LED ZEPPELIN / Houses of the Holy - UK Atlantic LP 1st press A3/B3 - RL Cut

	£		29
	$		38

This is a good playing copy of this Led Zeppelin classic, with a relatively tidy sleeve, generally strong, crisp sound, one bad but rather fortuitously placed skip, and a bit of other general wear which ultimately hasn't much diminished my listening pleasure much. I've played it and enjoyed it while I've had it, but it's far from perfect, so if you're looking for a minty bargain, best move along. I wouldn't normally list a record with any kind of skip on it, but as it's a good sounding first press I figured one of you people might like to have it around while you wait, like I did, for a minty 1st press of this great record to cross your path for less than £100. Have a look at the pics and grab it cheap.
ARTIST:   Led Zeppelin TITLE:   Houses of the Holy YEAR:   1973 LABEL:   Atlantic COUNTRY:   UK CAT. NO:   K 50014 DEAD WAX:   K50014 A3 STERLING RL   //   K50014 B3 STERLING RL ALLMUSIC:   https://www.allmusic.com/album/houses-of-the-holy-mw0000190648 DISCOGS:   https://www.discogs.com/Led-Zeppelin-Houses-Of-The-Holy/release/8645754
SLEEVE:   EX- VINYL:   VG
PLEASE READ THE BELOW CAREFULLY BEFORE BIDDING.
VINYL VISUAL: Visually it's nice and clean, with nothing jumping out at first glance. There are superficial wisps and faint hairlines here and there, visible under bright light. On closer inspection, a small scratch about 1cm long crosses diagonally over the gap between A2 & A3. You have to look for it, but it does skip forward there. There are two or three other tiny parallel scratches which are similarly hidden, none of which seem to affect play noticeably.    AUDIO: The overall sound is still pretty great on this record. There is a fair bit of light, intermittent crackle audible through most of the quiet bits. It's clearly been played a lot, but still packs a good punch with great dynamics and clear high end, being a superb Robert Ludwig cut with the STERLING stamp in the dead wax. There are two or three spots where light ticks repeat once or twice on each side. The major flaw though is the aforementioned scratch, which skips forward one groove out of the decay of the very last strum of Rain Song, pops in the silence, and then ticks 6 times through the first few seconds of Over The Hills' intro. It doesn't sound great, but then it also doesn't really disrupt any of the songs. There is also a spot similarly placed in the gap between Dancing Days and D'yer Mak'er, which used to skip out of the decay and into the gap, but playing it now with my newer stylus it's barely making a sound there.    SLEEVE: The magnificent sleeve, so important with this release, and beautifully printed on these early UK pressings, is in generally great shape. There are no major flaws interrupting the front cover, just a little faint wear in the orange top area, along the line where the flap is glued inside. And there's a little indentation where it looks like it might have met a copy of Sticky Fingers at some point. The colour front and back is still great, and there are no sticker marks, tears or writing. The centre gatefold is beautiful, with only that same faint inside-flap wear in a straight line across the top. On the back, there are a couple of little black smudges. The spine similarly looks like it's been around a bit, but it's not faded like most of them are, and there are no particular faults to point to. With this copy, it's mostly just general handling wear. Most of that wear is confined to edges and corners, and none of it very dramatic. The bottom edges are threadbare in places, but solid, as are the two corners at either end of the spine, and the opening edge is a little worn. There are a few light thumb creases here and there. Again, it's far from perfect, but on the whole there's nothing all that bad about it either.    LABELS: The labels are beautiful, first press Atlantic labels with that Gill Sans-like font and no WB logo. Spindle wear is almost nil on side A, but there's a bit visible right around the hole on side B.   INNERS: The original inner sleeve is present and in nice clean shape. It's got no splits, writing, creases, grubbiness or tears, but some light edge wear all the way around, giving it a slightly hairy edge if you look at it closely. Overall there's just some light evidence of handling, as with the rest of the package. 
TRACKLIST:    A1 The Song Remains The Same A2 The Rain Song A3 Over The Hills And Far Away A4 The Crunge B1 Dancing Days B2 D'yer Mak'er B3 No Quarter B4 The Ocean
I grade conservatively under bright directional light, play-test everything from start to finish, pack very carefully, and guarantee my records. So bid with confidence.
Good luck and thanks for looking.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

BEFORE YOU BID:
I am happy to answer any questions, so please ask away. I will ship within two days of receipt of payment, and expect payment within three days. 
All records are from my own personal collection. I'm not a dealer, just an experienced collector, who's fussier than most. Images are of the exact object you are bidding on.
I offer a no-quibble return policy. If you are unhappy with the item, please just let me know as soon as possible and we can sort out a solution. If the item is as described but you decide you don't want it, the buyer pays return postage for full refund of item plus original P&P. If you sincerely feel the item to have been misgraded or misdescribed, I will pay for the return postage too, provided it comes back in the same condition in which it was originally sent out. I have yet to have an album returned though. 
Please do NOT leave negative or neutral feedback without giving me an opportunity to sort out any problem that might arise. Oversights and differences of opinion happen from time to time, but I try to be an honest grader and want all buyers to walk away happy.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
Your records will arrive very securely packed against damage from both outside and in. They'll be clean and packed in fresh new inners and outers. No grubby old shit. 
Each LP is removed from its original jacket and inner, and placed in a fresh new polylined inner sleeve. The disc and the sleeve are then placed in two separate outers, with a cardboard stiffener between them to keep the disc from impressing itself on the outside of the sleeve. Further stiffeners and/or bubble wrap are then placed either side, and bundled together to secure the package against outside impact or crushing. I use either sturdy cruciform mailers or purpose-made wraparound mailers. I don't use card envelopes or old recycled cardboard sandwiches. I also use plenty of FRAGILE tape. 
I have never had any problem with this method, and I guarantee all sales against damage just in case. 

PACKING & POSTAGE RATES:
UK:   £5.00 first LP, 2nd class, signed-for.  EUROPE:   £9.00 ALL OTHER COUNTRIES:   £15.00
I can combine postage for multiple items, but please wait for an invoice from me before paying. It won't take me long.  Combined postage: + £1.50 per additional LP. Doubles always count as 2.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

GRADING:
I grade carefully and do my best to list every flaw that might be of concern. I do not use a thousand + signs or exclamation points. I also don't believe in grading anything M which is unsealed, so my highest grade for a used record is NM. Also, I won't tell you a record is in great shape "for its age", which is a hustle. Mint is mint, and wear is wear. Grading is subjective but not arbitrary or relative. 
NM Like new. The item shows little or no visible or audible signs of use. No scratches, bumps, splits, or creases beyond what you might find on a new record, with everything present and in nearly-new condition. Some natural ageing of materials may be allowed (such as yellowing of paper or laminate shrinkage), but not if it is the result of bad storage. This is what a record might look like after it's come home from the shop, been played with great care a few times and stored away in a safe place without incident. 
NM- / EX+ 
EX Vinyl retains its original lustre, but may have a little spindle wear or superficial sleeve marks (whisps), without any significant lessening of sound quality. Faint marks which are not obvious at a passing glance and which do not sound are allowed. Jackets or inners may have minor creasing, bumping, laminate lift or faint ringwear or edgewear, but are basically unmarred by any careless handling, abuse or neglect. No tears or splits, with spine and corners in sharp and clean shape. A very small and unobtrusive bit of writing may be allowed. All items should be present (inners, inserts, etc.). This is the grade I myself am usually very happy with. Very well looked-after and a pleasure to behold.
EX- / VG+
VG Record has been mostly well looked after but suffered some visible or audible wear along the way. Minor scuffs, scratches or surface noise may be noticeable but ruinous to the listening experience. Briefly repeating ticks or a moderate build up of noise in some parts of a record may be allowed, but no ugly skips or jumps. Spindle wear will likely be evident. Equally, wear to the jacket might include visible ringwear, minor tearing, rubbing, edgewear, corner wear, some flaking, and moderate writing or staining, but nothing hideous. This grade I personally find acceptable for those older, rarer or sturdier-made items which have been around the block but are still a good listen and a pleasure to have around. They aren't trashed, just a little more loved on.
VG- / G+
G This grade is for items that have suffered damage that affects listening pleasure, such as a serious repeating scratches, skips or jumps, or which have visible damage that is ugly to look at, such as serious staining damage, significant spine or edge wear, flaking or rubbing, ugly sticker tears or seam splits, water damage, etc. I would only offer very, very scarce and collectable items in this condition. The record is still playable and may be very enjoyable and acceptable to some. But usually not to me.
NEW TO THIS?  Please understand that even brand new vinyl usually has a little surface noise, it really is part of its character. But a well looked after record will also sound great after a ton of plays.