PINK FLOYD A Nice Pair Withdrawn Phang Cover+Sticker

	£		22
	$		30

ONEADAYRECORDS – NO Reserves – LOW Starting Bids – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: PINK FLOYD

Album Title: A Nice Pair [Harvest double reissue of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets] This one has the original ‘W. R. Phang Dental Surgeon’ cover, that was withdrawn soon after issue due to rules of advertising. Here covered over with a carefully placed price sticker.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: PIPER: Astronomy Dominé; Lucifer Sam; Matilda Mother; Flaming; Pow R. Toc H. Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk.

Side 2: Intersellar Overdrive; The Gnome; Chapter 24; The Scarecrow; Bike.

Side 3: SAUCERFUL: Let There Be More Light; Remember a Day; Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun; Corporal Clegg.

Side 4: A Saucerful of Secrets; See-Saw; Jugband Blues.

Label/Format: Harvest – yellow and green format.

Label Conditions: Both looking very clean, fresh and attractive with any spindle marks tiny, few and faint. This nice pair look hardly played.

Cat Number: SHDW 402.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of these Records: 125 / 121 grams. Around average for this time.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: With the original ‘Phang’ cover this set is scarce, later repressings of this one are more common with the ‘Phang’ picture (top right front) replaced with a figure in front of a building. Clearly, the company wanted to use existing covers for a while, so a carefully placed price sticker was used to cover the Densist’s practice (which was indeed real) until new cover’s were printed. The original single albums on Columba are now rare in both mono and stereo and are now commanding massive prices - even VG copies, the Columbia reissues are quite scarce too. To put things into perspective: a nice pair of originals like these in hardlyp played condition will certainly cost many hundreds of pounds.

Original Year of Release: 1967, 1968. This Harvest issue was released in 1973.

Matrix Nos: YAX 3419-1, YAX 3420-1, YAX 3633-1, YAX 3634-3

Mother & Stamper Codes: 1 2 H T / 2 3 H D / 2 T O / 1 L

Brief Artist & Album Info: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn: During the spring of 1967, while The Beatles were at Abbey Road finishing Sgt Pepper, Pink Floyd were upstairs recording an album that would have a similarly immeasurable effect on the development of psychedelic rock. It’s name taken from the famous children’s books The Wind in the Willows (one of Syd Barrett’s favourites), The Piper at The Gates of Dawn was a child’s garden of acid, an album-length exposition on the effects of LSD on a troubled mind. One of the first ‘head’ albums, it was rumoured that the tracks contained sounds - conversations, even - that one could only hear while tripping. All very likely, this legendary album is as important now as it always was.

A Saucerful of Secrets: Pink Floyd’s groundbreaking follow-up is a classic in it’s own right too. Saucerful features two of the band’s finest songs being the title track and the astonishing classic ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’ with one of most haunting keyboard lines ever recorded - this is classic psych space rock that was rarely equalled. The Floyd were wierd in those early days, too wierd maybe for the US listeners - it failed to even chart there - it made only Number 9 in the UK. It was the last Floyd album to feature the legendary founder member Syd Barrett, but only includes one of his songs, the magnificent ‘Jugband Blues’. Unable to cope with the pressures of success and excess and inconsistent live performances, he was replaced by Dave Gilmour and this band remained together for many years. Hearing this album played live in 1967 must have been quite an experience. Few others were doing music quite like this and this album nostalgically is up there with the very best, keeping alive those heady days of experimental music and substances.

This Set: A Nice Pair was issued in a gatefold cover with totally different artwork, the two inner sleeves have the original front covers shown in a sepia-like finish. This original cover on offer here has the withdrawn ‘Dr Phang’ artwork, this had to be changed for legal reasons. Many of the original covers were obscured over with a large round price sticker (as per this one) before it was then reprinted with the Dental Surgeon picture removed and replaced. Being a non-laminate many of the original covers with the huge price sticker are now found damaged and torn with owners trying to remove it. This sticker has only a small pick scuff at the top – so the original owner may have had second thoughts before any damage was done.

NOTE: I have covered over the nudity to comply with Ebay’s rules with black shapes via a digital program – they are NOT on the actual cover of course.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): marked down from Mint(-) for a small crease on the bottom of the spine. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt smooth surfaces. Printed in Great Britain. It has the text file under POPULAR: Pops Groups on the top right back corner and also available on cassette and the long defunct cartridge format on inner left bottom corner. This is the original Dr Phang cover with the now quite elusive original ‘cover-up’ price sticker.

Cover Front: An original cover that for legal reasons had to be covered over, usually by a large price sticker before reprintings omitted the Phang Dental Surgeon artwork (top right) and replaced it. Apparently promotion of dentists was not allowed. The sticker is very clean and unaged. In the over-sensitive US, the nude pictures were covered over as well. As stated above, a small pick mark is on the top of the sticker and there is a small crease on the base of the spine. That apart, this superb front is little short of immaculate.

Cover Back: Similar again but even better. Just the fairly small corner tip crease.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Both faces almost as made with practically nothing to fault bar the the small crease again.

Top & Bottom Edges: Straight, clean and looking unworn.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, mostly very sharp with barely any wear and both guaranteed untrimmed. Records entered on these edges.

Spine and Text: Practically mint as made: solid and square with no wear, text is near perfect and unworn, very bold and clear. The tip crease registers little.

Corners: A crease on the bottom of the spine, but hardly major. Any actual tip wear minimal and being white, practically invisible. All retain excellent to near mint shape.

Cover Summary: Although ‘censored’ with the large price sticker, this is still (or course) original Dr Phang cover. This will not be easy to find much better and it should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeves: Both Mint(-): with cut and shaped corners, they were unlined with a wide top opening. Both looking almost like new with genuine freshness retained. Super clean and with no rubbing or ring marks and all edges solid and secure – an exceptionally nice pair.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Piper = MINT(-). Saucerful = EXCELLENT(++): a nice pair by name, a nice pair by nature. Both very clean, shiny, intense black and quite solidly pressed. These records have hardly been played, there is no doubt about that. Piper is superb and plays the same. Saucerful side one is equally impressive. Side two towards the end of the title song has a few light pressing marks seen under light. These emit a few light ticks and a little gentle surface sound. Still I would suggest it will be far less than most originals for which I have barely any that will play ‘perfectly’. Both these albums as originals are totally unforgiving of old equipment of the day and so few will offer the sound the most discerning collectors want. These will not prove that easy to find a great deal better and should again please many collectors, but not quite for the audio perfectionist on Saucerful.

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 B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This super pair play up to their high visual grading with very little to fault (bar as mentioned above). Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very full, detailed sound. Piper is simply stunning especially and a first pressing offering sound of this quality would command a king’s ransom. Both channels here are clean and sharp, I feel certain these records have been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and looked after within a non-smoking environment. The vast majority of all four sides are impressive, the blemishes on the title track of Saucerful are of little suprise. I can hardly remember hearing this immensely difficult song playing quietly on vinyl. The early Harvest pressings are in no inferior to the Columbia’s but were only available in stereo. Enjoying the early Floyd sound via this Nice Pair is a great compromise which for many collectors and vinyl fans is sensible. Overall, this is a very fine copy – records, cover and inners – high recommendation is merited.

End Piece: I fully understand many Floyd collectors will want these as originals and I cannot argue with that, but, most will know both these titles as originals in mono or stereo are rare in anything like decent condition. Ultra difficult to find in anything like mint condition and even ordinary, well played VG (or lesser) copies fetching very high prices. So if the early Floyd vinyl experience is still wanted and sounding as impressive as here, this is a good idea for many. Having the original ‘Phang’ cover too is not to be dismissed either – this for Floyd collectors is a very different package of these two classic albums. Personally I feel any serious Floyd collector will want this set and the originals anyway as the packaging here is unique to this reissue. This is the classic Floyd era, uncommercial and pioneering, the golden era before they discovered stadium rock and mass appeal. Okay there are a few blemishes on the Saucerful track, but they are relatively light and brief – it will be more a case of how sensitive the equipment. I enjoyed this pair immensely – Set the controls for wonderful entertainment…

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded 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 as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will 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 its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, 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 Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 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 D5000 SLR Digital 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.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, 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 and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can 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 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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, actually 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.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.