THE BEATLES - A HARD DAY'S NIGHT - MONO - 1st UK PRESS, 1964 - FULLY PLAY-GRADED

	£		49
	$		65

All my items have a full money-back guarantee - if it's not as described you can return it for a full refund.

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This is an original pressing bought in the UK at, or around, the time of first release. It is not a reissue.

This has 'The Parlophone Co . . .' rim text and the following 1st matrix numbers:

Side one: XEX 481-3N

Side two: XEX 483-3N

Description
Disc: The vinyl has retained its original sheen with various light surface marks and hairlines visible in normal light and additional ultra-fine hairlines and sleeve-removal lines when viewed under bright, direct light, but there's nothing bad. I have played the whole album in full from start to finish and generally was impressed by the audio. There are very few clicks and no jumps or skips anywhere and generally the music would grade around Excellent (Ex) or maybe slightly better. However, there was some surface noise audible in the run-ins/outs, fades, silent grooves and intros and a handful of places where I heard a few quiet clicks: a few in the Spanish guitar solo in 'And I Love Her', a couple  in the silent groove at the end of 'Things We Said Today', a handful of quiet random clicks in 'When I get Home' and about seven intermittently audible near the end of 'I'll Be Back' and a bit of crackle in the run-out at the end of side two. Aside from the points mentioned here there is nothing else to add. The music grades very highly, but the few points mentioned above and the noise in the run-ins/outs and linking grooves means that I would play-grade this as a SAFE Very Good Plus (VG+) overall, although the music is generally better than that.

Labels: No tears, stickers, writing etc, just spindle marking and normal signs of use.

Sleeve: A corner split at the bottom opening corner (see close-up), some marks, stains, creases and signs of use (see photos), but generally a decent example.

Inner sleeve: Original Emitex inner sleeve has a small (2cm) split at the centre of the bottom seam, a scruffy opening and various creases, marks, stains and signs of age and use, but it is an intact, usable, original example.

Detracting features not covered above:  None.

All photographs are of the actual item for sale. Please ask any questions before you bid or buy.

Where gradings are given these are based on the UK Record Collector grading system (see below) and are visual gradings only, unless the listing specifically states that it is a play-grading.

I use the UK RECORD COLLECTOR GRADING SYSTEM. This grading system differs from some other grading systems, in particular the Goldmine grading system. Please make sure that you are familiar with the UK record collector grading system before you bid.

Mint: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

Excellent: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packag­ing might have slight wear and/or creasing.

Very Good: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable sur­face marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

Good: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, etc.

Fair: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for prop­erly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.

Poor: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

Bad: The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection-filler.

Plus (+) or Minus (-) are added where items fall between gradings. I only ever use one plus or minus.

Visually-graded vinyl vs play-graded vinyl: Many people collect vinyl and never play it, whereas other people collect records because they want to play them. A visual grading will identify physical flaws (such as scratches) and can help determine whether a record has been cared-for properly, but it will not identify noise caused by non-visible sources. Most vintage records are likely to have some background noise even if they look perfect. I believe that records are for playing and so I try to play-grade records whenever possible. I always state in the listing if I have played a record prior to listing it. If I have play-graded the record I will usually only give a brief description of how the record looks (i.e. not a visual grading). The grading in the listing will be a play-grading and may be slightly different from the grading that the record would receive from a purely visual inspection. If I haven't play-graded the record, it will be given a visual grading only.

Play-grading MONO records: Mono records and stereo records have different grooves. A stereo record produces a stereo sound via both lateral and vertical groove modulation, whereas a mono record is not intended to produce any sound from vertical modulation. Playing a mono record with a stereo cartridge will create distortion because it is trying to pick-up the vertical (stereo) part of the signal, whereas this is not intended to be heard on a mono record and so is just noise.  Using dedicated mono equipment or a pre-amp with a mono switch will eliminate the noise caused by vertical modulation leaving just the lateral groove signal which is how the record was intended to be heard. Based on the assumption that most people choosing to listen to a mono record will have the right equipment to listen to it, I play all mono records via a pre-amp with a mono switch.  My play-grading for a mono record is based on how the record sounds when played in mono. If you do not have mono equipment or a mono switch on your amp or pre-amp you will be reproducing the noise from the vertical part of the signal and so the record will not sound as good. This is not any fault of the record, it is inherent to playing any mono record through a system that it was not designed for.

P&P costs as follows:

UK:

First LP or 12" record = £5.50, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

First 7" record = £3.95, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

Europe:

First LP or 12" record = £18.95, each additional item = an extra £2.20 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £13.95, each additional item = an extra £1.00 P&P charge.

Rest of the world:

First LP or 12" record = £29.50, each additional item = an extra £2.20 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £18.95, each additional item = an extra £1.00 P&P charge.