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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I believe that records are for playing, so this record is sold with a full play-grading (the whole album has been played in-full from start to finish and each track given an individual play-grading using the UK RECORD COLLECTOR GRADING SYSTEM). In many cases a play-grading will be different from the grading that the record would receive for its visual appearance - it doesn’t automatically follow that a record which looks great will sound great or vice versa. When I provide a play-grading I give only a description of how the record looks, not a visual grading.

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THERE ARE 12 PHOTOS IN THIS LISTING.  USE THE SCROLL BAR BESIDE THE THUMBNAILS TO SEE THEM ALL. HOWEVER, PLEASE ALSO READ THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION AS SOME ASPECTS OF THE DISC LOOK BETTER IN THE PHOTOS THAN THEY DO IN REAL LIFE.

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If you make an offer please leave the time limit at 48 hours as I am unlikely to see your offer if you change the setting to 12 hours or 24 hours. Thank you. Only sensible offers will be considered as the buy it now price is believed to be competitive and has been set based on the market value, but mindful of condition.

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This is the first UK pressing of The Man Who Sold the World.

The cover is textured, the labels have the earliest 1st press misprint showing 'Tonny Visconti' (corrected on later labels) and the disc has the following STAMPED 1st press matrix numbers:

Side 1: 6338041 1Y//1

Side 2: 6338041 2Y//1

Condition summary
The cover has various signs of age, wear and use, the majority of which is visible in the photos and all of which is described in the section below.
The playing surfaces of the vinyl show lots of hairlines, sleeve-removal, brush-lines, surface scuffs and marks etc, including some more prominent, but surprisingly, despite its appearance, the record plays to a high standard. I have played the whole album three times (twice through the speakers and once through headphones) and was impressed at how well it played, in spite of the numerous marks on the disc. There is background noise and crackle which can be heard in the quiet parts and the run-ins/outs, fades, silent grooves and intros, and a few places where you get a random click or pop or some short-lived clicks, but there is nothing intrusive or persistent anywhere. A track-by-track play-grading appears below, but overall this album would play-grade around Very Good plus (VG+) to Excellent minus (Ex-), with sections that are above that and sections which are lower, but I'm going to be cautious, because of how the album looks. This is a play-grading, based on how the record sounds. A visual grading would be lower.

Detailed description - listing faults etc, especially those that are not obvious from the photographs

Vinyl: The vinyl is flat and has retained a sheen, but both playing surfaces show numerous very fine lines, surface marks and scuffs as well as some small fine scratches and a few more-obvious marks. The record has clearly been played many times, and has probably not been well looked-after. However, although there are lots of marks, they are predominantly superficial with very few (if any) that are 'feelable' and there's certainly nothing deep. In the photographs there are pictures of either side of the disc. This illustrates that the vinyl still has an underlying shine, but it does not show the numerous surface marks and gives the impression that the record looks great, which is not accurate. Both playing surfaces have numerous fine lines and marks and look worse in real life than the photographs suggest. However, the record plays much better than might be expected by its appearance. A full play-grade appears below.

Labels: The labels show that the record has been played a lot. Both sides have numerous spindle marks (much more obvious in real life than it appears in the close-ups of the labels) which show that the record has been played dozens, if not hundreds, of times.  The side two label has nothing further to add. Side one has some marks and surface scuffs inside the Mercury logo.

Cover: The original textured cover is complete and intact but shows numerous signs of wear, age and use, with signs of handling and slight creasing near the opening. The front shows wear and ring-wear, some scuffs, marks and scrapes, and some touching-in (most noticeably to a surface tear near the top of the spine). The rear shows wear and ring wear and some marks and scuffs, and there is a small sticker next to the price-code. All edges and corners show obvious wear. The corners at the opening have corner-splits (both about one-inch) and the top and bottom seams are very worn. There is an internal repair to a split in the top seam, and another repair to the spine, but these have both been undertaken with care and are not obvious unless you are looking for them. The spine text is mostly worn off, but there are bits which are still partially legible. The opening shows signs of use and is a bit soft/feathered, but there are no tears at the opening (apart from the corner splits).

Track-by-track play-grade

The Man Who Sold the World has a wide variance in recorded sound from very loud to very quiet (sometimes in the same song), and different tracks play-grade at different levels, between a SAFE Excellent and Very Good plus (VG+) overall, but with some individual parts of tracks grading a bit lower. So rather than just giving an overall grading I am providing a track-by-track play-grade (with additional comments as appropriate):

The Width of a Circle play-grades around VG+. Generally, the loud parts sound great, but some crackle and clicks in the quiet sections, especially near the beginning, down-grade it. Near the start this track is around VG or VG- but it ends up Ex, so overall it's around VG+.

All the Madmen play-grades as VG+. About seven clicks in the middle, one loud pop and some crackle in the quiet parts, but the loud parts are Ex, so overall around VG+.

Black Country Rock play-grades around Ex. Some background noise and a few small clicks in the intro and fade, but overall very decent.

After All play-grades as VG+. A bit of background noise in the quiet parts, but no major issues, and the loud parts sound great.

Running Gun Blues play-grades as VG+. The quiet start is around VG-, but the majority of the track is loud and grades as Ex, with just some crackle at the end, so overall around VG+.

Saviour Machine play-grades as VG+. A bit of noise in the fade-in and at the end, but otherwise Ex.

She Shook Me Cold play-grades as VG+. A bit of background noise at the start and about eight clicks, and two in the fade, but much of it is Ex.

The Man Who Sold the World play-grades as EX. It sounds great, with no significant issues.

The Supermen play-grades as a SAFE Ex. Sounds great.

So, averaging-out the track-by-track grades, I would play-grade this album overall around Very Good plus (VG+) to Excellent minus (Ex-), with parts that are better than that and parts that are worse. The visual grading for the vinyl would be lower than this play-grading.

Detracting features not covered above:  None.

Please check out my other items and take advantage of reduced postage costs for multiple buys.

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Information about descriptions and gradings.My items are always described accurately and fairly. I always do my best to point out any blemishes which might detract from the item and all photographs are of the actual item you will get. I am aware that different grading systems have different definitions and so I try as much as possible to describe items in plain English, rather than simply using gradings. Where gradings are given these are based on 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.

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 or crackle 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. Most vintage records are not 100% perfectly flat and so I will only mention this aspect if it is very significant or has an impact on the way the record sounds. If I haven't play-graded the record, it will be given a visual grading.

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 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 is based on how the record sounds when played through a mono switch. If you do not have 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.

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I have some very simple terms and conditions. Please read them and ensure that you understand them before bidding. Thank you.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

•My items are fully guaranteed - if it is not as described you can return it for a full refund, including postage. Refunds for visually graded records which are returned based upon the buyer's assessment of the record's playgrade, will not include postage costs in either direction.

•Your bid is binding, so please make sure you have READ and UNDERSTOOD the WHOLE LISTING before you bid. I will not accept returns where the buyer has not read or not understood something which is stated/shown in the listing.

•I accept Paypal and postal orders (in UK Sterling GBP) for all purchases.  I also accept cheques (in UK Sterling GBP) on orders OVER £50.

•Please pay for your item within three days of the auction closing. If you are intending to bid on other items and wish to pay when they have closed, please contact me to let me know. I reserve the right to cancel any transactions and offer the item to the second highest bidder if no contact or payment is made within three days.

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POSTAGE & PACKING

I care about the records I sell and believe that they need to be carefully and securely packaged to ensure that they survive their journey through the post. Vinyl is removed from the sleeve for posting and the contents will be protected with rigid cardboard stiffeners. Packages are labelled "Do not bend" and securely sealed with "FRAGILE" parcel tape.

I support the use of recycled materials and so I may sometimes use recycled packaging. If you wish your item to be sent in entirely new packaging please let me know before paying for it. Thanks.

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P&P charges

My P&P charges are 'totally transparent'. Please read below and if you have any questions about P&P costs please contact me BEFORE you bid. Thank you.

Sending items costs more than just the stamps on the package, but I try not to charge more for packing and posting your item than it actually costs me to do so. I need to cover the cost of packing materials, plastic sleeves, new inner sleeves (where applicable), transportation, fees and charges associated with sending the item (including fees incurred to receive the cost of postage and, where applicable, currency exchange) etc. To cover some of these expenses I add a nominal figure to the basic cost charged at the post office athough the actual cost to me is always higher than this. I do not view P&P costs as a means of making money.

To quote an exact cost for every LP is difficult because of the wide variance in weight (e.g. Abbey Road weighs around 230 grams whereas Led Zeppelin III weighs around 390 grams). But the majority of single LPs, when packed, will weigh around 550 grams and I have based my P&P rates on this.

Double LPs will be charged as two LPs, triple LPs will be charged as three LPs. Box sets etc will be charged according to weight.

If, when you receive your item, there is a significant discrepancy in your favour, please contact me and I will refund the difference.

UK P&P costs

I offer three UK services. I DO NOT offer 'click and collect', 'collection in person' or FREE postage, so please do not select these options if they appear in the invoice.

UK Standard service - Items valued up to £20 are sent using either Hermes courier or Royal Mail Second class. Usually delivered within 3-5 days of despatch.

For items or combined purchases valued above £20 I use the following service, so please wait for my invoice:

UK First class recorded post. The cost for one to three LPs is £5.20. Usually delivered within one day of despatch.

For more than three LPs please enquire before bidding.

UK Special Delivery - Any order valued over £80 will be sent fully insured using Royal Mail Special Delivery (next day delivery guarantee) and the total cost of this will be £9.35 for one to four LPs and £12.00 for five or more LPs . Please wait for my invoice before paying.

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Airmail (tracked and/or signed) to any country OUTSIDE the UK

 

Overseas orders will ONLY be sent tracked and/or signed.

Europe

First LP or 12" = £13.60, each additional LP or 12" add £2.20.

Rest of the world (anywhere outside Europe)

First LP or 12" = £17.50, each additional LP or 12" add £3.80.

 

Overseas orders valued over £80 will be insured for an additional £2.90.

Overseas orders weighing more than 2kg or high-value orders may be split into two or more packages as appropriate so they can be sent using Royal Mail's Small Packet Rate, so please wait for my invoice on larger multiple purchases.

Please note that overseas orders outside the EU need a customs declaration with the value of the package.

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 If you have any queries please email BEFORE you bid.

 

Thanks for your interest in this listing and for taking the time to read these details.