Led Zeppelin PHYSICAL GRAFITTI UK 1st Press NO WARNER MINT MINUS AUDIO NM SLEEVE

	£		68
	$		90

LED ZEPPELIN - PHYSICAL GRAFFITI

SUPERB NEAR MINT AUDIO

FIRST PRESS  - UK ISSUE

NEAR MINT SLEEVE

• CATALOGUE:SWAN SONG SSK 89400
• MATRIX: SSK89400 A1 / B5 / C1 / D1 

THE FIRST PRESS UK ISSUE IS EASY TO TELL FROM THE RE ISSUES IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS.

FIRSTLY THE SLEEVE HAS TO HAVE THE UK ADDRESS ON THE REAR SURFACE, WHICH WILL SAY ' Swan Song/484 Kings Road, London SW10' (MANY COPIES WERE PRESSED IN GERMANY AND ISSUED OVER HERE)

ON THE VINYL THE MATRIX NUMBERS HAVE TO BE 'STAMPED' ALL LATER PRESSES WERE ETCHED WITH THESE DETAILS

THE LABELS ON THE FIRST ISSUES DID NOT HAVE THE WARNER LOGO AT 3 O'CLOCK

THE INSIDE OF THE INNER SLEEVES ARE TEXTURED AND NOT SMOOTH

THE MATRIX NUMBERS ON A FIRST PRESS ALL HAVE A '1' AFTER THEIR LETTER, SO A1= SIDE A AND SO ON. ALL THIS IS TRUE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SIDE B WHICH USUALLY HAS THE MATRIX ENDING OF 'B5'

THEREFORE A NORMAL FIRST PRESS OF THIS ALBUM SET WILL HAVE A1 / B5 / C1 / D1 AS THE MATRIX NUMBERS.

THERE WERE A FEW EARLIER PRESSES RELEASED WITH THE VERY HARD TO FIND 'B4' MATRIX ENDING. 

 TO LISTEN TO THE RECORD, PLEASE PRESS PLAY ON THE PLAYER, AND WAIT FOR IT TO LOAD. IT CAN TAKE UP TO A MINUTE. THE NEW SOFTWARE IS SLOWER THAN THE OLDER ONE. BY THE TIME YOU HAVE READ THROUGH THE DESCRIPTION IT SHOULD START TO PLAY

THE RECORDS

THE LABELS

THE SWAN SONG LABELS ARE IN PRISTINE CONDITION. THE COLOURS ARE RICH AND VIBRANT AND REMAIN UNRUBBED. THE TYPEFACE IS PERFECTLY LEGIBLE, AND THE SPINDLE HOLE UNWORN. I AM UNABLE TO SEE ANY SPIDER LINES AROUND THE HOLE

THE VINYL

MAGNIFICENT PAIR OF DISCS, THAT HAVE LOST NONE OF THEIR ORIGINAL LUSTRE. IN DAYLIGHT THEY LOOK ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS. WHEN I PLACED THE RECORDS UNDER A SPOTLIGHT I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE SOME WISPY HAIRLINES AND SOME FINE SURFACE HAIRLINES ON THE VINYL. I BELIEVE THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE WERE CAUSED BY THE SLIGHTLY TEXTURED SURFACE OF THE CARD INNER SLEEVES. MOST COPIES OF THIS ALBUM THAT I HAVE COME ACROSS HAVE HAD INNER SLEEVES INSIDE THE INNER SLEEVE TO PROTECT AGAINST THIS.

HOWEVER THE PLAY-THROUGH OF THE RECORDS IS JUST PHENOMENAL. THE SURFACE WISPS AND HAIRLINES HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT ON THE AUDIO PERFORMANCE. I HAVE RECORDED ALL FOUR SIDES SO PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO HIT THE PLAY BUTTONS ABOVE AND YOU WI LL HEAR FOR YOURSELF JUST HOW BRILLIANT THESE DISCS SOUND

PLAYING THE RECORD

I BELIEVE THAT IF YOU ARE GOING TO SPEND YOUR MONEY ON A FANTASTIC COLLECTIBLE VINYL, THAT YOU SHOULD BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR WHAT YOU ARE BUYING. I HAVE THEREFORE INVESTED IN THE SOFTWARE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO DO JUST THAT.

I HAVE RECORDED THE WHOLE ALBUM SET FROM START TO FINISH SO THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO PERSONALLY JUDGE IT AGAINST YOUR OWN STANDARDS

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO DISTORTION TO THE SOUND AT ANY POINT MEANING THAT WHAT LITTLE PLAY THE RECORDS HAVE RECEIVED WAS COMPLETED ON A GOOD SYSTEM THAT HAD A CORRECTLY WEIGHTED AND UNWORN STYLUS.

DISC ONE PLAYS SUPERBLY ON BOTH SIDES. NO EMBEDDED VINYL NOISE, NO LOUD CLICKS OR POPS AND NO BACKGROUND CRACKLE AND NO MORE THAN A COUPLE OF SEMI SECONDS OF BARELY AUDIBLE STATIC AND NO TICS OR POPS ANYWHERE

DISC TWO PLAYS AS SUPERBLY AS DISC ONE WITH JUST A COUPLE OF TINY LITTLE STATIC TICS HEARD ON SIDE FOUR

I WOULD GRADE THE AUDIO PERFORMANCE OF THIS SET AS MINT MINUS

VISUALLY UNDER A SPOTLIGHT EX+

DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, TAKE A LISTEN TO THE RECORDINGS AND JUDGE IT AGAINST YOUR PERSONAL STANDARDS

THE SLEEVE

A VERY HARD SLEEVE TO FIND IN UNDAMAGED CONDITION, DUE TO THE MANY DIE CUT HOLES WHICH ARE EASILY DAMAGED, BUT THIS SLEEVE IS IN SUPERB CONDITION. I AM DELIGHTED TO BE ABLE TO OFFER THIS CLASSIC ALBUM WITH A SLEEVE THAT HAS ALSO DEFIED THE TEST OF TIME

THE FRONT SURFACE IS FLAT AND CLEAN AND ALL OF THE COLOURS HAVE BEEN RETAINED WITHOUT RUBBING. THE CORNER TIPS HAVE THE TINIEST SPECK OF RUB TO THEM. THE DIE CUT WINDOWS ARE ALL INTACT AND NOT BURRED, TORN OR SHOWING ANY NICKS TO THE EDGES. THERE ARE NO HEAVY CREASES OR CREASE LINES AND A COUPLE OF THE  SMALL LINES AGAINST EITHER SPINE. IN THIS CASE WE HAVE TWO SPINES.

THE LEFT SPINE HAS ALL OF THE RED TYPEFACE PERFECTLY LEGIBLE. ITS FLAT AND CLEAN AND ONLY HAS A LITTLE LIGHT RUB TO SMALL AREAS ON THE LEADING EDGES

THE RIGHT SPINE IS ALSO IN THE SAME SUPERB CONDITION WITH JUST  A LITTLE MORE ON THE TOP END

THE TOP OPENING EDGE IS STILL RAZOR SHARP WITH NO SIGNS OF WEAR.

THE BOTTOM EDGE ALWAYS SHOWS SHELF WEAR, I HAVE NEVER HAD ONE THAT DOESN'T, BUT I CAN'T SAY THAT THIS ONE HAS ANY MORE THAN SOME SMALL SPECKS OF RUB ON THE REAR EDGE

THE REAR SURFACE AGAIN HAS ALL OF THE DARK BROWN COLOUR INTACT, AND AGAIN IS UNCREASED , AND NO DAMAGE OR WEAR TO ANY OF THE WINDOWS

THE WHITE WINDOWED INNER CARD IS IN SUPER CONDITION. I HAVE NOTICED OVER THE YEARS THAT THERE ARE TWO DESIGNS. IT APPEARS THAT THE EARLIEST ISSUES HAD A SPINE ON THE BOTTOM EDGE WHEREAS THE LATER ISSUES WERE JUST A PIECE OF CARD FOLDED IN HALF. THIS ONE DEFINITELY HAS A SPINE WHERE THE INNER SLEEVES SIT FAR BETTER AND SNUGGER BECAUSE OF THIS. IT IS IN SUPERB CONDITION WITH JUST A TRACE OF HANDLING AND AGEING TO THE EDGES

BOTH ORIGINAL INNER SLEEVES ARE IN MINT CONDITION

I HAVE TO GRADE THIS ALBUM COVER AND ALL OF ITS CONTENTS NEAR MINT

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BID IF YOU CHOSE TO GO FOR IT

GARRY