Bert Jansch & John Renbourn Bert And John 1966 UK Verified 1st Press LP TRA 144

$

39

• Bert Jansch and John Renbourn.
• "Bert And John".
• Clarifoil Laminated Jacket On Both Sides.
• Verified First Pressing (based on matrix codes, white and lilac "globe" label, jacket design).
• UK Transatlantic TRA 144

Item Details
Manufactured in: United Kingdom
Recorded: In Early Summer 1966 by Bill Leader at Leader Sound Studios, West Yorkshire
Original Issue: September 1966
This Issue: 1966
Label: Transatlantic TRA 144
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (stamp:) STRA 144 A1 D R
Side 2: (stamp:) STRA 144 B1 D (etch:) A

I bought this decades ago at either a used record shop or a record convention to fill out my Jansch/Renbourn/Pentangle collections. Had only had 1-2 plays initially on a high-end (of the time) audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge, then stored. Has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit) to prevent warpage.
Was cleaned on a VPI HW 16 with Audio Intelligent solutions and ultra-pure water rinse (50X purer than distilled water) before my pre-sale sound check. I wear nitrile surgical gloves while cleaning and play testing to avoid any chance of transferring finger oils to the vinyl.

Very sensitive play testing was performed straight off my Ayre P-5xe fully balanced phono preamp over Sennheiser HD 600 headphones using a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with Voskhod Soviet matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
1: East Wind, Piano Tune, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, Soho, Tic-Tocative, Orlando.

2: Red's Favorite, No Exit, Along The Way, The Time Has Come, Stepping Stones, After The Dance.

I never take "distant" photos nor the so-prevalent type with the LP sticking halfway out of the jacket. I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. It is virtually impossible to know the true vinyl condition from any photograph. That takes very bright and close visual inspection PLUS play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment.
Grading Details
Note: Grading LPs by text characters is subjective and at best are only a guide as no two used records are of exactly the same quality. Please, refer to both my photo evidence and detailed descriptions to judge by YOUR OWN grading standards. Questions are always welcome. The eBay "Record Grading" letter codes in their box above refer only to my "Play Grades" below because play quality is personally most important to me. Vinyl visual qualities are graded and described in detail separately below for your complete assessment.

Outer Jacket Inspection/grading:
VG+/VG++
It is typical of these very old laminated jackets to develop separations of the lamination from the card stock. This one developed a few over its life but they are fairly light ones. On the front you can see three of them against the spine. There is another crescent-shaped one right next to John's collar. The last one on the front is fairly small down in the lower right bottom edge. Laminates also develop creases and this one has 4 about 1/2" long on the bottom edge and one about 2" by the lower left corner. You can easily see the ones on the top edge by magnifying there. The sleeve edge has a bit of very light rub wear and there is some faint ring halo all the way around but its not very apparent in person. Not good enough for NM- but easily VG+. The jacket rear is really nice with much less ring wear and less de-lamination on the spine edge. There are about the same number of creases as the front but they are little longer. The ring halo is very light and hard to pick out. I'd grade this side to be more VG++ than VG+ but take a look and judge by yourself.

Vinyl visual inspection/grading:
VG+/VG+
Both sides are glossy and have nice reflectivity but when tilting under my bright halogen light I see a number of common very fine reflective "nano-lines." They look like sleeve polishing marks from insert/removal with dust abrasion. I don't see anything that looks like scratches that might cause repeating clicks but made a note to do very thorough play testing just in case.

Play testing/grading:
NM/NM-
Extensive play testing was performed after visual inspection. I listened to the beginning, middle, and end of each track for a few minutes on each needle drop. I also listened to all lead-in, lead-out and transition grooves between each track. about 5 tracks were played all the way thru when digitizing my favorites to 96k/24-bit WAV files. Continuous written notes were taken. Here is rundown of each side from my notes.

Side 1 Play
On the first track I noticed a very close-up perspective with dynamic high energy guitar transient projection. The stereo image is mixed wide so Bert, John, and the vocals are well separated with superb clarity. The lead-in grooves were pretty quiet without that often typical crackle burst and the transition grooves were really quiet indicating a generally low vinyl noise floor. That was my experience over and over as I passed through the near dead silent transition grooves from track to track. I could hear tape hiss easier on the headphones than the little ticks down there. During the music it was really rare to hear any ticks at all but when I did notice them on the phones they were mostly single, random, high frequency, and low in energy. I was really amazed at how clean & quiet this LP sounded as I didn't expect that given its age. Standout tracks for me were T2, and T3 (precursor to the later Pentangle version), and T4 (with Bert on vocal like his solo album version). The last track faded out into a unusually quiet lead-out grooves (indicative of the whole side).

Side 2 Play
Same properties at Side 1 with clarity, dynamics, incisive guitar transients, and almost no vinyl distractions. I did hear one "click" (not very loud but noticeable) near the end of T1. T2 is another great Pentangle precursor and  my notes said" "terrific!" T3 had a single click at its start but then stayed quiet. T4 was another outstanding track with Bert carrying the vocal part that Jacqui would sing later when Pentangle records the song. This track also has some really beautiful guitar breaks. T5 had a few ticks near the end of the song and T6 had a "click" at its start. T6 had 1 small click at its start but then nothing. The guitar counterpoints between Bert and John are very much reminiscent of Pentangle's first album songs like "Bells" and "Waltz." A very strong side both musically and in audio quality. Just a few more brief vinyl artifacts than Side 1, but I think it still rates an NM- from me because judging by the pressing standards of the time this one could easily have a few ticks or clicks even fresh out of the jacket. Nothing in the vinyl ever kept me from enjoying the music.

As I went through all tracks, I continued to be amazed at how "never played before" this vinyl sounded on my rig. Way quieter than I expected with outstanding clarity and punch. I'm glad I grabbed hi-res digital clones of my favorites to enjoy and I have no qualms about passing it on for someone else to enjoy. I do think it would be difficult to find another 1st pressing as well preserved as this one.

Packaging

• Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original inner sleeve is not included as whoever owned it previously swapped it out with a London "ffrr" one.
• Record has been placed into a new MFSL-style "rice paper" plastic sleeve to keep the vinyl surfaces clean during shipping and ultimate buyer usage.
• Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
• Sent in good quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners.

Shipping

• Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $3.98 per single album sale.
• A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed on the same day($3.98 plus $0.50 for each additional LP).
• If you do buy more than one LP  on the same daydo not pay immediately but wait for my all-combined invoice. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.