BEETHOVEN Symphony No 6 (Pastoral) IMMACULATE NEAR MINT UK 1959 STEREO DECCA LP.

	£		90
	$		119

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). All my records are sent in boxes and the price of them has increased over time and these are my first price increases for nearly 10 years. 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.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

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.

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

Title: Symphony No. 6 ‘Pastoral’ in F Minor, Op. 68 / [with Prometheus Overture]

Orchestra: L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Swiss Symphony Orchestra)

Conductor: Ernest Ansermet

Label/Format: Decca, original black unboxed format with matt very gently textured surfaces with the deep distinctive Decca ring ridge. Includes the ‘RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1959’ text.

Label Conditions: Both in truly stunning condition, ultra clean, fresh and attractive with only a couple of tiny, faint spindle traces. Played once by the one owner from new and put to tape. Now played just twice after my mandatory sound-check. It is absolutely amazing!

Catalogue Number: SXL 2193

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps or Lateral Movement: Assume all records I offer have no significant warping or lateral movement to cause sound or tracking issues. All should play fine even on budget turntables.

Weight of Record: 142 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Very Scarce, even more so in stereo and any record this age in this condition will be rare.

Original Year of Release: 1959

Matrix Nos: ZAL-4676-1E / ZAL-4677-1E

Mothers / Stampers: 21 M / 21 M [the ‘M’ is my best guess as the single letter is unclear]

Brief Info: A truly stunning record that comes close to reminding of new – a vintage 1959 issue in then much rarer stereo (and that no understatement, few bought stereo records in the 1950s or early 1960s). This plays close to perfect with any contact sound minuscule. I did not hear a single pop or click on this remarkably preserved record. The cover gently aged only and also impressive with no damage. The record barely run-in in vinyl terms, it was a pure joy to play-grade with all the warmth, dynamics and natural detail only the analogue format really offers. I do not offer classical records often, but when I do, hopefully they will be very special, and few more special than Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ masterpiece, still one of the most popular classical symphonies ever written by arguably, the greatest of them all. This is one of the most famed and popular of the German composer’s works, and possibly the greatest vintage classical record I have ever offered. The Prometheus Overture is also included to fill side two.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single format with front laminate, this covers all folds and ends on the back via the top and bottom flipbacks and flat spine edge. The main text is lightly punched into the card – the opposite to embossing, and can be clearly felt with the fingertip – a rare detail back then. The back is matt and smooth. Printed and made in England by Robert Stace, includes the Decca style blue text inner sleeve dedicated to the relatively new Stereophonic mode for records.

Lamination & Front: The laminate retains excellent shine and clarity with minimal lifting and no peeling, any of the few creases mostly only fine and light – three on the bottom edge with a more moderate one on the left bottom corner area. Fairly light discolouration on the right edge politely reminds of age, but this is still quite incredible given it’s amazing age.

Cover Back: Near exceptional with only gentle hints and traces of discolouration to politely remind of age. Both flipbacks solid and neat with mostly, clean crisp neat ends, slight burring to the lower one near the central area only. The spine edge text is immaculate and clean under the laminate. This manufactured before spine text on that edge was made by Decca.

Top Edge: Thin and reasonably straight, the surface very smooth and unworn.

Bottom Edge: Even straighter, almost perfectly so with barely any trace of wear.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Mostly very sharp with any thickening minuscule and light. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Virtually as per the lower edge.

Corners: Any tip rubs, creases or wear only very light, some toning discolouration only, excellent shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this vintage early late 1950’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This attractive, only gently aged item should please many, and possibly most collectors. Such vintage sleeves rarely survive in this lovely condition.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(–): fully intact and only marked down for bottom corner creasing and crinkle. Two crisp undamaged window circles, and even the polylining amazingly clear and fresh. All edges fully and naturally intact. This vintage stereo text inner even mentioned how mono and stereo record surfaces differ under light.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: VERY CLOSE TO MINT: an amazing visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and quite heavily pressed by Decca. A copy played just twice, once by myself. The lack of even surface marks is something rarely seen, let alone on a record this vast age. Visually an archive quality record that should please all 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 magnificent record plays up to it’s incredible visual grading with barely 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 contact sounds are minimal indeed and this is a gorgeous clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Few available copies will match, let alone outperform this super early pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp and has been generally well stored and certainly carefully, and sparingly handled. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It will prove near impossible to find better and merits my highest possible recommendation. One for the Beethoven connoisseur.

* 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.