PINK FLOYD. Piper at the gates of dawn. 1G & 1M. No file under pop. 1st UK mono.

	£		319
	$		422

Over the next few weeks and months I will be listing a quite lovely collection of Pink Floyd albums.
These will all be at least decent playing copies, but mostly will be of excellent quality, some even better than that. They will include some UK 1st pressings, and if not they will be extremely early pressings. All matrix/mother/stamper combinations will be listed (so long as they are readable!) so you can tell exactly what you are bidding on. All gradings are all by visual examination and most by play-grading,  strictly to record collector guidelines.
So here we have Floyds very earliest work from 1967 "Piper at the gates of dawn".  This is the very earliest variation in glorious mono. This is the UK very first pressing WITHOUT the "file under pop" text on the top right hand corner of the reverse face of the laminated cover. First released in August 1967 and was very quickly followed by the stereo release.
So many of these first pressings (and later ones too) got really trashed due to the lifestyle of many of its owners. This particular copy has stood the test of time (this is almost 60 years old now!!) and still plays to a high standard. Vinyls in the 60's were pressed on immense slabs of vinyl, with deep grooves, helping prevent any surface damage from translating into surface noise, clicks and pops, or sticks and skips.
I will describe each part separately, cover, inner and vinyl.
COVER:-              The laminated Ernest J. Day laminated (front face and "flip-backs") is in a fairly tidy condition and still very solid. The laminate has creasing commensurate with its age. There is a very minor nick to the opening edge, front face. The rear is quite clean, but has handling evidence at the opening edge. The previous owner has neatly printed his Christian name at the bottom and the date he bought it printed further to the right at the bottom. This is all clearly visible in my photos. There is no shelf-wear to any edge or the spine, which is fully readable. THERE IS NO FILE UNDER POP TEXT TO THE REAR FACE. Due to the creasing, written name and nick to front lead edge, grade is VG.
INNER SLEEVE:-                            The inner sleeve is the original example, which advertises other albums of the era, including "Both sides of Herman's hermits" and "Revolver" from The Beatles. This inner sleeve is in quite superb condition. Just a hint of age discolouration and has no slits or tears. Grade is excellent.
VINYL:-              Firstly, the mother / stamper combination. Side one is 1G (the very first) and side two is 1M (the 4th earliest). This puts the album within the first 1200 ever to come off the press. A solid piece of vinyl, weighing in at 150 grams. Visually, there are some light markings to both sides, none of which have any depth and cannot be felt. Side 2 has slightly more than side 1, and includes a smudged line which I have tried to show in the photos. I repeat, these marks are more cosmetic than having an impact on sound quality. There are some spindle marks to the labels obviously, but not at all excessive. For nearly 60 years old it stands up well. Taking my notes from the play-grading I made the following observations. The vinyl sits completely flat to the turntable platter. On the intro to side one there is a click which runs once per revolution for 10 seconds, probably from erratic cueing. The whole side plays with stunning depth and clarity, with no surface noise, clicks or issues aside from some very light background surface noise between each track. I have to emphasise that this is in the segues between tracks, nothing is audible at all during musical sections. My strict grading for audio performance, side 1, is easily VG+. Side two plays very much in the same vein as side one. There is 5 seconds of light background noise during the intro, then it plays majestically and powerfully right through with just a little surface noise between tracks only. In my opinion, side 2 plays marginally better than side 1, purely due to the clicks at the start of side 1. So the audio grading for side 2 is also VG+, but probably merits an extra +. So, in summary, the sound quality is exceptionally good, especially with its age. The sound throughout is detailed, coherent and powerful. The small irritation of surface noise between tracks is minimal and really just reminds you that you are listening to a vinyl record, not a CD! I whole heartedly recommend this rare album to all.
So Pink Floyd at their earliest best. Some great material on this album. With incredibly low mother / stampers, no file under pop text and an overall really great audio, there will not be many copies out there sounding better.

All albums will be housed in a brand new heavy duty polythene cover. All vinyl's will be housed in a new anti-static inner sleeve. I pack my albums for transit in the most secure packaging imaginable and send 48 hour delivery with The Royal Mail.  I only charge exactly what it costs me, sometimes less!

I accept returns if I am notified as soon as possible after you receive the album. This has to be due to it being wrongly described. Not just for a change of mind. I take the time to provide quality photographs of the album, along with a detailed description, so please respect this.
I will post overseas, but not to Russia, Belarus, Mexico or Ukraine. I will cancel any bids from these countries. Postage within the EU is around £17. Worldwide postage is around £27. If these prices differ once I have packed and weighed them, I will refund the difference immediately.
If you have any questions, or require more photos, just let me know.
Many excellent Floyd titles still to be listed (over 150), so please keep an eye out for my future sales.
   
Good luck if you decide to bid.