PINK FLOYD WISH YOU WERE HERE - UK 1st PRESS A1/B3 SIDE-OPENING INNER - NM AUDIO

	£		172
	$		228

Please read the Terms and Conditions lower in the listing about payment, postage costs and insurance BEFORE placing a bid. Thank you.

I am happy to answer any questions, but please read the listing carefully before sending a question or placing a bid. I try to provide comprehensive details and information in every listing so the answers to most questions should be found below.

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During nearly eight years of trading on ebay, I have received around 2,400 positive feedbacks from over 1,900 individual customers, almost all from the sale of vinyl records.  Until recently I had 100% positive feedback, but I have recently received a totally unjustified negative feedback. Please see my page if you want the full story.

I take great pride in ensuring that my items are always described accurately and fairly. All my items come with a full money-back guarantee - if it's not as described, you can return it for a full refund. 

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PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 12 PHOTOS IN THIS LISTING. USE THE SCROLL BAR BESIDE THE THUMBNAILS TO SEE THEM ALL AND USE THE 'ZOOM' FACILITY TO GET A CLOSE-UP VIEW.

Right from the start, the pressing of Wish You Were Here was beset with technical problems and to find one of the earliest copies with A1/B3 matrixes which plays really well all the way through is particularly difficult.  Even copies which LOOK perfect can have unwanted noise and distortion.

Not only does this copy sound amazing, but it also has the rare side-opening inner sleeve, only found on a very small number of the very first copies.

This has the following 1st press matrix numbers:

Side 1: SHVL 814 A-1

Side 2: SHVL 814 B-3

Detailed description
Vinyl: The vinyl looks superb and has retained its original high sheen with very few marks. It has clearly been well cared for and rarely, or never, played. Under bright light, there were just some fine hairlines and sleeve-removal marks (from the card inner sleeve), but there is nothing significant anywhere. I have played the entire record and it sounds fantastic. In common with most Pink Floyd albums, Wish you were here has lots of very quiet and sparsely arranged sections and because of these I doubt that it is possible to find an original copy which genuinely plays Mint all the way through. But this is the best I've heard. There was a soft tic (very quiet) for a few revolutions at the very start of side one (as the low keyboard note fades-in), but this was really soft and only audible for a few seconds (and only because the music is so quiet at the start), but there were no other repetitive noises anywhere on the album. There was some inevitable low-level backgound noise in some of the quiet parts (e.g. the machine-drone intro to 'Welcome to the machine', the lift and party noise at the end, the 'Lo-fi' intro to the title track and the wind storm noise at the end), and for the sake of completeness, I will state that there is some soft background noise which can be heard in the run-ins/outs, fades, silent grooves and intros and the occasional random click. But this is all mentioned purely for the sake of accuracy and completeness as there is absolutely nothing loud or intrusive anywhere. This is a superb example and was a real pleasure to listen to. Much of this album sounds Near Mint, but to cover the few tiny points mentioned above I would play-grade it somewhere around Excellent plus (Ex+) to Near Mint (NM). I think you would have to wait a very long time before you find another first pressing which sounds this good.
Labels: Both labels look superb with absolutely no signs of damage, writing, stickers etc and no spindle marking, suggesting that it was possibly never played until I played it for grading.
Sleeve: The sleeve is the original first press sleeve with the 'pinched' spine. It has no damage, writing, splits, tears or stickers etc and just light signs of use. There are some minor creases around the edges and corners and, because it is white and matt, it inevitably has some tarnishing and a few minor marks, but there is nothing significant anywhere and this is much better than most copies.
Edge wear: There is just very light wear to the edges. The spine is solid and firm and the text is all 100% readable.
Corner wear: There is minimal wear to the spine corners, and light wear to the opening corners.
Inner sleeve: This is the original (and very hard-to-find) side-opening version. It has no tears, no seam splits and no sharp creases. There is some minor soft-creasing from handling, some shaping around the disk and a few feint marks. (There is a small, thin streak on the picture side where the coating of the card is missing, resulting in a slight difference in the texture of the surface which shows up if you tilt it in the light - You can just see it if you use the 'zoom' on the photo - it's at the edge near the bottom right corner of the picture. It is a minor manufacturing blemish - which was there from new - and is mentioned purely for the sake of completeness.)

Please check out my other items and take advantage of reduced postage costs for multiple buys.

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Information about descriptions.
My items are always described accurately and fairly. I always do my best to point out any blemishes which might detract from the item and all photographs are of the actual item you will get.

Play-graded vinyl: I play grade records where possible but I don't have time to play them all. I always state in the listing if I have played a record prior to describing it.

Visually-graded vinyl: Unless specifically stated in the listing, vinyl is visually graded.  A visual grading will identify physical flaws (such as scratches) and can help determine whether a record has been cared-for properly. I always do my best to give a fair assessment of any visible marks on the playing surface, but a visual grading will not identify noise or crackle caused by non-visible sources. Most of the records I sell are between thirty and fifty years old and so it is likely that there may be some background noise even if they look perfect. Please see Terms and Conditions below for my refunds policy for visually graded records.

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I have some very simple terms and conditions. Please read them and ensure that you understand them before bidding. Thank you.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

• My items are fully guaranteed - if it is not as described you can return it for a full refund, including postage. Refunds for visually graded records which are returned based upon the buyer's assessment of the record's playgrade, will not include postage costs in either direction.
• Your bid is binding, so please make sure you have READ and UNDERSTOOD the WHOLE LISTING before you bid. I will not accept returns where the buyer has not read or not understood something which is stated/shown in the listing.
  
• I accept Paypal and postal orders (in UK Sterling GBP) for all purchases.  I also accept cheques (in UK Sterling GBP) on orders OVER £50.
• Please pay for your item within three days of the auction closing. If you are intending to bid on other items and wish to pay when they have closed, please contact me to let me know. I reserve the right to cancel any transactions and offer the item to the second highest bidder if no contact or payment is made within three days.

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POSTAGE & PACKING

I care about the records I sell and believe that they need to be carefully and securely packaged to ensure that they survive their journey through the post. Vinyl is removed from the sleeve for posting and the contents will be protected with rigid cardboard stiffeners. All packages are labelled "Do not bend" and securely sealed with "FRAGILE" parcel tape.

I support the use of recycled materials and so I may send some items in packaging which has been previously used or which has been made from other cardboard packaging. If you wish your item to be sent in entirely new packaging please let me know before paying for it. Thanks.

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P&P charges

I need to cover the cost of postage and packing materials, but I try not to charge more for packing and posting your item than it actually costs me. I do not view P&P costs as a means of making money.

However, to quote an exact cost for every LP is difficult because of the wide variance in weight (e.g. Abbey Road weighs around 230 grams whereas Led Zeppelin III weighs around 390 grams). But the majority of single LPs, when packed, will weigh around 500-550 grams and I have based my P&P rates on this.

Occasionally, you may end up paying a few pence more than it actually costs me and occasionally you may end up paying a few pence less than it actually costs me. If there is a significant discrepancy in your favour I will refund the difference.

Double LPs will be charged as two LPs, triple LPs will be charged as three LPs. Box sets etc will be charged according to weight.

UK P&P costs

UK Standard service - items are sent quickly and securely using first class recorded post, which includes insurance up to £46. The cost for this is as follows:

First LP or 12" = £3.80, each additional LP or 12" add £0.80

First 7" or CD = £1.90, each additional 7" or CD add £0.50


UK Special Delivery - Any order valued over £46 will be sent fully insured using Royal Mail Special Delivery and the total cost of this will be £7.55.  Multiple-item orders weighing more than 1kg or items valued over £500 will cost slightly more to insure, so please wait for my invoice before paying.

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Airmail (with tracking and insurance) to any country OUTSIDE the UK

Europe

First LP or 12" = £10.95, each additional LP or 12" add £2.00.

First 7" or CD = £6.85, each additional 7" or CD add £0.60.

Rest of the world (anywhere outside Europe)

First LP or 12" = £14.45, each additional LP or 12" add £3.50.

First 7" or CD = £8.15, each additional 7" or CD add £0.90.

Overseas orders weighing more than 2kg or valued over £500 may be split into two or more packages as appropriate so they can be sent using Royal Mail's Small Packet Rate, so please wait for my invoice on larger multiple purchases.

Customs declaration for overseas orders: Please note that for overseas orders outside the EU I need to complete a customs declaration and must enter the value of the package on the declaration.

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 If you have any queries please email BEFORE you bid.