DEEP PURPLE Fireball Scarce UK 71 Harvest SUPERB EX+ LP

	£		77
	$		102

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: DEEP PURPLE

Album Title: Fireball.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Fireball; No, No, No; Demon’s Eye; Anyone’s Daughter.

Side 2: The Mule; Fools; No One Came.

Label/Format: Harvest – Yellow and green format, that has the ‘Gramophone Co Ltd’ text on the label rims.

Label Conditions: Both very clean and highly attractive with less than moderate spindle marks that have little visual impact.

Cat Number: SHVL 793.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 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: 131 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 140 to 150 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 20 records from these eras. Later pressings were usually lighter still).

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Moderate in theory, but a complete copy that plays beautifully and with a cover showing little wear is far harder – make no mistake. This is up there with the most difficult of covers to find in attractive condition, most suffer badly from severe rubbing and ringwear, this has none and shows barely any wear. The difference when a cover is stored inside a protective for most of its existence is immediately apparent.

Original Year of Release: 1971 and the matrix numbers below are that of a first-pressed copy.

Matrix Nos: SHVL 793 A-2U / SHVL 793 A-3U

Stamper Codes: 1 RL / 2 GL

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘PEK’ on side one.

Brief Artist & Album Info: The second of four absolute classics this legendary heavy band made and their final one for Harvest. Following the magnificent high standards of In Rock this was never going to be easy, but Fireball does just that. Generally less volume and slightly more subtle songs here, this fine set was a great prelude to the classics Machine Head and the blistering double live set Made in Japan. Featuring their undisputed classic line-up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord and Paice this is one of the band’s most treasured albums and beautifully packaged too and what a delight to offer in such a lovely fresh, little worn cover and Mint insert.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High Indeed – they don’t get more difficult than this.

Cover Grade and Format: Tempted to grade Mint(-) as this has so little traces of wear but I will critically grade as EX++. Without doubt one of the most challenging sleeves within the Harvest catalogue. Around 38 years old now this, I feel sure this will seldom be found looking much better. Its an unlaminated gatefold with all surfaces finely textured, not only that, the card is quite soft and delicate and it simply does not wear well (to say the very least), the black finish making it near impossible to find devoid of some wear. It was made by in England by Garrod & Lofthouse.

Cover Front: A truly beautiful cover when found looking like this and I have rarely found this front looking a great deal better. A very deep black unfaded finish with the delicate texturing looking superb with barely any traces of rubbing. This is so fine it will remind those of a certain age what this once looked like when first purchased back in the early 70s. All the band picture and ‘comet tail’ Fireball text is pristine and all is ultra clean. Practically crease-free with no indentations – the richness of the colour has to be seen. One faint semi-crease on the bottom edge but that’s it, even devoid of fine edge creases that few ever avoid. This is a cover that will never survive unless kept in a protective sleeve and lightly handled. For sheer beauty, this front will not be beaten easily and is a pleasure to hold and view.

Cover Back: Even more delicate and critical due to the thick and heavy record being stored against this vulnerable black back for many years. Most have heavy ringwear, deep, and very obvious pressmarks and rubbing is rife on most of these. Well this has only the fainest possible record pressmark at the top and bottom but no ringwear at all and any rubbing is almost to minuscule to even mention. The lack of speckle to both faces is unusual but great to state. Any that may appear on my photographs is due to the flash reflecting from the surface, I can guarantee there is no rubbing or speckle to these surfaces. The lack of creasing, scuffing and indentations is also noteworthy, the only tiny blemish is a mild ripple near the left edge - indeed the only reason I did not grade Mint(-). This soft card is prone to this, being sensitive to temperature - NO liquid has ever made contact with this cover, that will be immediately apparent too. As stated, this has been cover protected leaving the surfaces immaculate. If anyone has a better example they are indeed very lucky. This is clean, very black and fresh again, and exceptional given all the facts. Note the fine detail of the comet-tail fading around the blue planet.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Let’s make this simple: it looks close to new, practically wear-free, intense black again and stunning. All the white small white ‘dots’ on the front, back or inner gatefold are Stars on the artwork, not blemishes to the black ink, this inside is textured like the front and back. One ultra faint crease trace if being overly critical.

Top Edges: Both show hardly any wear and look lovely. No touch-ins and few will ever compare, any rub traces are tiny and faint.

Bottom Edges: Very light rubbing only, few will ever avoid some on these most vulnerable edges.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, very sharp with no wear. With the softer type of card used, not dissimilar to Floyd’s Meddle, this edge is seldom found still looking neat with feathering often very apparent, this has nothing which tells me the record has seldom made the trip outside. Record entered on right outside back edge, the front is sealed.

Spine and Text: A superb example of one of the most difficult spines. Solid and thick, straight, uncompressed and square with both right edges meeting up square and parallel too. This is as wear-free as they ever get these days with hardly any blemishing at all. A faint trace of a hairline surface crease where the cover has been opened but none will ever avoid this, and as far as this or creasing goes, this is minuscule. All text is pristine perfect and unworn and never, ever take this for granted on this one. The deep red lettering is bold, sharp and totally unblemished.

Corners: All corners are in great condition, stating the obvious, these will rub freely is not kept carefully which these clearly have been. Shape is strong and neat with great definition with no creasing. Tiny tips rubs is the very least anyone could ever expect from these.

Cover Summary: Delighted to offer this cover looking this good, when seen with such little wear, it’s a thing of real beauty. Any major wear totally ruins it and most found are tired looking, tatty and ringworn. This is not quite total perfection, but it sets the bar high and few will ever match it. With the Ebay facility to view enlarged pictures now, it gives the opportunity to see the beauty of this and other covers I offer with the greatest of details. This beautiful item should please the vast majority of collectors.

The Harvest Advert Inner: Proving the early vintage of this pressing, this original inner is in superb EX++ condition and retains its polylining. Many of the early Harvest classics, most now rare, shown here are: Bakerloo, Shirley & Dolly Collins, Tea & Symphony, BJH, Forest, Quatermass, Pete Brown, Panama Limited Jug Band etc, etc. The edges are sound and unsplit but some glue darkening on the seams has occured. It has two manufactured ‘vents’ on the bottom corner areas. Ageing is minimal as are any creases and is overall clean.

The Insert: Mint, simply as made. Often missing and rarely seen like this. This really does put the icing on the cake.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Probably undergraded at EX+, each side has a couple of small, light surface marks that have NO sound whatsoever. This plays more like Mint(-) to perfect. Super clean, shiny, intense black and quite heavily pressed with fairly deep and wide grooves for top sound. A highly attractive and modestly played copy confirmed by brilliant sound. This should please many collectors again.

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 snippetts 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This super record plays above its high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. Strong, totally distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very rich sound. Barely any surface sounds, the odd trace on the odd quiet part but little of any real note, no pops or clicks were noted, few early-pressed copies will match this let alone better it. Some incredible detail and the percussion on ‘The Mule’ takes the breath away. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this rock classic. This copy will prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. This is a very solid early-pressed copy and I enjoyed it immensely for looks and sound.

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 - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, 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 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 and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. 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.

Deck: Linn LP12 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within 48 hours maximum. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) 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 TWO thick stiffners for even extra protection. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity and well as sender label. 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. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but NOT surface mail abroad. I never make profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends, with the total costs including ‘standard’ or ‘optional extra insurance’ P&P – ALL UK and Russian packets go out non-negotiable Recorded Delivery. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 7 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional.

PLEASE NOTE: I will now only send packets to Russia with Recorded Delivery at a cost of £7 per single LP. If this is unacceptable to Russian collectors, please do not bid. I only want my records to arrive safely and this gives packets a better chance to do so. Also ALL UK packets will be sent with either Recorded or Special Delivery as standard (both have to be signed for). All shipping costs and rules can be found after my description. If they are not acceptable, please do not bid.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

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 unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. 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 – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & OPTIONS:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4 (OPTIONAL).

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA (NOT RUSSIA, see below) (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £5.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £9 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: RUSSIA (Recorded Only, if this is unacceptable, please do not bid):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ only £7) = £9 (OPTIONAL extra insurance as above).

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £8.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £13 (OPTIONAL).

* If Rules allow for that country.

PLEASE NOTE: I always get a Royal Mail ‘Proof-of-Posting’ receipt for ALL packets that are sent out and I am happy to prove this to any customer who wishes to see it via email.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders.

The customer can choose their method of shipping with the exception of second class or surface mail overseas – these I will NOT use. 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 (£39).

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 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. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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 neccessarily 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’.