THE ROLLING STONES - SUPERB UNBOXED UK DECCA MONO LP

	£		109
	$		144

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.25. Europe (including Russia) £12. Rest of World £16. ALL signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes.

PLEASE NOTE: Overseas packets that go through the customs system, can take up to 4 to 6 weeks to process and deliver, this IS normal. For Russia, this can take even longer and is out of my control, so please be patient.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P prices as low as possible and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably a little heavier.

Artist or Band: THE ROLLING STONES

Album Title: The Rolling Stones.

Producer(s): Andrew Loog Oldham.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Route 66; I Just Want to Make Love to You; Honest I Do; I Need You Baby; Now I’ve Got a Witness; Little by Little.

Side 2: I’m a King Bee; Carol; Tell Me; Can I Get a Witness; You Can Make It If You Try; Walking the Dog.

Label/Format: Decca – unboxed format as seen on my scans.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only light to light+, fine and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. Amongst the least marks I have ever seen on this debut album that was usually played to destruction on very heavy tracking mono record players. Both labels will seldom be seen better (or the record heard cleaner).

Cat Number: LK 4605.

Mode / Speed: Mono / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 135 grams. Around average.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Moderate (in theory), but the main criteria is condition. As outlined above, these early beat albums were invariably played many times on very unsympathetic record players. Often loaned out and regular party pieces, finding one of these with supreme playing surfaces and sound are VERY difficult to find. Even when played on my clinically revealing stereo system, this mono classic sounded stunning. A rare and beautiful experience never to be taken for granted – oh yes, the cover is also in fantastic condition too.

Original Year of Release: 1964.

Matrix Nos: XARL-6271-2A / XARL-6272-4A

Mothers / Stampers: 3? ?1 / 1 CU [Decca details are rarely clear]

Musicians: Mick Jagger - lead and backing vocals, harmonica, percussion; Keith Richards - guitar, backing vocals; Brian Jones - guitar, harmonica, percussion, organ, backing vocals, harmony vocals; Charlie Watts - drums, percussion; Bill Wyman - bass guitar, backing vocals. Other Musicians: Ian Stewart - organ, piano, Gene Pitney - piano, Phil Spector - maracas.

Brief Info: Debut album from rock’s most durable and evergreen band, this dates way back to 1964 and most will know all about it. I prefer to concentrate more on it’s condition – which is outstanding.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High: no matter their age, these Decca covers were made with fairly thin card and laminated with Clarifoil. All factors for major creasing and laminate lifting and blisters. Very rarely does one escape – this has – well worth another look at this one. The backs are highly prone to grubbiness, creasing and toning, this has little.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single format with a Clarifoil laminated front that wraps around the closed edges and ends on the spine back. The back is smooth and matt. Printed and made in England.

Lamination & Front: The laminate retains a lovely shine, freshness and clarity with minimal traces of any dulling or friction rubs, even under angled light. Minimal traces of any lifting with any creases few and fine, these largely as hairline types mostly on the spine edge. Rarely seen devoid of large blisters due to Clarifoil’s habit of contraction, when avoided, the cover looks way better and this front will take a fair degree of beating. .

Cover Back: The exposed back with large areas of white is always vulnerable to grubbiness and ageing. Any rim impression on the thin card is very light indeed and any grubbiness traces the same. A mild pressure line from the top internal flipback is rarely avoided, here again only light. The lack of creasing is a huge plus and the white areas are still generally that – white. The narrow laminate end on the spine edge is clean and neat also. Like the front, this back sets a high standard and overall, this has been well looked-after and stored for many years.

Top & Bottom Edges: Both neat and smooth with only mild traces of thickening to the panel ends. Not dead straight due to the laminate pulling, but one of the flattest ones I have had for quite some time.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp with very little wear or thickening, and guaranteed untrimmed. Record enters on this fragile edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, quite straight with any compression mild and light – the ends are gently tapered in manufacture. All text is perfect and unworn, also well centred under the solid and unpeeled laminate that has just a couple of fine hairlines.

Corners: All are very neat and crisp with minimal traces of any tip wear or creasing. Given the fragile natural of this vintage cover, these are quite exceptional in their own right.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this typically delicate early Decca cover, one that will prove difficult to find substantially better. This was a very popular album throughout the 60s and few will show much less evidence of use and handling. That shine, clarity, lacking of blistering and heavy creasing on the front is a joy to view. This splendid item should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: a vintage Decca polylined inner that has ‘Patent Applied For’ text. This has aged little with any discolouration mild. The lining very clear with minimal crinkle as seen through two immaculate window circles. One corner crease only and all edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): very clean, shiny, intense black and solidly pressed. Both playing surfaces are very impressive indeed with any surface traces tiny, very few and faint as seen with utmost scrutiny under bright angled light. A vintage copy that has more than survived the mono era, this looks very little played and finding these grooves and surfaces so clean and unabused is deeply refreshing and unusual. All collectors will know the state these are more often seen in – dulled surfaces with deep scratches and mazes of swirled surface marks – labels heavy and matted with spindle marks and scuffs – this one is light years from anything like that and looks to have been used little and with great care. A superb early pressing that should please many, if not most collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This very well preserved debut album plays even above it’s high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a full dynamic range and detailed sound. Although hardly a hi-fi masterpiece this has a lovely raw production that was just perfect for it’s vintage and will rarely be heard cleaner or better than this from an unboxed Decca vinyl record. Barely any hint of surface sound, no clipping or crackle and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing (as you would expect from Decca). The sound remains fully focused and sharp, few ever will sound this good especially when played on highly revealing equipment. No heavyweight tracking, thick heavy stylus have ruined this one, this never to be taken for granted. Remember, just one jolt or arm drop on such a record, and it was potentially written-off. With tracking weights of 10 to 15 grams considered normal for mono turntables of the time, the damage they inflicted was huge and accidents always left their mark freely. Both channels are clean and sharp (often mono records play quietly though one channel only for the other to be noisy), this caused by uneven wear from badly aligned or chipped pick-ups. Clearly well stored and carefully handled, I feel sure this has not even seen daylight for decades. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, it will remind many of what this title once sounded like when first purchased and not through swathes of crackle, sound degrading and noise. This copy will prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. This was a pleasure from start to finish.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programs. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand+ based on over 8,000+ items sold in over 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.25

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16 (£17 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.