THE PENTANGLE UK 68 P&W Transatlantic FULLY LAMINATED.

	£		91
	$		121

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: THE PENTANGLE

Album Title: The Pentangle

Producer(s): Shel Talmy.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Let No Man Steal Your Thyme; Bells; Hear My Call; Pentangling.

Side 2: Mirage; Way Behind the Sun; Bruton Town; Waltz.

Label/Format: Transatlantic – original white and purple format with smooth finish.

Label Condition: Stunning clean examples, my scan does not lie. Both are as pristine white and as fresh as the day of manufacture. I cannot see a single spindle mark at all. I am not going to say this is unplayed because that is nonsense and would be pure speculation. But what I will state with total confidence is, if it has been played, it has been with utmost care because you are unlikely to find these two Transalantic albums on this album better anywhere. (Please see label scan)

Cat Number: TRA 162.

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: 139 grams. A good average weight for this one.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Getting very scarce, and this copy will be difficult to find much better. Many early copies suffer groove-wear distortions from less than worthy equipment of the time. An album of beautiful sound with complex acoustic instrumentation that was so easily damaged. Also Transatlantic records were not always the very best for clean pressings, often variable, some superb, some less so. This plays very well indeed with practically nothing unwanted and was a joy. A beautiful listening experience from one of the premier UK folk acts of this period.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: STRA 162 A3 / STRA 162 B2

Brief Artist & Album Info: Along with Fairport Convention, Pentangle were amongst the premier league of folk bands around this time. They had a unique sound blending folk with blues and jazz influences. A hugely talented five piece band who were: Terry Cox; Bert Jansch; Jacqui McShee; John Renbourn and Danny Thompson. All virtuoso performers, Thompson especially for me stands out as one of the finest upright bass players ever. His style is so distinctive and his guest appearances on various other albums can always be distinctly heard which is credit to an acoustic bass player. Jacqui McShee too has a wonderful expressive voice with possibly the purest and controlled vocal ever put to a folk record. Starting out more as a blues singer she began it all in the club and pub circuit. This debut album has a foreword on the back cover by John Peel, an obvious admirer of this band. A debut LP more than fulfilling the huge potential of all the members, this is arguably their finest album, but all their catalogue is magnificent. This copy is a beauty and is the lesser-seen fully laminated version, more had only the front lamination. Not only that, this one has probably the least laminate problems than any I have seen or offered before. Most-all have large areas of non-adhesion or blistering which this one has avoided. This is not a very first issue, those had textured labels, but I have rarely seen a pair in such pristine, little short of new conditions. The actual record is in super shape, it has lovely clean playing surfaces with barely a noteworthy mark or blemish to be seen. It sounds marvellous too with truly studio-quality sound values and quality production. Including some very quiet passages, this needs a top pressing and this one really does delivery. A vintage classic folk album, arguably the very best within it’s genre, that could justifiably be described as ground-breaking. A unique record and band, one for the discerning collector.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single fully laminated format. It was printed and made in England by Robert Stace. The more common ones with the back exposed wear badly and few escape ugly ringwear and major rubbing to the black surface. This one has no no such worries and looks much nicer with full protection.

Cover Lamination – Front & Back: The front is superb and has little to fault, the back has a couple of small marks, my best guess, a faint adhesive smear, one shows little, the other only modest near the very centre where a very small laminate peel looks likely. Little else to fault on the main faces: the laminate retains rich shine, freshness and clarity and has minimal traces of any creasing or dulling. Slight traces on the back seen under light on the ruthlessly revealing intense black backdrop. Very unusually, this has practically total adhesion and devoid of those usual large blisters usually seen on the spine edge. That makes a huge difference to this cover and more than compensates for a couple of small marks on the back. This will not be seen too much better often.

Top & Bottom Edges: The top has barely any trace of wear. The bottom has a scuff-rub near the centre, reasonably small and little else to fault.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp, no wear or trimming. Record entered on this right edge.

Spine and Text: Solid but quite thinly made with just the odd faint compression trace and a couple of very fine hairlines. Fully laminated and all text nigh-on perfect and unworn.

Corners: All four are near perfect with no wear and superb shape retained.

Cover Summary: Age defying and looking exceptional with the lack of blistering. This, I know I have mentioned several times, but is worth it, because few avoid it and it makes such a difference to the appearance. Never one that ages well and very intolerant of any over handling or poor storage, this should please most collectors. Do not underestimate the difficulty in finding the fully laminated version as well. If the small marks on the back are an issue however, do not bid. The plain white inner is better than excellent with minimal ageing and barely any creasing and all edges unsplit.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): a very impressive and ultra clean record that retains a very fine shine and intense blackness. Clearly barely played with any surface trace marks being tiny, few and very faint indeed. A super record that should please most-all 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 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 wonderful record plays up to it’s high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - even Thompson’s double bass is fully focused, deep and vibrant - it can rattle speakers not up to the job. McShee’s vocals are pristine, with an in-the-room quality, this lady is up there with the very best ever. Any surface sounds registering little and this is an acoustic album - yes real instruments sounding quite breathtaking. There are several very quite moments with minimal instrumentation e.g. Thompson’s double bass solo, silence on these parts is a big ask and hard to achieve but little unwanted here with no pops or significant clicks noted. Transatlantic records were not always the most reliable for quiet pressings but this has few traces of any surface sounds. Both channels are clean and unstressed, I feel very sure this record has been played little, if indeed at all. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this truly wonderful album. This record will prove very difficult to find better and is strongly recommended.

End Piece: A folk classic for sure, this band were in a class of their own and their high reputation has never diminished – and I can endorse that fully after watching them play live a couple of years ago – a truly wonderful evening. Quality songs, vocals and musicians on a very clean, barely played record. The late, great John Peel concludes his review on the back cover with ‘Play this record to those you love’ - truer words have rarely been written.

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/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 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.

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.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. 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. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are 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 at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

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 now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, 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 and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied. If you cannot pay, DO NOT BID.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

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

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

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

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. 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. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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, 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’.