DEEP PURPLE Fireball - ORIG UK 1971 HARVEST EX+ LP. INNER, INSERT+ SUPERB SOUND.

Sold Date: November 17, 2014
Start Date: November 7, 2014
Final Price: £33.00 (GBP)
Bid Count: 7
Seller Feedback: 6837
Buyer Feedback: 69


ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrived damaged in them at some time. More details on my packing nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important to any small business. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

Artist or Band: DEEP PURPLE

Album Title: Fireball.

Producer(s): Deep Purple.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Fireball; No, No, No; Demon’s Eye; Anyone’s Daughter.

Side 2: The Mule; Fools; No One Came.

Label/Format: Harvest – Yellow and green format, that has the original ‘Gramophone Co Ltd’ text on the label rims. Later pressings had this changed to the EMI text. Both have matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both clean, fresh and attractive, spindle marks are only very light indeed, equally fine and faint. This is a lovely example with fantastic sound from the same collection as the ‘In Rock’ I am currently offering.

Cat Number: SHVL 793.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 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: 137 grams. A very good solid weight for this one.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Moderate in theory, but a complete, early issue copy that plays beautifully are less easy. The packaging gives few clues to age and fragility and a better looking example for looks and sound will not prove easy to find. The EMI rim text copies are far easier to find.

Original Year of Release: 1971.

Matrix Nos: SHVL 793 A-2U / SHVL 793 B-3U

Stamper Codes: 1 RD / 1 GP

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘PEK’ on side one.

Musicians: Ritchie Blackmore - guitar; Ian Gillan - vocals; Roger Glover - bass; Jon Lord - keyboards, Hammond organ; Ian Paice - drums.

Brief Artist & Album Info: The second of four absolute classics this legendary heavy band made and their final one for Harvest. Following the magnificent high standards of In Rock this was never going to be easy, but Fireball does just that. Some less heavy with lesser volume, but still some wonderful rockers – none better than the stunning ‘The Mule’, with it’s monumental drumming from Paice. This excellent set was a great prelude to the classics Machine Head and the blistering double live set Made in Japan. Featuring their undisputed classic line-up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord and Paice this is one of the band’s most treasured albums and beautifully packaged too. This one complete with far less wear than most seen, and the audio quality is immense.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: this a VERY difficult cover as well and seldom seen without significant wear. This I feel is undergrading a very attractive cover with most of any wear on the perilous bottom storage edges. An unlaminated gatefold with ALL surfaces finely textured, not only that, the card is soft and delicate and it simply does not wear well (to say the least). The black surface making it near impossible to find devoid of some wear. It was printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse. The lyric insert and Harvest inner are also included – both in very impressive condition as well.

Cover Cosmetic Improvements: The odd tiny tip-in possible.

Cover Front: This is very nice indeed with little wear. Fresh, clean with only gentle traces of speckle to the texturing mainly near the vulnerable sides. The right edge card is not quite flush from the manufactured trim. Obviously that has nothing to do with wear, purely as it was made. Barely any creasing and the famous Deep Purple head comet (or fireball) artwork will rarely be seen much better. I feel my camera flash has actually over-emphasised blemishes to this cover.

Cover Back: The back is even more prone to wear as the record will press into it causing ringwear in most cases. Here any traces bordering on minuscule and super faint. Again hardly any creasing and against the odds, this side is even better than the front.

Cover Inner Gatefold: This in superb condition with barely anything to fault.

Top Edges: Both straight with hardly any rubbing – also I can see NO evidence of tipping-in.

Bottom Edges: Light to moderate patchy rubbing, seldom avoided on the storage edges.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, mostly very sharp with little wear, any thickening or burring very mild and faint as seen viewed end-on. Record enters on the back edge, both guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Very solid, straight with barely any compression and folded square with the edges meeting up flush and parallel. The surface probably with amongst the least wear I have seen with all text fully present. Even the fold hinges retain full ink, the odd tiny chip tip-in possible, but so minor I cannot even be sure.

Corners: Light to moderate tip rubs, again so hard to avoid on such covers. Very fine to excellent shape retained.

Cover Summary: This a cover of immense beauty when seen with modest to little wear. So often scuffed, torn and badly ringworn, these surfaces are fresh, clean and only gently rubbed. So not pristine as the grading confirms, but also not enough wear to spoil the enjoyment of many collectors who I am sure will be pleased to own it.

The Harvest Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): and retaining the lining inside which so often missing. These only came with quite early copies of this album and this in very impressive condition with minimal ageing from the usual darkening of the seam edge adhesive. Here only light. Barely creased with all edges unsplit with no repairs, this an unusually fresh and highly attractive example and becoming very hard to find as such. Finding these vintage inners like this always bodes better for finding a cleaner record inside – and I was not disappointed.

The Lyric Insert: PRACTICALLY MINT: again, often missing. Looks like new, nothing else to really say.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): and probably worth of the second (+). And this superior early-pressing plays SUPERBLY with barely anything to faultl. Clean with fine shine, intense black and very solidly pressed. NO penetrating scratches at all, any surface traces seen under my bright angled light ultra fine and faint and a lovely copy of this evergreen popular rock classic. This 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 vintage record plays even above it’s high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. Strong, totally distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very rich sound. Barely even a hint of any surface sound and no pops or clicks were noted. Some incredible detail and the percussion on ‘The Mule’ takes the breath away. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this early-pressed example that gave a truly great account of itself. Ultimate detail and sonic delivery, nothing beats a first issue and this is very well pressed with no inherent pressing noises. It will prove difficult to find better for sound and it looks impressive as well with two unaged Harvest labels, this really packs a real punch. One I enjoyed immensely on play-grade and for quality, enjoyable and detailed sound, this is strongly recommended.

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 programmes. 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.

Equipment Used for Play-Grading: I now play-grade ALL the records I offer (unless clearly stated to the contrary) on the following equipment:

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 10,000+ items sold in over 12 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] = £4.75

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]) = £12.50 (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]) = £16.50 (£17.50 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’.