LED ZEPPELIN II SCARCE UK 1970 ATLANTIC PLUM EX LP. KILLING FLOOR, PLAYS GREAT.

	£		56
	$		74

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: LED ZEPPELIN

Album Title: Led Zeppelin II

Producer(s): Jimmy Page

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Whole Lotta Love; What Is and What Should Never Be; The Lemon Song (as ‘Killing Floor’ on this label); Thank You.

Side 2: Heartbreaker; Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman); Ramble On; Moby Dick; Bring It On Home.

Label/Format: Atlantic with matt, quite smooth surfaces. This very slightly later variant now has the ‘Killing Floor’ title instead of ‘The Lemon Song’, but still, of course plays the track exactly the same as the very first pressing. .

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with bright, vivid colour and hardly aged at all. Minimal traces of spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. This copy also plays impressively.

Catalogue Number: 588198

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps or Lateral Movement: Assume all records I offer have no significant warping or lateral movement to cause sound or tracking issues. All should play fine even on budget turntables.

Weight of Record: 134 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce, I actually see fewer copies with the slightly later label variant than the very first ones. A notoriously difficult album to find that plays well throughout. The final song on side one, with the ‘false’ ending often ends up damaged or scratched from premature lifting of the arm which this copy has thankfully avoided. Also, the cover is rarely seen in better condition, being massively prone to ring wear and rubbing on the dark brown surfaces. This has a small sticker area pull mark on the top front right, but in context, this is only a mild blemish, and is generally fine apart as-seen. Plum copies are now at a premium and are getting genuinely difficult to find in lightly played and better condition.

Original Year of Release: 1969 [this copy from 1970 as the inner sleeve confirms, more details further down]

Matrix Nos: 588198 A//5 1 1 3 & 588198 ? B//4 1 1 1 3

Musicians: Robert Plant – lead vocals, harmonica; Jimmy Page – guitars, theremin, backing vocals; John Paul Jones – bass guitar, organ, backing vocals; John Bonham – drums, backing vocals.

Brief Info: An evergreen classic that most will know more than enough about. Suffice to say, it remains one of the greatest of the hard blues-rock albums ever issued. This an impressive early plum label example that plays very well indeed, and avoiding the ruinous calamities so many suffered on Dansettes. Indeed, all evidence suggest this record has been played very little at all as was a joy to play-grade. The small sticker pulls on the front apart, the fragile and unforgiving cover has fared well also. Certainly one many fans will cherish owning.

Cover Grade and Format: VERY GOOD(+): and a more than highly respectable example of one of classic rock’s most unforgiving and challenging covers. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by E. J. Day & Co, includes the Philips date-coded inner sleeve.

Cover Front: This is the correct mid-brown colour version of this classic cover – very first issues were paler brown – later ones were a much deeper brown. This is still quite fresh and clean with hardly any creasing and any friction rubbing minimal and light. A cover well-known for fading and light effecting the colour, which this has avoided. The main issue are a few, mainly small, quite fine sticker pull marks near the top right edge, but this apart, it was fared well as-seen. Any stickers on this cover were a curse as this surface is massively intolerant of any removals which often more more severe and large ugly marks. Put in perspective, this issue here is only small and mild.

Cover Back: A tiny few half moon small surface creases apart, this ruthlessly difficult back has again fared well with hardly any rubbing issues most seem to suffer. Unusually clean, still fresh and the lack of ugly penetrating ring wear is a massive bonus on this back that rarely avoids it.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Again clean and attractive with little to fault overall. This still includes the original ‘The Lemon Song’ track on the song list, which really beggars the question to why it had to changed on the label.

Top Edges: Both straight, flat and flush with only very light patchy rubbing.

Bottom Edges: Very similar again with the rubbing just a fraction heavier, but for these storage edges, this is only light as more often found threadbare with all ink eroded.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Mostly sharp with any thickening very little and light. Record enters on the back edge, the front being closed.

Spine and Text: An impressive spine with only lightish rubbing on the very ends. Solid, straight with minimal compression and folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. This one being the thicker variant and still erect with no crushing or tilt. The text is unworn, and most of the surface largely the same bar the very ends as stated. Like the edges, this is rarely seen with so little overall wear, all the text being present is a massive plus.

Corners: Light to moderate tip rubs with fine to very fine shape retained with no major knocks.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this very fragile 1970’s cover, one that could prove difficult to find much better. This still attractive item – even with the sticker blemish – should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: the Philips style polylined inner has moderately darkened with age, but has little else to fault apart. It has two crisp undamaged window circles, the lining intact and still quite clear, the paper hardly creased with all edge folds naturally intact. This is date-coded 32 /0770 (July 1970) and includes the dual patent numbers 800513 / 973939.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: arguably better. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and very solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, little even registers. Visually a super record that should please many collectors.

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 snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic, famed, even iconic rock album plays even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. The odd gentle contact sound or blemish is nigh-on impossible to avoid on this album that has several crucial quiet areas, none more so than the end of side one as mentioned further up. Few available copies will outperform this early plum pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been quite well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Little of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this excellent record. It could prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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 necessarily 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, 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.