Big Star Radio City 1974 1st Press Ardent ADS 1501 In Shrink Chilton NM Play

$

395

• Big Star.
• Radio City.
• Ardent ADS 1501.
• First Pressing (matrix, jacket design).
• Still In Shrink Wrap.

Item Details
Manufactured in: USA
Recorded: Fall, 1973 At Ardent Studios Memphis TN
Lacquer Cut By: Larry Nix ("L.NIX" in matrix)
Pressing By: Sonic Recording Products Inc. Holbrook, NY ("SON" in matrix)
Original Issue: February 1974
This Issue: 1974
Label: Ardent ADS 1501
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (etch:) ⍦ STXS-0740-3 AS-0565 - L. NIX ― SON
Side 2: (etch:) ⦵ ☆ STXS-0740-3 AS-0566 - L. NIX ― SON
NOTE: In 1974 three separate master lacquer cut sets were made for shipping to different pressing plants (Monarch and Sonic being two of them). Each cut had different matrices ("-3" in matrix for this one). Please, if you decide to buy a different 1st pressing, require the seller to provide you with the pressing's matrix information to be sure you are not buying a counterfeit, fake, or repress.
My brother once worked at the Pickwick International media distribution warehouse in St. Louis Park MN a long time ago. When I got interested in Big Star I asked him if he could find me some sealed copies of #1 Record and Radio City. He scoured their archives and found unsold still sealed "budget/cutout" copies of each. I played them only a once or twice because I didn't find the music compelling enough to play again in any regular rotation and they remained stored until now. Those 2 plays were only on an expertly setup high-end audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge. This copy has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit) to prevent warpage.
I have recently updated my VPI HW-16.0 record cleaner to a 16.5 and it now has much more positive suction (can remove all fluid in less than 3 rotations). I have also changed my choice of cleaning fluid to the Audio Intelligent "One-Step" formula that requires no rinsing and leaves no residue. It is alcohol free and uses enzyme agents to remove pressing mold-release compounds, fungi & bacteria, finger oils, and many other environmental contaminants. Made with laboratory-grade pure water(50X purer than distilled water). I neutralize residual static charge from both vinyl and new inner sleeve with a Milty Zerostat. 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 NOS Soviet Voskhod matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
For track listings, please see my attached record label photographs.

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. I do not use "EX" grades as my VG+ is right below "NM-." I never sell a "G" play grade and very rarely ever sell a "VG" play grade. Please, refer to both my photo evidence and detailed descriptions to judge by YOUR OWN grading standards. Questions are always welcome. eBay no longer allows me to enter separate grades for each side of the sleeve or record so you may not see any in the box above but are listed below. Play quality is personally most important to me so vinyl visual qualities are graded and described in detail separately for your complete assessment.

Outer Jacket Inspection/grading:
VG++/VG++
The overwhelming area of the jacket is NM, but I am downgrading both front and back to VG++ because of some blunting at the corners with the most rub wear at the front lower right corner. The price sticker shows it was once an unsold bargain bin "cutout." The album was physically marked for cutout by the placement of a "punch hole" at the rear upper left corner adjacent to the Ardent symbol underneath the Pickwick price sticker. That hole will be visible to the buyer in the front corner when inspected because the Pickwick cutout price tag fell off after taking my photos. That front punch hole is small and has very clean edges. There are also two tiny pin holes in the upper left corner that I'm guessing may have been from a stapled original full price sticker. Please see all the documentation I have supplied in my posted photos. Aside from the documented minor artifacts this jacket should appear overall very beautiful and near mint.

Vinyl visual inspection/grading:
NM/NM-
Side 1 has near perfect gloss, no lines, no marks, no scratches. Side 2 also looks near-perfect except for what looks like a short "miss-queue" trace starting at the lead-in and ending at the first groove of Track 1. I gave the NM grade a minus for that, and made a note to check it out during play testing.

Play Testing:
NM/NM
Extensive play testing was performed after visual inspection (continuous written notes were taken). I listened to the beginning, middle, and end of each track for a few minutes on each needle drop. When the track width was noticeably greater I took more play samples to get good coverage. I also listened to all lead-in, lead-out and transition grooves between each track. Here is rundown of each side from my notes. notes.

Side 1 Play
I was pleasantly surprised to to discover just how clean and quiet this side played. I did not detect an audible tick or click on any needle drop in any track. Even each transition groove was pretty quiet except for a few soft low frequency ticks once in a great while that were nearly inaudible. Larry Nix did a great job of lacquer mastering in that he cut very hot but never got over the line into overload. That kept music levels well above the residual vinyl pressing noise floor yet still clean and detailed. Even T4, which was milder and not as densely loud as other tracks still had no audible vinyl noise I could pick up during my drops. My notes summarized this side as "solidly NM."

Side 2 Play
I gave this side an added minus on visuals because I thought I found a miscue mark on the lead-in grooves but didn't hear any loud ticks or clicks during those and T1 started up nice and clean. Like Side 1, all transition grooves were quiet indicating an overall quiet vinyl pressing quality and again I did did not detect any audible ticks or clicks on any needle drop of any track except T6 which had a single tiny non-intrusive high frequency tick. The transition grooves between T3 and T4 had no dead space in that the music just transitioned seamlessly from 3 to 4 as did T6 into T7. T6 and T7 are very short tracks. T7 was a gentle spare mix of only voice and acoustic guitar which I listened all the way through and heard no perceivable vinyl noise. Another very easy grading at NM play.

Both sides played clear and clean. I did not do a 100% listening test so a buyer might hear a small amount of vinyl noise somewhere that I did not cover. Based on my sampling I would expect only single random low energy ticks of mostly high frequency spaced far apart and non-distracting. My impression was that this LP played indistinguishably the same as it's virgin condition. I think it would be difficult to find another used 1st pressing copy as sounding better than this one in all aspects.

Packaging

• Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original inner sleeve is included separately.
• Record has been placed into a new MFSL-style "rice paper" plastic sleeve, as the original was plain paper that can be abrasive and may be holding onto some dust. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean and well protected during shipping and ultimate buyer usage.
• Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
• Sent in high quality record mailer with double cardboard stiffeners for security and all corners double-taped.

Shipping

• Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $3.98 per single album sale. I will pay for insurance to cover and protect my investment as a seller. eBay will always refund the buyer if damaged in shipment but only when returned to the seller.
• 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 with the multiple discount.eBay does give you the option to "Request an invoice from the buyer," but this option is was not available on the eBay mobile app (perhaps now?). A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.