Syd Barrett MADCAP LAUGHS Harvest SHVL765 1st Pressing

	£		93
	$		123

An early first pressing of the rarer collectable version of this LP (without the EMI logo on the labels) of the famous SYD BARRETT LP " THE MADCAP LAUGHS " with the original laminated gatefold cover & inner sleeve and good vinyl, clean yellow/green HARVEST labels ~ 1970 Stereo SHVL 765

This is in stiff, medium weight 140 gram vinyl and has the matrix numbers
" SHVL 765 A-2 G " on side 1 and
" SHVL 765 B-2 G " on side 2, (the SHVL 765 numbers are repeated on the labels & sleeve);
side one has "1" at 9 o'clock & "A" at 3 o'clock, whereas
side two has "1" at 9 o'clock & "G" at 3 o'clock.
So side 1 is from the third Stamper from the first Master and side 2 is from the first Stamper from the first Mother, so it's an early first pressing copy from the first laquers.

I bought this unheard 40 years ago because I had seen Syd with Pink Floyd loads of times a few years earlier, playing at the IT gigs in the All Saints Church Hall in Notting Hill's Powis Square, UFO, the first Roundhouse event and so on, but I never actually got on with this LP really, so have not played it much. I have just played it loudly once more, as I enter this, to properly check out the vinyl and whilst it's interesting, I think collectors would appreciate it more than I, so there's no point hanging onto it any longer......despite the fact that, for me anyway, PF really ceased to exist after Syd lost it.

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This auction then is for a fairly valuable, seemingly highly collectable LP from my own collection, which I bought new when it came out in 1970 and so is in good order and plays really well, as one would expect. I have seen so-called top quality copies of this rare early version of the record go for over £200.00 and later EMI logo label ones for £60.00-£90.00 but I am starting this one at only £49.50 without any reserve, which seems more than fair for an early first pressing in this condition.

I am not a record dealer, just always been a lover of great music and lucky enough to have seen many of the 1960's and 1970's great & famous playing in the London venues such as The Camden RoundHouse, the Eel Pie Island Hotel and clubs like the Marquee, Crawdaddy and UFO (I still have my membership cards!) and this LP, like the others I will be listing from now on, is from my own collection and was bought because of the music and it benefits from having always been in an animal free and non-smoking environment.
It's started at a realistic price with NO RESERVE; good vinyl condition and a good cover and clean, original inner sleeve.

Please scroll down and see the large images I have put for this record

I stopped selling my records on eBay back in August 2008 because of eBay's stupid free postage rule but now it's been reversed, I am starting again, so please check my bidder's feedback on the records I sold before then - you will see I describe my records 100% truthfully so you can bid in confidence - any questions, just ask!

The record itself is pressed in medium grade, fairly stiff vinyl and is very clean on both sides and still shiny; it has a few spindle marks on the labels but no hole wear, (I have played it after all!), but No writing, fingerprints, stickers or other negative aspects and it still has a tight spindle hole!
The labels are the grooved type with a sharply printed green HARVEST logo and outer ring of makers details ("THE GRAMOPHONE CO. LTD. etc.") on a clean bright yellow, silk finish ground, with the record track & music listing all printed in black. (The images of the labels show a greener tint than in reality thanks to using an automatic camera, they are actually a yellow ground not greeny/yellow! - One of the images taken at a slant of the vinyl is closer to the real colours)

The vinyl is bright and shiny and flat with centred labels and no warps and the sound is still clean and bright and very good for a 40 year old record that has been played occasionally.
There is no plastic liner in the inner sleeve so consequently, there are a NO *sleeve marks on the record surfaces, which have minimal surface noise, NO jumps, very minor crackles & pops - mostly only between tracks and in the run-off; there are two inaudible and only just visible "feather" sleeve entry marks on side 1, tracks 1 & 2 and a surface scratch on side 2 on tracks 2 & 3, which is just audible as a slight pop when played loudly, but only on just two revolutions.
There is a miniscule vertical movement of under 0.7 mm peak to peak at the record’s periphery and a horizontal displacement well under 0.3 mm peak to peak so it runs flat and true and plays beautifully and in this respect is "as new"; (please understand that there is absolutely no audible effect from such very low levels of mechanical movement, but I am stating these parameters from now on to further improve the accuracy of my estimates of the true condition of records I sell on eBay - for example, a "warp" would typically show about 2-4 mm of vertical movement, beyond which it would be unplayable with most arms and a horizontal movement over about 1 mm would be audible as "wow" on long organ notes and violins).

*Surface marks are either a sort of matt area marking over the record surface, (usually from the plastic inner liners of some sleeves and probably due to pressure from adjacent records when stored - caused I believe by migration of the plastisizer from the polythene inner sleeve onto the vinyl surface), or they may be faint lines originating from the withdrawal and reinsertion of the record back into it’s sleeve. Such markings will always be present in a record that has been played and are discernible often only by holding the record at an angle under a strong light, but these cosmetic only and are NOT scratches, which are mechanical damage caused by actions such as dropping or knocking the arm so it skates over the record surface, or worse. Such scratches, as I define them, WILL be clearly visible and will definitely be audible at the very least and I shall state if they are there, as well as defining the level of any surface marking.
I will also always provide the best images I can of the actual record surfaces and labels so that bidders can actually SEE the condition of the record in all respects, (any dust specks you may notice on the close up images are always inside the damn camera lens assembly!)

The Ernest Day & Co. Ltd made gatefold cover from Nov.1969 (iss.6911) with it's famous grainy images of the Notting Hill flat is laminated on the outsides, with no lifting of the film but it does have several small creases along the spine and a couple by the opening with a little entry wear; there is no shelf wear but there is slight rubbing on the corners. The front is clear of ring wear but is matted slightly at the top centre, some ring wear shows on the back but there are no other marks, labels or writing, etc. to detract from it's condition. The colour images are still bright and the inner black & white artwork is unmarked and not faded either.

The inner sleeve is the correct original unlined, simple cream coloured gloss paper one and has only minor corner folds, but no writing or marks rips or tears and without the age browning that is typical of these early papers and just bears "Made in England" and a Patent number 1,125,555.

Using the Record Collector grading system, the vinyl is thus between VERY GOOD and EXCELLENT on both sides, the cover and inner sleeve are similarly graded VERY GOOD +.

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So the provenance for this record is great, as I can vouch for it’s history from new; generally, all my records were purchased new by me and are from my own personal collection, built up since the early 1960’s and have genuinely been played very little and then only on quality turntables, (Garrard Zero 100, Lab 80 and Goldring GL75), set up with a low tracking force, using Shure, then Grado then Stanton cartridges over the years.
All records have been dry stored, vertically, in the dark in a proper custom made record shelving system and only ever played by myself and NEVER loaned to anyone and especially, never, ever partied!

If you are interested in early British R & B and Progressive Rock Bands and the USA West Coast bands of the time then please add me to your favourites as I do have some rarities that I have never seen on eBay.
I generally do not go in for all the b******s about rare first pressings and the excessive detailing of group histories that I see other sellers boring eBay members with, usually I will describe all the records honestly, just indicating the basics, but once again I seem to have a collectable copy to offer, so have fully described it

The packed weight of this item is estimated at 490g and signed for postage via 2nd class Recorded Delivery is shown as £2.69 to UK addresses, insured to £41.00, (if the final value goes over this, then I shall send it Special Delivery in the UK, insured to £500.00 at £5.50).
International shipping will be via Airsure or International Signed For small packets rate; International bidders can check for themselves the postal costs at the www.royalmail.co.uk web site; for example, the Airsure Small Packet rate to Germany and most of the EU is £8.75, increasing to £11.25, insured to £500.00 should the final bid go over £41.00. (To the USA & Canada, these prices rise to £11.77 & £14.27 respectively; to Japan, Australia & NZ the record has to go via the International Signed For Small Packets service at £11.12 & £13.62 respectively)
All records are now protected with Jiffy foam and packed into the heaviest grade of mailer I could find with two of the heaviest available stiffener boards and so I do now add a charge at cost of £0.70 to the above prices for the foam and the heavy grade mailer & boards set.
Records are generally sent within their paper sleeves, inserted into a separate bag and over-wrapped with new Jiffy foam for protection, the cover is placed in it’s own plastic protection bag for in-transit water damage protection, then placed with the record between the boards and taped up on all edges for overall shipping protection prior to insertion into the mailer.
This protects the sleeve from record edge cut through as I want my customers to get their records and sleeves undamaged, but if you wish me to use another method of packing, please ask.
No packing charges are added, other than the materials cost; you just pay what I pay to send it!

The small print, but please read it

NB: This item may be picked up in person, or will be despatched securely, on a traceable and insured service only, so it will need to be signed for on delivery; I will not send it to a PO box, or care of a business address without written acceptance of your liability for loss, theft or damage; the delivery address must also tally with the registered address within both eBay and PayPal.

Carriage charges, where indicated, are for UK (zone 1) post codes only. If you are in other zones or are an overseas bidder, you can get an estimate of carriage costs by checking with the www.royalmail.co.uk web site, choosing the International Shipping option, and then entering the estimated shipping weight shown above, tick "packet" and choose Airsure and an insurance value appropriate to the item's final value.

Payment may be by bank transfer, Pay Pal, cash if collecting in person, or cheque, but please note that I am now very reluctant to accept cheques over £100 net and am also advised by the bank that I must wait at least 12 working days for clearance on both cheques and bank transfers before items can be despatched or picked up; this means that items will not be released on average until two weeks have elapsed from a transfer or a cheque's deposit at the bank, so please be patient!
NB: If you wish to pay by postal order(s), you should be aware that these are treated exactly the same as cheques now and so you should contact me first before sending any.

Please confirm your full address and landline telephone number when completing the transaction via the eBay and PayPal notes system to avoid delays on despatch; I now check identifies before sending items because of fraud attempts

I now also reserve the right to cancel your bid if you have zero or very low/bad feedback; if you are in this situation, you must provide me with your full details by e-mail prior to bidding to avoid this action, and please remember that this auction is in £ Sterling (GBP) and not $ US or Euros or whatever! You can also forget it if you think I will fall for money laundering attempts. All attempts at fraud or deception will be reported and the perpetrator blocked at once!

I will immediately cancel the bids of anyone who has only just joined eBay, or is bidding from Cambodia or Nigeria, etc. (including any winning bids at the last second); sorry, but I am fed up with losing fees that eBay will not refund!