STATUS QUO Spare Parts N/M Orig UK Pye Stereo

	£		73
	$		97

Hi, I am Mike, I have been a music collector for over 30 years now. I always 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, you never know - I may just have a copy in stock. I by quality single items and collections also (Email me please).

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 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.

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.

Artist or Band: STATUS QUO

Album Title: Spare Parts

Cat Number: NSPL 18301 Stereo.

Label and Condition: Pye blue and black label. Beautiful clean examples of this classic 60s label, along with the Island Pinks one of the definitive labels of that time. This pair show only light spindle traces. A copy played few times on this evidence. (Please see label scans for all information needed).

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity: Scarce, getting very scarce. Clean copies of this one are never an easy find.

Genre Type: Rock/Psych

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: NSPL 18301 A1 Stereo and NSPL 18301 B1 Stereo. The tiny pressing codes are A1 and C1.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Forget the commercial boogie rock of the 70s that made this everlasting band famous (and for the most part, very popular), this, their second album, is very different. This is classic UK 60s psych, not a million miles away from classic acts like Kaleidoscope et al, they looked the part too (please see close up from the back cover scan). Vocally, of course, this is unmistakable Quo, and although the band enjoyed an early chart success with the famous ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’ both the Pye albums failed to sell in anything like large numbers, making them very sort after and desirable today. I have to admit this is my first time hearing this album, and what an eye-opener, its truly terrific. With the huge current interest in UK psych LPs (check out the current prices for the aforementioned Kaleidoscope albums), this early lost gem will be better than cash in the bank and should increase in the future fast. This copy on offer is a true beauty, lightly played, it looks and plays supremely well. A fine stereo copy, apparently slightly more common than the mono - but neither are easy to find for sure. This is a classic copy that came from a prized collection, it is definitely an early pressing, maybe even an original with such low pressing codes, it should please all collectors, even the connoisseurs that want near to new as possible. This should fit the bill,. this will never be found in much better shape - it would hardly be possible. – Mike.

Cover Condition and Details: Mint(-), single format, laminated front and back. The original stereo sticker on the back. A gorgeous, fresh looking cover that is probably as good as you will ever realistically see, a remarkable find this one. A cover with hardly any wear or blemishes this could almost (very nearly) be off the shelf new, taking into account of how easily chipped these fine, quite thin covers were.

Cover Lamination: Superb lamination with deep rich shine. A few very, very light surface creases of the small hairline type, these hardly show at all in all honesty, unless searched for under angled light. There are no dry areas and no peeling or lifting at all and any surface marks are light, small and again show little unless searched for again. This fine laminate will not be bettered easily.

Cover Front: Very attractive indeed, deep rich colour with little signs of any wear. The wood grain looks almost real under that glossy ‘varnish-like’ laminate. This front really is lovely.

Cover Back: Just about the same as the front, a ‘pin-prick’ chip near the left edge is just about the only detrimental thing I can say about this back - now how hyper-critical is that, this should tell you how fine this cover is.

Cover Edges/Corners: Top: unworn. Bottom: unworn. Record entry edge (right): unworn, clean and sharp. Spine: Solid and square and unworn, all text is close to pristine under the solid, unpeeled laminate. Corners: All four show little wear at all and are still nicely shaped, minor trace on bottom right if being really picky, but you will not find this one with better corners. Summary: A fine all round example of this scarce original 60’s cover, one that would prove hard to find much better. This super cover should please most collectors.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX++, clean and shiny and pressed on very heavy (typical) 60s Pye quality vinyl. This shows nothing more than a few mega light surface marks/tiny scuff, just removal from the inner would cause this, but emphasise purely superficial and light as possible, any odd mark can only be seen again with very close inspection - no sound whatsoever. In fact my play-grade revealed only a couple of light ticks on the very final song, a tiny white speck on the grooves that could possibly be ‘flicked off’ which a sharp fingernail (I dont possess these, sorry). This album is superb and if a much cleaner, better sounding copy exists I sure would like to see it. Record comes in its UK Patent No 1,072,844 lined inner which is close to mint.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: Yes this plays close to top drawer grading, and even better than the high EX++ visual grade. Superb stereo sound with great detail and clarity, I have yet to hear a mono version of this gem, but a stereo mix for this would take a lot of bettering. The sound is clean and devoid of distortion and even surface sounds were almost non-existent. This copy has been lightly played, no doubt, and almost certainly on top equipment. Perfectly stored, again almost certainly in a non-smoking environment, this fabulous record should please most collectors.

Mono vs Stereo: Always a matter of opinion. 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.

Track Listing: Face without a soul; Your’re just what I was looking for today; Are you growing tired of my love; Antique Angelica; So ends another life; Poor old man; Mr Mind detector; The clown; Velvet curtains; Little Miss nothing; When I awake; Nothing at all.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Payment Details please read carefully:

UK First Class: = £2.50; Recorded Delivery (Recommended) = £4.00 Special Delivery (Next day, insured up to £250), the best service available = £6.00

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

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.

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. 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 given.

I 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.