LED ZEPPELIN - 

4 IV
ATLANTIC
1st UK Press 1971
2401012


 2401012 1st UK Press 1971


First press matrices with the earliest stampers and "PORKY" and "PECKO DUCK" etched into the deadwax. This is the genuine FIRST PRESS with the correct A//3 B//3  matrices.  The vinyl is stunning and has barely been played at all.
Earliest mothers: A//3 1 3   8 B//3  1 2  1 0


George Peckham mastered this album with Jimmy Page and Phil Carsons from Atlantic Records. Page called back after the session to say how please he was with the results and that he wanted George to master all future Led Zeppelin Lps. his "Porky's" inscription would go on to also appear on latter albums. 



"Four Symbols" spent an amazing 57 weeks in the UK charts. The green & orange label pressing's would far outsell the red and maroon colour early pressing's. The Plum label variants were only available for 12 of the 57 weeks, during which time Atlantic prepared to launch their new labels and the new catalogue numbers.
Label changes usually took place incrementally, with a necessary cross over period needed to bridge the change of the records and covers already in record shops, taking into account the most recent releases that were still selling.
The classic Plum label design was changed by Atlantic to a green & orange colour in March, 1972, when the second pressings of "4 Symbols" were made, with a new catalogue number, 'K 5008,' replacing the first issue's 'De Luxe 2401 012.'


Vinyl: EX++ . Great heavy first UK press vinyl . A beautiful heavy glossy vinyl. One wispy small hairline which can barely been seen and that's it. Under a strong light only the very lightest wispy retraction paper traces can be seen. Any LP will have this as soon as they are taken out of its sleeve. These are totally invisible in normal light. The last track "Stairway to Heaven" is of course most wonderful with tremendous depth never heard again on cd reissues, the track plays mint like all the rest of the album!!! I subjected the record to a detailed listen on my high end system with Linn Sondek turntable and it did not disappoint. This sounded better than any re-issue like only a first press can. Lovely channel separation without any distortion or crackle. Needless to say, NO skips, NO jumps, barely any background noise etc.


Gatefold sleeve: EX. An astonishing gatefold sleeve and the original matt one for this first UK press version. Only the very lightest of storage wear on the top and bottom edges and an absolutely great  spine with just the very lightest wear. There are NO creases. This is a very hard sleeve to find in such great condition as it is matt and many owners did not look after their albums properly. This copy is well preserved and has been carefully stored as all other albums from this wonderful prog collection. Light wear on the corners. The opening is just super crisp. More from this wonderful collection will be listed in the near future. Hard to better this one!! 
It has the original inner lyric sleeve with two flipbacks and a seam split to the bottom and the side with a small bit of transparent tape. The paper used for the inner sleeve is akin to the good old blotting paper we used at school for our fountain pens. 
Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly! PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST, if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one! I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem! This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem. Thanks again!!
 
 
This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon..

On 29-Jun-17 at 22:56:56 BST, seller added the following information:

Please note that I will send this out on the Saturday after end of auction i.e. July 8th because of family circumstances.