BEATLES For Sale UK 64 1st press No1 mono N/M

	£		165
	$		219

Formerly mpsmith...

Hi, I am Mike, I have been a music collector for over 30 years now. My Ebay name has now changed at the request of Ebay for security - little else will change I hope, I will still try to offer 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 interested collector. You may notice I only submit one or two items a day for Ebay; time rarely allows more as I Play-Grade every record I offer (on a Rega 3 deck with Ortofon cartridge) - 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. 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. A ten pounds record that plays close to new is as important to the collector as a 250 pound record that plays less well. 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. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. Good luck.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance. Item wants are always welcome - email me with anything needed. I also will buy quality single items or collections of original quality rock, 60s popular, folk, prog, psych and underground etc.

PLEASE READ ALL DESCRIPTIONS AND CHECK PICTURES CAREFULLY FOR ALL THE INFORMATION GIVEN.

Artist or Band: THE BEATLES

Album Title: Beatles For Sale

Cat Number: PMC 1240 Mono.

Label and Condition: Parlophone Yellow and Black. Recording first published 1964. Made in Gt Britain. The Parlophone Co Ltd and Sold in the UK etc on the labels (Please see scan for details). This copy has no tax codes.

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity Factor: Very early pressings in this condition are getting rare. Charting at No. 1 again in the UK this album is not rare as such but this was pressed many times. Finding what appears to be a genuine first pressing in a very lightly played condition are getting near impossible to find now. This one again comes from the beautiful collection purchased recently, I was reliably told this was originally owned by a factory worker at the pressing plant and this was a factory sample - I am not going to say catagorically this is a fact, but I would be pretty sure this is likely as some of the other items I have acquired certainly were - for sure copies in this condition with an A1 matrix are not common.

Original Year of Release: 1964

Matrix Nos: XEX 503-3N and XEX 504-3N The tiny pressing numbers are 1 A (RT) and 2 (G) RDA. The 1A pressing number will never be easy to find and indeed looks to be the very first pressing off the line.

Album Information: A gorgeous original first press item in glorious mono. Stereo vs Mono - well for Beatles and Stones albums both are essential. Mono recordings with their massively powerful mix and detail for me have the edge on the early albums. The stereo issues have great imagery. Released after a gruelling 12 months, the Fab Four were a little jaded, but their genius still shines through brightly. Never the most highly regarded album in their fabulous catalogue, but if this great record is just a fraction below par, what does it say for the rest at this time? For Sale features some stunning songs including ‘Baby’s in Black’, ‘I’ll follow the Sun’, ‘Eight Days a Week’ and the magnificent ‘Every little thing she does’, but there is still not a filler track in sight - this is a wonderful album. The copy on offer is a first pressing and a very early first pressing too with the rare 1A matrix pressing. Approaching the huge age for vinyl of 40 years (I know its scary) this copy really is superb, only lightly played, which is always a huge bonus for vintage mono albums. Any collector will know the potential for serious wear and damage caused by the heavy unsubtle arms and styli used around this time. Severe backdrag and force these arms applied to these vintage gems often stripped the fragile groove walls making them noisy and play with moderate to severe distortion in a very short time. The inner band tracks always being particularly vulnerable when the tracking angle and maximum force was applied. (Try playing a vintage copy of Rubber Soul, how does ‘Michelle’ play? the same goes for Help and ‘Yesterday’ and Pepper, ‘She’s leaving Home’, these are always the benchmark tracks that govern the rest of the LP. The difficult track on For Sale is ‘Mr Moonlight’, this song on this copy plays well with only just the faintest hint of any light sound, most listeners will be more than happy with this compared to most around. As I have stated many times, Beatles albums are not rare: they sold in huge numbers, there will always some at any record fayre, but finding really early copies, only lightly played and with decent clean covers is a different story. Most will show a mass of spindle marks, often so heavy they just blend into a solid mass. Even some with lesser marks will still play disappointingly because just one play with a worn or chipped (often the inferior sapphire pickups, more common around this time) will cause the aforementioned problems. Its a case of the older the album, the more likely you are to encounter a worn record - that’s why play-grading every record is essential. Now I now for a fact this copy has been lightly played, and it plays well with any unwanted sounds being very light and minimal indeed. You almost need an unplayed mono copy to play 100 per cent perfect - this one is not 100 per cent but somewhere in the mid-ninties. A top copy played on modern light-weight decks will almost last a lifetime, its just finding copies that have avoided the heavy plays that most Beatles albums were subjected to in the 60s that make items like this real treasures - they come along infrequently and should be treated as VIP items.

Cover Condition and Details: Excellent+, gatefold, laminated front and back, large outline mono on the top right denoting a first pressing, two flipbacks in the centrefold, top and bottom. A fine clean example that shows little overall wear and still retains a freshness that defies its great age.

Cover Lamination: Very clean and still retains a solid pleasant shine. No lifting, peeling or dry areas and shows no nasty deep indentations or serious mark. There are a few light surface marks, few show under normal viewing. Any creasing is light, mainly the fine hairline types near the edges, little detracts. A slightly heavier one near the bottom right front, again not serious. This gatefold cover’s front page is always one of the most vulnerable to creasing as its only single thickness - this has certainly faired much better than many seen around, in fact this one is often seen and offered in poor shape with tears and major splits and severe creasing.

Cover Front: Very attractive indeed, clean with hardly any wear and no chips or tears, this has always been one of the most fragile of the Beatles covers and finding fronts that look really clean and eye-pleasing is difficult. This retains a nice deep colour and apart from a few light creases this will be hard to find much better.

Cover Back: Magnificent, this is even stronger than the front and again this will not be beaten easily.

Cover Gatefold Inner: One of the very best I’ve yet seen for this one: Clean and attractive. The two flip backs are rock solid, clean and unlifted or freyed. The centrefold hinge is full intact and untorn, being only single ply and thin this fold is more often than not sound torn and in bad shape, even more so as the record is stored from the centre, not the usual outer edge making ‘prodding around’ this hinge area more likely. This one is very solid proving yet again this record has not made the trip out often.

Cover Edges/Corners: The top and bottom edges show hardly any wear at all. Even the thin front cover edges only show the lightest possible wear, you can image how frail these will be, they are still very neat indeed with any freying being minute.The right side edges are razor sharp, sealed as stated this record is stored via the centrefold. The spine is solid and unworn, all the text is pristine under the uncracked laminate. The corners are still fine too, all still nicely shaped and pointed showing little wear. All round this is a fine example of this fragile cover, apart from the light creases on the front bottom right this would be in the Mint(-) category, some would say it is anyway.

Vinyl Condition: Visually Mint(-), a stunning super clean and shiny copy that shows nothing more than the odd faint hairline - look hard to find them. I have never seen a copy this early in such clean shape. Just look at the copies usually offered: most have scuffs and scratches, often covered in fingermarks, dirty and dusty. Well this is light-years away from any of that. Visually this copy could have bought yesterday, take away the spindle traces and you would get away with saying unplayed. Pressed on the typical very heavy vinyl this copy I would estimate from all the evidence this copy has been played about four to six times only. I played for grading, who would not want to play this? The sound is lovely, gorgeous detail and massive power and dynamics that only original early 60s vinyl can give. No modern CD sound can truly capture the original sound that George Martin put into these vintage grooves. The sound is generally clean and with little of those unwanted sounds mentioned earlier. No pops or ticks and no distortion. Maybe the odd light surface sound but I would suggest finding a copy, especially a first pressing mono that will outperform this one will be a supreme rarity. This vintage copy truly defies its age and the sound captured here is testament to the Fab Fours’ greatness - I think most serious collectors will enjoy this copy - better ones may still exist, but they could take a lifetime to find and would they ever be available for sale and at what cost? This is a fine all round original copy. The record comes in its original tracing paper lined inner that is superb, clean and unworn with a super clear window.

Track Listing: No reply; I’m a loser; Baby’s in black; Rock and roll music; I’ll follow the sun; Mr moonlight; Kansas cityh; Hey hey hey hey; Eight days a week; Words of love; Honey dont; Every little thing; I dont want to spoil the party; What you’re doing; Everybody’s trying to be my baby.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: I think I’ve said it all really - any Beatles connoisseur vinyl collector will already know how hard it is to find truly top copies of any of their albums, even the later ones are never easy. Were records of this vintage really suppose to last this long? It almost seems incredible to me to find any close to 40 year record in this condition is still possible. But they do show up occasionally, when they do don’t take them for granted because the majority around will be far less desirable - let’s face it, these gems got played and played and played, this was the norm, that’s what they were for, Beatles especially got hammered more than most. This one is an exception, its not quite mint minus throughtout audably - it is visually - more EX minimum to M(-) maximum with most being nearer the top end. I am sure this mightly fine copy will please most, don’t lose it - it will easily sound great even after another 40 years if looked after and treated as well as this copy has been - Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

Buyer pays: (UK) £2.50 P&P , for first-class delivery with standard £28 insurance. Items that sell over £30 will be sent via Recorded Delivery and Special Delivery for over £55.

Europe: £4. This is covered up to £28 (45 Euros) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. A recorded airmail service is now in place for Europe too: this means any item will be fully covered to its true value, No customs sticker is needed for Europe, so this is a worthwhile investment. This costs extra £3, the item is tracked and the item has to be signed for - I will use this service to Europe as standard for very expensive rare items e.g. records over £75.

USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and other Far Eastern countries etc: £5.50. This is covered up to £28 (43 US Dollars) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more).

Extra insurance is available for non-UK items but bear in mind I have to state the true value of the item on the parcel and customs would be aware and you may well get charged import duties.

PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.65 to cover PayPal or cash conversions.

PLEASE NOTE: Any PayPal user can now pay me with UK Sterling if they wish with no need to convert to US dollars (although they still can if they wish to). Any instant PayPal transaction from anywhere in the world will mean the item will be sent immediately - it makes deals fast and very efficient.

Mailing Details: All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with a minimum of TWO stiffners for extra protection. More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection and three or four stiffners. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. I now only accept PayPal, International money orders or cash from overseas bidders (UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros). Cash, cheques, postal orders and PayPal are fine from the UK. I allow maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if this does not happen I will relist the item and may send negative feedback unless an explanation is given. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask. Please keep watch on my Ebays, I have other intesting items coming very soon. Thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: As listening to every single record I offer all the way through is difficult timewise, can I make it clear if any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. I still endeavour to play all the items in their entirity for grading if at all possible and is usually the case.