LED ZEPPELIN II FIRST PRESS 'RL' BOTH SIDES 'HOT MIX' 1969 ATLANTIC SD-8236

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LED ZEPPELIN II FIRST PRESSING SD-8236 'RL' BOTH SIDES THIS IS THE RARE 'HOT MIX' VERSION
LED ZEPPELIN "LED ZEPPELIN II" LABEL: ATLANTIC SD-8236 (1841 BROADWAY ADDRESS) RELEASED: OCTOBER 22, 1969 EDITION: ORIGINAL 'RL' FIRST PRESSING GATEFOLD THIS IS THE 'HOT' MASTER w/ "RL' ON BOTH SIDES RECORD COMPANY: ATLANTIC RECORDING COMPANY (1841 BROADWAY) MASTERING: LONGWEAR PLATING/ATLANTIC LACQUER CUTTING: ROBERT LUDWIG STERLING SOUND ('RL' BOTH SIDES) PRESSING PLANT: PRESSWELL PRESSING PLANT, NJ ('PR' ON LABEL) ENGINEER: EDDIE KRAMER MATRIX (SIDE A): ST-A-691671-A RL P LW W AT  MATRIX (SIDE B): ST-A-691671-A RLss P LW W AT 
CONDITION:  VINYL ROUGH BUT PLAYS    JACKET: VG to VG+
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~          👀 👀 ※※ ORIGINAL FIRST PRESS w/ 'RL' BOTH SIDES! ※※ 👀 👀 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this original 1969 First Pressing, Double 'RL' stamped, copy of Led Zeppelin's second album "Led Zeppelin II".
This is my original copy, purchased back in the early 70's, that I've had for many, many years. See details on Condition below.
A rare, fully 'RL' stamped, Original First Pressing of this classic album with the original, textured, gatefold jacket. 
This classic 'RL' mastered 1969 First Pressing reveals just how deeply layered, dynamic and intense Led Zeppelin's music was. The instruments are well separated, vocals are crisp & clear, and there's a good sense of space and depth. The soundstage is amazing. The overall sound is warm, intimate, vibrant, dynamic and intense!
The Hype is true, this sounds fantastic!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I pulled out my 'stack' of Led Zeppelin II albums this past weekend to check them out and give them a listen. I knew that I had a few 'RL' copies in the collection and wanted to see what all I had. I haven't really looked at them for a decade or two. 
I've got 7 or 8 copies of LZII, all 'originals' from back in the 70s, but only 3 were original RL's that I picked up over the years. Turns out that I had 2 'Double sided' copies, so I'm deciding to let this copy go. My other one is minty clean and the 3rd is a RL/LH hybrid.
The listening experience was fun and very revealing. I started with an early clean non-RL. It sounded great! Hadn't played this album in years and forgot how good it is. I then played my clean RL. Totally amazing and so much better than my early 70s Atlantic pressing. A totally different sounding album.
I then played this copy. It's a little beat up, so I started at low volume, as I didn't want to damage my Klipsch speakers. It pops and clicks, but to my amazement it tracked thru both sides ok. Based on how it looked I was expecting problems. The mix is so loud, that the pops and clicks really didn't matter much. I then increased the tracking weight, and volume, and gave it a few more spins. It plays thru both sides with some noise, but no skips or major issues. I was amazed how good it sounded as it doesn't look too great on first appearance.
The good news is that it tracks thru with no skips or major issues. The bad news is that it does have a lot of surface wear, light scratches and scuffs.
This may improve with a good deep cleaning. I haven't cleaned this record, or done anything else to it, since Nixon was in office, so it's due for a cleaning. There was a 'fuzzball' on my stylus after the first play. Cleaning won't get rid of the scratches, but might improve the sound, which is already fantastic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  If you're reading this you know the story behind this legendary record, so I won't go into much detail here When "Led Zeppelin II" was first released in 1969, legendary mastering engineer Robert Ludwig cut the lacquers directly from the master tape. The story goes that Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun gave a copy to his brother Nesuhi to give to his daughter. Her "kiddie" phonograph couldn't track the record, which had been cut 'hot' with full dynamic range and heavy bass. 
Atlantic freaked out, stopped the presses, recallled the record, and re-cut it, possibly from Ludwig's EQ'd cassette file (?), with milder dynamics and less intense drums and bass. That's the version that most people ended up with.
Some of the original 'hot' versions, the ones that Bob Ludwig first mastered at Sterling Sound, got out to the public and are still floating around out there.
That's what this one is. A 'double' RL stamped original. I've had this copy since the early 70s. This copy has the "RL" on both sides. ''RL' on side one and 'RLss' on side two.
What they say about this record is true! It is much hotter and better than most any other pressing out there.
The dynamic range, stereo separation and soundstage is far superior. 
The difference to my ears, after listening to multiple versions, is most noticeable in the drums, cymbals and harmonica. Overall it sounds warmer and better
The Harp at the end of 'Bring it on Home' is amazing. 
Robert's 'moans' and the 'percussion' in 'Whole lotta Love' is crisp and clear. 
The dynamics of Bonham's drumming is amazing. From his light cymbal taps to his thundering bass pedal, it's all much more clear on this pressing.
The bass playing on 'Lemon Song' is amazing. Crisp and clear, with a beautiful tone. He carries the whole melody and you can hear every little detail, which is lost on later pressings.
The stereo soundstage on 'What is..' is totally amazing. It's like they're in the room.
It's like hearing the album for the very first time! On the 3rd or 4th playback, Bonzo literally knocked a book off one of my bookshelves!
My only 'complaint' is that the continuity between songs is not well done. This was recorded at different studios, by different engineers, during their tour, and the 'sound' of the different studios is quite different. 
The songs all sound great, but the 'room' is very different from song to song.
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'Led Zeppelin II' unquestionably ranks not only as one of their best works, but as one of the best albums of all time. A masterpiece. Amazing and Ageless. An essential, remarkable album, that should be in every serious music collector's vinyl archive.
Here's your chance to get a playable, original, double-stamped 'RL' First Pressing for a low opening bid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
I discovered this copy back in the early 70's, 50 years ago, in Greenwich Village, on one of my regular vinyl digs in those days. I'm not even sure we knew about 'RL' pressings back then, I probably grabbed this because of the '1841' first pressing label.
VINYL: The vinyl looks quite rough. Lots of light scratches, hairlines, surface wear and evidence of play. No deep, palpable scratches, but lots of surface stuff.
As I said, I played both sides of this several times and it does play thru with no skipping. It does have some 'noise' but Ludwig's loud mix compensates for most of that.
If you're looking for a playable copy for your collection, until you find that mint autographed copy, this is it. At least you can say you have a double sided original 'RL'.
I'll call the condition "good," meaning rough, but it's not horrible and does play.
The Deadwax has all the 1969 First Pressing indicators as listed above, including 'RL' on side one and 'RL ss", for Sterling Sound, on side two (a normal Presswell variant). 
This copy has the super slim runout groove on side two, which I showed a photo of, the easiest way to spot these in the wild.
I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how it looks. Not great, a little beat up, but it plays and actually sounds great considering it's condition.
Like I said, I haven't messed with it or cleaned it, other than my trusty 1970s 'DiscWasher' brush, since Nixon was President. It could use a good deep cleaning to make it even better looking and better sounding. 
LABELS: This is pressed with the 'classic' Red & Green Atlantic labels with the original First Pressing 1841 Address.
The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are still sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing, despite how the vinyl looks.
JACKET: As you can see from my pictures, this still looks "OK" for a 50 year old OG copy. It shows some edge wear, spine wear, and some use, but not bad. If I were keeping this, I'd find a nicer jacket for it. They are common and cheap. Atlantic made millions of these.
When placed in a nice polysleeve, this copy looks and displays decently.
There's some shelf wear and a few minor corner dings, but still acceptable. The spine is a little rough, the center of the gatefold has a split, and there's a scuff spot on the back cover. 
This First Press does NOT have the 'Gold Record' sticker that was so common on later pressings. This comes with an original 2-sided Atlantic company inner sleeve.
Overall, I'll call the whole record VG-, but it's a playable original pressing.
This record has been sleeved and stored properly for many decades.
You can see from my pictures it's not great, but it's an original double-sided RL and a great sounding record. This copy is all original, and a real rarity. I'm sure you'll be happy with it, for the price.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN