ONEADAYRECORDS – Serving-up a Christmas & New Year Feast of Entertainment

I would like to wish all my customers, regulars and newcomers, a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR

Over the Holiday Period, I am offering some interesting Christmas ‘Crackers’ – lovely albums – some rare – ENJOY!

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 (£2 per extra record). All boxes sent FIRST-CLASS & TRACKED in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS with extra 7mm side protection and bubblewrap.

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 ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for 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.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: EAST OF EDEN

Album Title: Mercator Projected

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Northern Hemisphere; Isadora; Waterways; Centaur Woman.

Side 2: Bathers ; Communion; Moth; In The Stable of The Sphinx.

Label/Format: Deram – small size circle labels with matt surfaces that have a gentle trace of texturing. The smaller Deram logo means pressed slightly later, probably from 1970.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only a few light, fine and faint spindle marks. A challenging album that plays very well throughout.

Catalogue Number: SML 1038

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: 150 grams. A typical quite heavy weight for this quality Decca-pressed record.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Not in the ‘super-league’ of Deram rarities, but still a scarce one. Briefly available on the large Deram logo format, but quickly issued with the new smaller version labels early into the 1970s as per this copy.

Original Year of Release: 1969. This one from early 1970 or thereabouts.

Matrix Nos: ZAL-8688-1W / ZAL-8689-1W

Mother & Stamper Codes: 1 K / 1 C (‘K’ unclear, it could be an ‘H’ or even ‘N’). With first matrixes, mothers and single letter stampers, this is still a very early example. The inner sleeve is date coded 1-70 (January 1970, so this solid indicator of manufacture time).

Musicians: Dave Arbus – electric violin, flute, bagpipes, recorders, dual-saxophones; Ron Caines – electric and acoustic alto saxophone and soprano saxophones; Geoff Nicholson – guitar, vocals; Steve York – bass guitar, harmonica, Indian thumb piano; Dave Dufont – percussion.

Brief Info: The debut album from this, then a progressive band, I say ‘then’, as both their first and second albums were certainly that. The follow-up, ‘Snafu’ incorporated a more jazz-prog sound. Thereafter, their sound mellowed and became far more more commercial, they even had a hit single, ‘Jig-a-Jig’. This is often regarded as their classic and it blends progressive rock with Eastern music and it works brilliantly. Also famed for its very distinctive cover artwork, this is an album on many prog collector’s wish-lists. An impressive early copy that plays very well and a usual high-quality Decca pressing, this still a very early copy as the first ‘1’ mothers and single stampers prove.

Cover Grade and Format: NEAR EXCELLENT: a single format with the front laminated with Clarifoil. This covers all folds and ends on the back via the spine. Printed and made in England by Moore & Matthes Ltd. The back has the mono/stereo peephole. This being a stereo version with the original blue inner sleeve, the main back panel being matt and smooth.

Lamination & Front: The laminate retains fine shine and clarity, some mildish dulling only seen under light around the rim area. No lifting and minimal creasing, one is seen near the top right corner with hardly any others of any note. The highly impressive artwork looks fantastic and can be enjoyed to the near maximum with no fading or significant issues.

Cover Back: The unprotected back has aged a little with only a little light discolouration near the edges and a very small scuff near the bottom edge near the left corner. With that small mark being the most significant issue, it speaks well for the rest. The peephole is very neat and crisp and has no damage or wear, it filled by the blue inner sleeve to denote a stereo record inside.

Top Edge: Thin, but reasonably straight with hardly any real wear. The surface smooth with laminate retention.

Bottom Edge: Similar again, better if anything.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, the front edge still very sharp, the back with moderately light patchy thickening seen viewed end-on. Record enters on this edge that is guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Again thin, but solid, straight with consistent depth, so compression is negligible and still smooth and unworn. All text is perfect under the solid and unpeeled or scuffed laminate. This very well centred on what is a very narrow depth as-seen.

Corners: Any tip rubs are tiny with excellent or better shape retained with no knocks or dinks.

Cover Summary: A strong example of this elusive and elaborate late 1960’s cover, which is clearly a first printing as used for a while until they ran out. One that could prove very difficult to find much better with any wear or ageing little and light. This attractive item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(–): the Decca-style polylined inner is blue, denoting a stereo version and fairly lightly aged. It has two crisp window circles and the polylining intact and still clear. One neat tear on one window, this I carefully repaired and now looks like a fine crease. Any real creasing mainly quite light, most on one corner and moderate. All edges unsplit with no other repairs, this is date-coded 1-70 (January 1970) and has ‘Foreign patents pending’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: with side one even better. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and solidly pressed on top quality Decca vinyl. A very small few gentle, mostly fine surface marks on side two that do nothing. Any others are ultra fine, wispy and faint as seen under bright light. A copy with very modest plays on evidence and this record plays very well indeed. Visually a lovely Deram record that should please many collectors again.

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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic Deram prog-rock album plays even above its high visual grading with little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is high with a wide dynamic range and detailed sound. Any surface sounds little and light – overall a quality clean pressing for a fairly challenging album that does have some very quiet passages, so the odd blemish or sporadic tick is near impossible to avoid totally. Few available copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played only lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled. Little of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this impressive record, my first one of these for some time. It could prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams.

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 as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – 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 it’s 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. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. 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, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 minuscule in over 14­ 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. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. 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 TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid withdrawals. 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] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 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 £2 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’.