors if not the perfectionist that want as new at any price.

Track Listing:Back in the USSR; Dear Prudence; Glass onion; Ob La Di, Ob La Da; Wild honey pie; The continuing story of Bungalow Bill; While my guitar gently weeps; Happiness is a warn gun; Martha my dear; I’m so tired; Blackbird; Piggies; Rocky raccoon; Dont pass me by; Why dont we do it in the road?; I will; Julia; Birthday; Yer blues; mother natures son; Everybody’s got something to hide except me and my monkey; Sex Sadie; Helter skelter; Long, long, long; Revolution 1; Honey pie; Savoy Truffle; Cry baby cry; Revolution 9; Good night.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: This is a fine White Album complete stereo package, all original, no mix and matching here. It looks good and plays fine. There will be better copies around for the perfectionist maybe - but for most collectors this copy should do very nicely. It has been graded accurately and fairly and I always tell it the way it is. I thoughly enjoyed play-grading this one: little spoilt this experience. I am sometimes told by my winningr bidders I undergrade, well I say better than overgrading. This one does have a few light surface sounds but nothing worse than that. I truly believe this one will match or better most offered – Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

Buyer pays: (UK) £2.50 P&P , for first-class delivery with standard £28 insurance. Items that sell over £30 will be sent via Recorded Delivery and Special Delivery for over £55.

Europe: £4. This is covered up to £28 (45 Euros) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. A recorded airmail service is now in place for Europe too: this means any item will be fully covered to its true value, No customs sticker is needed for Europe, so this is a worthwhile investment. This costs extra £3, the item is tracked and the item has to be signed for - I will use this service to Europe as standard for very expensive rare items e.g. records over £75.

USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and other Far Eastern countries etc: £5.50. This is covered up to £28 (43 US Dollars) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more).

Extra insurance is available for non-UK items but bear in mind I have to state the true value of the item on the parcel and customs would be aware and you may well get charged import duties.

PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.65 to cover PayPal or cash conversions.

PLEASE NOTE: Any PayPal user can now pay me with UK Sterling if they wish with no need to convert to US dollars (although they still can if they wish to). Any instant PayPal transaction from anywhere in the world will mean the item will be sent immediately - it makes deals fast and very efficient.

Mailing Details: All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with a minimum of TWO stiffners for extra protection. More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection and three or four stiffners. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. I now only accept PayPal, International money orders or cash from overseas bidders (UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros). Cash, cheques, postal orders and PayPal are fine from the UK. I allow maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if this does not happen I will relist the item and may send negative feedback unless an explanation is given. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask. Please keep watch on my Ebays, I have other intesting items coming very soon. Thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: As listening to every single record I offer all the way through is difficult timewise, can I make it clear if any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. I still endeavour to play all the items in their entirity for grading if at all possible and is usually the case.