PINK FLOYD "DARK SIDE OF THE MOON" SOLID BLUE UK 1st EX

	£		267
	$		354

  THIS IS  PINK FLOYDS 1973 ALBUM, "THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON". THIS IS THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER FIRST UK PRESSING WITH THE A2 AND B2 MATRIX NUMBERS. THIS HAS THE VERY FIRST PRESSING LABELS WITH THE SOLID BLUE TRIANGLE. THIS IS A VERY EARLY FIRST UK PRESSING, AS WILL BE SHOWN BY THE REMARKABLY EARLY MATRIX/MOTHER/STAMPER COMBINATION, THAT IS DETAILED LATER. THE AUDIO QUALITY IS QUITE OUTSTANDING. THIS IS A COPY THAT HAS SEEN VERY LITTLE PLAY. ALL THE INSERTS ARE PRESENT, AND IN GREAT CONDITION, AS IS THE FIRST ISSUE COVER, MIDNIGHT BLUE IN COLOUR, WITH ITS LEFT HAND EDGE SEALED. ALL IN ALL THIS WOULD BE A HARD COPY TO SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER.

AS USUAL, I AM NOT GOING TO WAFFLE ON FOR PAGES GIVING YOU POINTLESS DETAILS ABOUT THE BAND, THEIR LIVES, LIKES AND DISLIKES AS SOME SELLERS SEEM TO ENJOY DOING! THIS IS FACTUAL INFORMATION ON THE RECORD FOR SALE. THIS, AND THIS ONLY.
SIDE 1.    MATRIX:  A2.      MOTHER:  2.     STAMPER:  OD.  (THE 50th USED). SIDE 2.    MATRIX:  B2.      MOTHER:  1.     STAMPER:  GT.  (THE 19th USED). The relevance of these numbers is quite important in the history of this album. The industry accepted norm is that a stamper was used for between 300-500 pressings before being replaced with the next highest in the sequence. The highest stamper used on this particular pressing is "OD", the 50th in the sequence. Therefore this album was between the 15,000 to 25,000th to be pressed (remarkably, side 2 was pressed from only the 19th stamper!). in the scale of the amount of copies pressed of this, to have such an early press from the hundreds of thousands pressed is amazing. This can only improve the sound quality. The nearer you can get to the original master tape, the better. Also worth bearing in mind is the fact that some solid blue triangle copies have been found with mother stampers as high as 7!! This is a very early pressing indeed.  
THE COVER: GRADED AS VG+. MY GRADINGS ARE CONSERVATIVE. THIS IS THE MINIMUM GRADING THIS COULD BE GIVEN, SO YOU WILL PROBABLY GET BETTER THAN YOU EXPECT, AS OPPOSED TO BEING DISAPPOINTED. THE PHOTOGRAPHS I HAVE LISTED ARE OF THE ACTUAL SALE ITEM. CROSS REFERENCE MY GRADING AGAINST THE COMPREHENSIVE PHOTOGRAPHS FOR A TRUE PICTURE. THERE IS MINOR RUB WEAR TO EDGES AND SPINE (AND I DO MEAN MINOR). THERE IS A SMALL BUMP TO BOTTOM LEFT AND RIGHT CORNERS. SLIGHT FADING TO THE JACKET FACES DUE TO STORAGE (VERY COMMON WITH THE DARK COLOUR COVER). LEFT SIDE OF GATE-FOLD IS SEALED WITH A "FLAP UNDER". THIS IS STILL A VERY CRISP CLEAN EXAMPLE WITH VERY LITTLE AGE WEAR IN GENERAL.
THE INNER SLEEVE/POSTERS/STICKERS: THE POSTERS AND STICKERS ARE ALL IN FANTASTIC UNUSED CONDITION. THE POSTERS ARE ON A SLIGHTLY MATT PAPER, UNLIKE LATER ISSUES THAT WERE HIGHLY GLOSSED. THESE HAVE NEVER BEEN HUNG. NO TAPE, TACK OR PIN HOLES. PERHAPS A LITTLE AGE DISCOLOURATION TO THE BACKS. THE STICKERS ARE SUPERB. THE LIGHTER ONE HAS A SINGLE CREASE ON THE LEFT HAND EDGE, WHERE IT HAS BEEN TRAPPED IN THE GATE-FOLD COVER HINGE. THE DARKER ONE IS PRETTY MUCH MINT.THE INNER TOO IS LOVELY AND CLEAN. NO MARKS OF ANY KIND. A COUPLE OF LIGHT CREASES STOP ME CALLING A HIGHER GRADING. THIS IS THE GENUINE FIRST ISSUE. BLACK, POLY-LINED AND HAS THE PATENT NUMBERS AND MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN IN SMALL LILAC COLOURED PRINT. NO DAMAGE TO EDGES AT ALL. GRADED AS EX.
LABELS AND VINYL (VISUAL): THE LABELS ARE SUPERB. I CAN SEE A FEW LIGHT SPINDLE MARKS PER SIDE, BUT NOT EXCESSIVE. THERE ARE NO STICKERS OR WRITING OF ANY SORT. VISUALLY THE VINYLS LOOK GORGEOUS. UNDER STRONG ANGLED LIGHT THERE ARE A FEW HAIRLINES, BUT THESE PRODUCE NO GREAT EFFECT OF THE SOUND QUALITY. SIDE 2 DOES HAVE A COUPLE OF LIGHT INTERMITTENT MARKS ON IT, BUT ASIDE OF POSSIBLY THE LIGHTEST POP OR NON- REPETITIVE LIGHT CLICK, THEY HAVE MINIMAL IMPACT. GRADED AS EX.
AUDIO PERFORMANCE: I PLAY MY RECORDS ON A HIGHLY REVEALING LINN SONDEK LP12 THROUGH NAIM AMPLIFICATION. I PLAY-GRADE EVERYTHING, AND HIGHLIGHT ANYTHING OF NOTE. THIS PLAYS REMARKABLY WELL, WITH GREAT DETAIL. THE BASS LINES ARE TIGHT AND STRONG. THE SOUND-STAGE IS VIBRANT AND CLEAR. ON MY SYSTEM THIS SOUNDS SWEET, DETAILED AND DYNAMIC. ASIDE OF THE VERY ISOLATED SOFT POP OR CLICK THAT VIRTUALLY ALL VINYL HAS, THIS ONE IS A BEAUTY. NO SKIPS, STICKS OR INTRUSIVE BACKGROUND NOISE AT ALL. I AM PLAYING THIS FOR THE SECOND TIME TODAY AS I TYPE THIS. I HAVE TO SAY, MY STYLUS IS STILL LIFTING DUST DEBRIS FROM THE GROOVES, SO I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND A GOOD PROFESSIONAL CLEAN TO BRING OUT THE VERY BEST OF THIS. AS IT IS RIGHT NOW, I HAVE NO HESITATION IN GRADING THE SOUND QUALITY AS EXCELLENT. THIS JUST HAS SO LITTLE TO FAULT, AND I HAVE TO SAY I BELIEVE THE WINNER OF IT WILL BE MORE THAN PLEASED.
SO THIS IS A TRULY MAGNIFICENT GENUINE UK FIRST PRESSING WITH THE VERY FIRST MATRIX NUMBERS AND MEGA EARLY MOTHERS AND STAMPERS. IT HAS BEEN VERY WELL CARED FOR SINCE THE DAY OF RELEASE. COPIES OF THIS QUALITY RARELY COME INTO THE MARKET PLACE. DON'T MISS THIS ONE. 


I POST VERY QUICKLY UPON RECEIPT OF FUNDS, USUALLY THE SAME DAY, BUT NO LATER THAN THE FOLLOWING DAY. ANY EXCESS POSTAGE CHARGED WILL BE REFUNDED IN FULL JUST AS SOON AS I KNOW THE EXACT TOTAL. (PLEASE DO NOT DO WHAT SOME BUYERS HAVE DONE TO ME RECENTLY! THAT IS TO MARK ME DOWN IN THE STAR RATINGS FOR POSTAGE AND PACKING CHARGES. I CHARGE EXACTLY WHAT IT COSTS ME. HOW CAN YOU MARK ME DOWN FOR THAT????) THIS APPLIES TO UK AND OVERSEAS BUYERS. I DO NOT CHARGE FOR PACKING MATERIALS OR MY TIME. I USE RECYCLED MATERIALS WHENEVER POSSIBLE, AND IF NOT UP TO MY HIGH STANDARDS, I SOURCE NEW MATERIAL AT MY COST, NOT YOURS.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS. I WILL ANSWER EVERY ONE JUST AS SOON AS I SEE IT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE PHOTOGRAPHS, DROP ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, AND I WILL SEND WHATEVER YOU WANT.
I OFFER A COMPLETE AND UNCONDITIONAL REFUND IF THE ITEM DOES NOT MATCH MY DESCRIPTION. I WILL NOT REFUND IF YOU JUST DECIDE YOU DON'T WANT IT!!
I AM WELL KNOWN FOR SUPERB PACKING. I HAVE NEVER HAD ANYTHING DAMAGED IN TRANSIT.

I WILL BE LISTING SEVERAL FLOYD RARITIES OVER THE COMING WEEKS, AS WELL AS SOME GREAT ITEMS FROM OTHER BANDS OF THE SAME GENRE. CHECK OUT MY FLOYD BOX SETS ON VINYL COMING VERY SOON.