BEATLES Rubber Soul UK 65 Stunning no distortion sound.

	£		62
	$		82

Hi, I am Mike, I am 46 and have been a music collector and enthusiast for over 33 years now. We all wish we could turn back the clock and buy those wonderful brand new records from the 60s and 70s, but alas, this is not possible; so I always try to offer the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. No vinyl/music lover really would choose to buy second-hand, but this is only way now to own these valuable, prized and ellusive items now. 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 - on average ONEADAY, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirity, not just bits to guess a grade (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 reader – 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 its 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 programmes. What you see is what you get. The only thing I cannot guarantee one hundred percent is exact colour matching - this depends on the lighting at the time and that is out of my control, but I feel sure most items will be very close to the actual real item. Variation can sometimes occur too in colour of the label scans and labels taken next to the sleeve with a digital camera, the scanned full label pictures should be the most accurate. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert. 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 or sticks or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Please read all the information carefully - these adverts take an age to compile properly - so it’s well worth a few minutes of your time to read the details thoroughly. I really cannot take any responsibility if any bidder fails to read any facts that are clearly stated in the advert - Thankyou.

Artist or Band: THE BEATLES

Album Title: Rubber Soul

Track Listing: Drive My Car; Norwegian Wood; You Won’t See Me; Nowhere Man; Think For Yourself; The Word; Michelle; What Goes On; Girl; I’m Looking Through You; In My Life; Wait; If I Needed Someone; Run For Your Life

Label/Format: Parlophone – Yellow & Black format. Includes text: Gramophone Co Ltd; Sold in the UK and Made in Gt Britain. Also includes the early embossed tax codes on side one – ‘K T’. This pair of fine letters, so often seen rubbed, eroded or missing much of their ink, even flattened, are both very sharp and clear and retain most of their ink. This is another fair indication of light plays.

Label Condition: Clean and attractive examples and spindle marks in real terms are only light, but side one has what appears to be one rather lengthy search for the hole as the spindle has left its marks away from the hole in the 12 o’clock position. Minus these ‘stray’ marks this copy is possibly the lightest in terms of plays I have ever seen for this title which is confirmed by exceptional sound quality, more on that further down. (Please see label scans for all information needed).

Cat Number: PMC 1267.

Mono or Stereo: Mono (this of course was issued in stereo too).

Country of Manufacture: Gt Britain.

Rarity: I have said it before and I say it again, Beatles records are NOT rare, they can be found virtually anywhere and they sold in huge numbers. Its the conditions that govern rarity as most copies were often played into submission and sound quality suffers badly. I would say a copy in this condition is scarce, its seems to tolerate even moderate playing less well than most with distortion and high frequency clipping and noise almost the normal for many copies. Again more on this further down and please refer to my paragraph mono vs stereo to put a lovely, lightly played copy like this into true perspective.

Original Year of Release: 1965

Matrix Nos: XEX 579-5 and XEX 580-5. The stamper codes are: 2 RG / 1 RH. This is the early second pressing.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Probably still my favourite Beatles album with more varied songs than before and now showing signs of progressing their sound away from pure pop. The use of more and different instruments too with sitar, fuzz bass and various keyboards, again beautifully produced by George Martin Rubber Soul is the perfect Beatles album. This mono copy on offer is easily the best I have yet seen or heard for a long time. Visually its superb because the spindle searching apart the record could almost pass for new and the cover is not too far behind either. Now what I must mention especially, because I think this is very important. This is one of the very few mono copies of this title I have ever heard where the final song on side one – ‘Michelle’ – plays virtually free of any distortion, noise or clipping. Again as I have stated many times on my Beatles adverts, I have found almost every album they made has at least one wear-prone track that usually sounds degraded with often moderate to heavy distortion. Try mono copies of With the Beatles, ‘Money’; For Sale, ‘Mr Moonlight’; Help! ‘Yesterday’; Revolver ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ and Sgt Pepper, She’s Leaving Home’ and even ‘A Day in the Life’. ‘Michelle’ is the innermost band on this record and truly is very hard to find that will play perfectly or even close too. It seems even a few plays on a Dansette or other similar vintage mono deck with their heavy pile-driver-like needles, stripped and damaged the delicate groove walls rendering this vulnerable classic track noisy. (again see my para below mono vs stereo). So even after viewing this immaculate clean record I still remained sceptical all tracks would play to the highest of standards, I even played ‘Michelle’ first, and to my delight I was astonished to hear it almost sounding perfect with any traces of the almost expected distortion being virtually absent. Any clipping or noise is so light and minor I can truly say its the best heard yet and finding a copy that will play better will be difficult in the extreme. It will take an unplayed or very close too copy to better this one. Also one other point I would like to make is – ‘what is this loud mix all about?’ I have heard the first pressing of this album alongside this early second pressing and quite frankly I can hear no discernable difference. Both are loud and dynamic, if this record was produced much louder it would go into distortion from new. Sorry if I have missed the point here but I can only tell you what my ears tell me, and I can hear no difference in the volume, sound or production. What I will conclude this preamble with is this is a superb copy, its a massively heavy pressed record, it appears as clean and unmarked as a vintage early copy could ever be, its has a lovely clean cover – way ahead of most I have seen, and it plays with stunning clean and distortion-free sound for almost its entirity. Forget the ‘second pressing’ tag, if you want a copy of arguably The Beatles finest record you will find it hard to find a much better copy than this.

Cover Grade and Format: EX++, possibly even better, this is a conservative grading. Its a single format, laminated front, three huge flipbacks. Use new Emitex record clean advert on back as well as mono PMC 1267. It was printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd and still has Patents pending. At somewhere near forty years old this is exceptional and so very clearly little handled. Like the record inside, this is one of the finest examples I have seen for some time.

’ Lamination: Very nice indeed, very shiny with no dulling whatsoever. No peeling or dry areas, indentation-free and only a couple of creases. Just the one at the very bottom can be described as a fraction more than ‘light’. This vintage laminate is truly exceptional.

Cover Front: Fantastic with little wear at all, super clean and mark free, this will be hard to better.

Cover Back: Truly exceptional, how many unprotected B&W cover backs will look this clean and fresh will be few these days. This back is still very white with no yellowing or age toning. Virtually free of any handling signs or grubbiness this stands out from the average or even above average. No rubbing or ringwear and the flipbacks are simply stunning. All are clean, as near crease-free as possible, no lifting, fraying or edge scuffing - they dont come much better than this. The imprint line along the bottom right is pristine clean and perfect. A tiny ink mark in the centre and one light crease near the bottom are the only two tiny blemishes worthy of mention and put into context pretty minor indeed. Overall this just proves how well covers can look when looked after properly.

Top Edge: Virtually unworn.

Bottom Edge: Unworn.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with little wear and almost totally devoid of any feathering or handling wear which tells me yet again this record has not been out of the sleeve many times. Record entered on right outside edge.

Spine and Text: Solid and square with little wear, one tiny hairline crease on the first ‘b’ in Rubber, bar that all other text is perfect and unworn under the very solid and uncracked laminate.

Corners: Three show little wear and are close to perfect. The top right has a small chip on the front face near the very tip.

Cover Summary: A very fine all round example of this fragile mid-60’s cover, one that could prove hard to find much better. This strong item should please most collectors.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Mint(-), graded for the actual record’s playing area, the labels would be graded a little less of course. This is a superb visual copy, and the playing surfaces of this LP could almost pass for new. Super clean, shiny, jet black and very heavily pressed. This appears unmarked to me, its astonishing, so rarely do Beatles records, especially ones this great age get seen like this – a copy to proudly show your friends. I am totally convinced this record has been played very lightly indeed, the spindle searching on side one could have almost been a one-off, the playing surfaces are amongst the cleanest and mark-free I have yet seen on any record of this great age. Visually a real beauty that should please all collectors.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This super record generally plays up to its high visual grading with little to fault. Very loud, virtually distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is astonishing with a massive dynamic range and very full sound. Any unwanted sounds are minimal indeed and no pops or clicks were noted, few copies will play much better than this – I would think most would be happy just to match this one. Both channels are clean and sharp, I feel very sure this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and looked after, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Little, if anything spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this super fine copy. This one could prove near impossible to find significantly better. The record comes in its original tracing paper lined type inner with the Use Emitex cleaning cloth advert. This too is in superb condition the only ‘blemish’ is the owner wrote neatly on the top left corner: BEATLES RUBBER SOUL. This apart the near perfect original inner, it has no patent numbers at all.

Mono vs Stereo, an overview: Always a matter of opinion which is better or more important. For any serious collector where there is a choice e.g. Beatles, Stones, Hendrix etc. both are essential. True Stereo albums give great imagery and presence whereas mono albums usually are more dynamic, louder and present the detail more clearly. Mono albums are far harder to find in genuinely top playing condition. Most were heavily played, particularly the truly great bands and artists, often covered in mark and scratches, many severe and labels that were a mass of spindle marks. The majority were played on vintage and unsubtle decks with heavy tonearms and thick styli (often sapphire, not diamond, that chipped more easily) that rendered heavy wear in a very short time to many a fine classic record. Wear to the delicate groove walls, particularly the innermost tracks to the labels were most vulnerable where the tracking angle became more severe and the backdrag actually stripped the delicate groove walls. This resulted in surface noise and mild/moderate distortion or worse. These old decks tracked by sheer weight and little of any refined engineering. Next time you see such a deck at a local record fayre, feel the weight of the arm, it almost makes you wonder how any records survived at all. The point of this paragraph is emphasise that when a truly clean, lightly played and great sounding 60s mono album (or stereo come to that) is offered, treasure it, because for sure they are truly getting vary rare and precious - beware - demand only play-graded records. As a general guide to rarity, mono was the far more common format from 61–65; Around 66–67 the balance was roughly equal, then from 68-69 the balance swung more to stereo, making monos from these dates far scarcer, even rare - this guide is important and effects values greatly.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: With so many Beatles records around, I will only offer copies that are some way above average, ones that are unlikely to need upgrading for most. This is way, way above average and I would be more than happy to offer this quality for every Beatles album all the time. I still think Rubber Soul is probably the hardest title in mono to find in strong condition. It’s brilliance and popularity deemed it got played heavily and so many available copies prove this with visuals and sound quality suffering badly. Any early copy of this record that plays ‘Michelle’ strongly will an exception and never take this for granted (maybe its even worth checking your copy, how does ‘Michelle’ play?) If for some strange reason your collection is missing this classic or an upgrade is needed I strongly recommend this copy. I for one, would never buy a copy of this or any other mono record without a play-grade, its just too risky – even a near new looking 60s mono can distort and often do. Beatles and label colleagues The Hollies are amongst the most prone for this. This copy is investment quality and I feel sure most collectors will enjoy this one. – Mike.

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, you never know - I may just have a copy in stock. I by quality single items and collections also (Email me please if you have quality items for sale).

Debutant Bidders: Many sellers refuse first time buyers: I do not follow this practice (everybody has to start somewhere), but I would appreciate any first timer letting me know their intentions of their intended payment method and very prompt communication, preferably before any bid or soon after the auctions ends. This gives confidence that their intentions are honourable, and I in return guarantee extra special good feedbacks to get zero rated Ebayers off to a flying start to help them with future transactions. NOTE: I WILL NOT ACCEPT BIDS FROM UNREGISTERED USERS, I will cancel them immediately, and sorry, I cannot give valuations on people’s personal items just for their own curiosity, no item can be accurately valued blindly.

Having the Powerseller Logo: This is recognition from Ebay for the highest possible customer services, satisfaction and quality, it should reassure any potential bidder that all items are described, graded and shipped to the highest standards possible. Customer care of the highest order is a standard feature here and I am proud to have achieved this recognised standard of excellence from Ebay with help from collectors and buyers from all over the World - I thank you all.

Payment Details please read carefully - I know its boring but essential:

UK First Class: = £3.00; Recorded Delivery (Recommended) = £5.50 Special Delivery (Next day, insured up to £250), the best service available = £7.00

Europe Air Mail: = £4 Insured: £8.00

Overseas, non-Europe e.g. USA, Japan, Australia etc. Airmail:= £7; Insured with recorded delivery (where available) = £11.00

Singles: (Packed to the high standards of the LPs)

UK First class: = £2.00 Insured: £4

Europe Air Mail = £3.00 Insured: £5.50

Overseas, non-Europe (as above) Airmail £3.50 Insured: £6.00

Doubles add extra £1, triples add extra £2. Box sets add extra £3 (£4 overseas and Europe)

Any item that sells for over £85 will be sent Special Delivery in the UK at no extra cost. Items over £125 get the same service Overseas. This is gives peace of mind for the winning bidder and myself for valuable items. Reduced postage of course for multiple items.

The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£28). PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Mailing Details: Please note I do NOT profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more and I often actually lose money on this part of service - I simply refuse to compromise with poor packing. All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken OUT of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with FOUR professional stiffners for extra protection (if space allows), I do NOT use old cardboard boxes or cereal packets for protection. More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me. I will also include in most cases a brand new lined inner, but will include the original inner if available and in a condition to be worthwhile.

I can accept cash for payments worldwide in UK Pounds Sterling, Euros or US Dollars - but this at the senders OWN risk. Please send registered and insured if this method is chosen. I cannot accept responsibility if any cash payments do not turn up. This system is very reliable and rarely goes astray. The same goes for any shipped uninsured item, I can only try to claim for any undelivered or damaged article at basic insurance levels if no enhanced insurance is requested and paid for (unless the value threshold is high enough for me insure as standard, see above)

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.7 to cover PayPal or cash conversion costs.

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.

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 interesting 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.