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 arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details 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 ‘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: THE BEATLES

Album Title: A Hard Day’s Night

Producer(s): George Martin

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: A Hard Day’s Night; I Should Have Known Better; If I Fell; I’m Happy Just to Dance with You; And I Love Her; Tell Me Why; Can’t Buy Me Love.

Side 2: Any Time at All; I’ll Cry Instead; Things We Said Today; When I Get Home; You Can’t Do That; I’ll Be Back.

Label/Format: Parlophone – intense black matt surfaces with a very gentle hint of texturing. This the recognised and distinctive first issue format with the bolder rounded, wider type face, this mos obvious on the catalogue number. Side one has the embossed ‘K T’ purchase tax codes, both letters are immaculate. All details as seen on the pictures.

Label Conditions: Both in almost exceptional condition: very clean, fresh and attractive with only light, fine and faint spindle marks and no real wear around the hole area, just a couple of minute chips on side two. Beatles albums from this early period are seldom seen with much less evidence of usage. This record is impressive and appears only lightly played, visually clean with lovely playing surfaces that have no penetrating stylus marks. The audio quality is also strong with minimal hint or traces of degrading, that for a 1964 popular mono record is noteworthy as many as simply trashed, written off or unlistenable.

Cat Number: PMC 1230

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. Average weight and a record made in the era of quality.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Few standard issue Beatles are rare, they sold in vast numbers, this was no exception. Most early copies were sold in mono, this having the first design labels as seen. But the main factor is condition – the world’s most popular band, Beatles records were most often heavily played, often to near destruction on the most basic of record players. This example ‘first issue’ appears little played, or even handled. It looks fantastic and offers very fine dynamic mono sound – any hint of sound degrading minimal, and this being play-graded on a very clinical and revealing stereo system including a Linn LP12 Sondek. Such records were not really designed to be played on such equipment, but hardly anything on this copy degraded by sound enjoyment. I am a realist, I know few of these vintage very popular mono records will offer crystal clear pristine sound these days, but this has very little to fault and has no pops or clicks. For a very popular album around 52-years-old, this looks little used, and certainly not abused. I doubt if this has seen light-of-day for decades. With so many Beatles albums seen, barely worthy of a second look, this is a strong copy that should please many fans and collectors (unless absolute perfection is mandatory).

Original Year of Release: 1964

Matrix Nos: XEX 481-3N / XEX 482-3N

Mothers / Stampers: 6 GMT / 2 AL

Musicians: John Lennon – vocals; acoustic and electric (six and twelve-string) guitars; piano; harmonica; tambourine; Paul McCartney – vocals; acoustic and bass guitars; piano; cowbell; George Harrison – vocals; acoustic and electric (six and twelve-string) guitars; claves; Ringo Starr – drums and percussion. George Martin – piano.

Brief Info: The third UK Beatles album with side one songs included for the film of the same name. The American version very different. Thirteen gems and predictably, a huge seller. This copy an impressive UK ‘first issue’ format mono, appearing little played and offering very fine sound. Any sound degrading minimal, most of this set plays great. The cover also nice with only gentle hints of age on the back, also includes the original fully intact tracing (rice) paper inner sleeve. With so many of these vintage classics seen in horrendous condition, this one appears well looked after and attractive, one to please many Beatles collectors.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single format with front laminate, this covers all the folds and ends on the back on three external flipbacks. The main back panel is matt and smooth. The front has the first medium size ‘mono’ text on the front as seen. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse with the ‘Patents pending’ text. Originals include the fragile tracing paper (rice paper) lined inner sleeve.

Lamination & Front: Beautifully clean, fresh and attractive with very shiny, clear and undulled laminate. There is no lifting and any of the few creases are confined to the edges as fine hairline types that few can hope to avoid at best. A couple of tiny marks near the bottom edge, but the lack of chipping to the edge folds is great news as this cover has a tendency to do this, and being so dark blue, they never look nice if present. Few covers this age will escape less issues than this and in terms of ageing, it has little at all on what is an impressive front. One to hold and enjoy, most bar absolute perfectionists should appreciate this classic Beatles original cover.

Cover Back: Apart from gentle toning or discolouration on the very left edge, this has also aged well. The card very gently darkened overall, so not pure white, and so few these days ever will be. No rubbing, ring wear or even record impression, this panel has hardly any creasing either and clearly, no writing. All three flipbacks are still quite white and clean, even the laminate end areas. No lifting or burring, all solid and attractive without the usual deep yellowing or grubbiness most seem to acquire. During the 1960s, smoking was particular popular and left its affects on covers like this – well no nicotine has been near this one – it even smells relatively fresh and little aged. A few, mostly fine hairline type creases on the flipback laminate, but how many can hope to avoid these as the barest minimum? Overall this back only gives gentle clues to age and more than compliments the highly attractive front.

Top & Bottom Edges: Smoothly laminated and with no chips or scuffs, the top still very white and both very straight. As stated, the lack of chipping to the deep blue bottom edge is great news and somewhat unusual.

Right Edge(s), and Type: This storage edge is clean, quite sharp with little real wear. Any thickening or burring light as seen viewed end-on, not razor sharp by any means, this not unusual on slightly thicker than average card. This edge is totally natural, guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced, the laminate end line on the cover front still easily seen. The exposed card on this front edge has no significant chipping either, any wear bordering on minuscule.

Spine and Text: Vert solid and straight with minimal hint of compression, the ends very gently tapered in manufacture, this very subtle. A couple of fine hairline type creases hardly even register. The text is perfect and unworn under the solid and unpeeled laminate as seen. For good measure, this is superbly centred.

Corners: A tiny tip rubs tiny and light, mostly excellent shape retained with no bashes or minimal dink traces.

Cover Summary: A very strong and largely age-defying original all-round example of this classic 1960’s cover, one that could prove difficult to find much better. Generally clean and fairly fresh with no writing, this impressive item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: and this being somewhat harsh on a fragile vintage inner. The paper only gently darkened to give gentle hint of age, also a little burring to the panel end on one side edge, that apart, little else to fault. Beatles albums from this period had the tracing paper lined inners, often described as ‘rice’ paper, they are fragile and delicate, often the centre hole leaves marks or damage to this area which this has totally avoided. This one has two immaculate crisp undamaged window circles, the lining untorn and even avoiding the usual crinkle. Some mildish creasing near the corners, and even the recessed wave-style top opening reasonably sharp and certain not torn – all good indicators the record has not been removed many times. All edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better, this a very impressive visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and solidly pressed. A copy appearing little played, and then with utmost care, no heavyweight worn stylus have inflicted any penetrating marks on this quality record. Any visual surface traces ultra fine and faint, as viewed critically under bright angled light. Seen in average room light, hardly anything even registers. Visually a lovely early example that should please many collectors – simply compare to the trashed and worn-out examples that surface regularly.

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 Beatles third album, and first feature film music plays even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Offering strong, mainly clear and dynamic, warm mono sound. Sound quality is impressive with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any hint of sound degrading is mimimal, any traces very few and little, this being played as usual on my LP12 Sondek which is ruthlessly revealing and clinical. Another wonderful production from George Martin – this is how the band and him wanted their records to sound. This is the real thing, no digital enhancements or remastering required, this simply takes you back to when it was first purchased. A typical quality clean pressing with no penetrating stylus scratches or tracking issues*. Clean lesser-used very early ‘first’ issues are harder to find for sure. I am certain this record has been played only lightly and with due care, and has been generally well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, any hint of degrading minimal indeed – possibly not quite for for the absolute purists or audiophiles who only want ‘perfection’ any any cost, but it will take a really top near mint copy to better this signfiicantly. It could prove difficult to find significantly better and merits strong recommendation.

* 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 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium 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, 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’.