THE SOFT MACHINE Vol 2 RARE ORIG UK 1969 NEAR MINT BLACK PROBE LP, HARDLY PLAYED

	£		102
	$		135

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Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in 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: THE SOFT MACHINE

Album Title: The Soft Machine – Volume Two

Producer(s): The Soft Machine

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Rivmic Melodies: Pataphysical Introduction – Pt. 1, A Concise British Alphabet – Pt. 1, Hibou, Anemone and Bear, A Concise British Alphabet – Pt. 2, Hulloder, Dada Was Here, Thank You Pierrot Lunaire, Have You Ever Bean Green?, Pataphysical Introduction – Pt. 2, Out of Tunes.

Side 2: As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still; Dedicated to You But You Weren’t Listening; Esther’s Nose Job: Fire Engine Passing with Bells Clanging, Pig, Orange Skin Food, A Door Opens and Closes, 10.30 Returns to the Bedroom.

Label/Format: Probe – first issue black and silver format with matt very gently textured surfaces, This has the first Gramophone rim text.

Label Conditions: Both in amazing condition and appear little short of as-issued condition with any hint of spindle traces minuscule. The beautiful record plays as good as it looks as well.

Cat Number: SPB 1002

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: 138 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce – the very first Soft Machine album to be issued in the UK, the debut was an American release initially. First issues of this album were on the black and silver label, quickly changed to the more familiar pink Probe format. Black copies are considerably harder to find, especially in hardly played condition.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: SPB 1002 A-1G / SPB 1002 B-1G

Mothers / Stampers: 1 M / 1 0

Musicians: Robert Wyatt – drums, lead and backing vocals; Mike Ratledge – piano, Lowrey Holiday De Luxe organ, Hammond organ, harpsichord, flute; Hugh Hopper – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, alto saxophone. With Brian Hopper – soprano and tenor saxophone.

Brief Info: The first British released Soft Machine album, but second overall as the title clearly suggests. Now without Kevin Ayers who left due to musical differences, and now including Hugh Hopper, this now added more jazz elements to their psychedelic rock and is a superb follow-up to the American issued debut. Acting on advice from Frank Zappa, the long tracks are divided into shorter songs. After this, the band’s sound changed considerably into full-on jazz-rock but their first albums can be considered psych-prog classics. This a very impressive, and now rare first press original with a neat, but not perfect cover with a little rear creasing and a small enhanced flipback end tear. However, the laminated front is fantastic. The rarer black label record plays beaufully and appears hardly even used. Even by the end of the end of the 1960s, the use of very basic and heavy tracking mono record players were still very much in use and complex records like this were hugely susceptible to wear and damage. This 1969 issue has survived that difficult era unscathed and without hesitation, can grade it near mint. I am a very big fan of Soft Machine and have always found this one of the most difficult to find as a first issue. This a rare opportunity for collectors, I doubt if the record will be found a great deal better and is of archive quality. The cover still impressive overall as well.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: (or close to). A single format with front lamination. This covers all the folds and ends on the back on three large external flipbacks. The main back panel is unprotected with a smooth matt finish. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. A plain white inner sleeve is included.

Lamination & Front: The bizarre graphic looks fantastic under shiny, clear and fresh laminate that has barely any lifting, minimal traces of dulling and very few creases. A minute dink on the bottom left corner tip and little at all detracts from this beautiful vintage cover front.

Cover Back: Very dark and unprotected, and clearly prone to all forms of wear, especially ring wear and finger marks – both of which have been largely avoided. However, not perfect as there are a couple of quite light surface creases near the right corners. Also a couple of black enhancements to two flipback end pulls – one on teh bottom is tiny – the upper one more moderate just beneath the laminate end. Such covers often the victim of being stored for all the right reasons inside a protective sleeve, but if left undisturbed for many years, these laminate ends, that were sometimes a little sticky from new, got stuck to the inside of the inner. Thus when removed they pulled, a common trait on actually the most looked-after covers. Obviously, being black this has less visuall impact when neatly enhanced. All the flipbacks are solid with unburred crisp ends. Still a very fine looking back for a cover fast approaching 50.

Top & Bottom Edges: Both very thin, but straight and hardly worn, the laminate still smooth and intact, a tiny rub on the bottom right.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp with any thickening little and light as seen viewed end-on. Record enters on this edge that is guaranteed untrimmed.

Spine and Text: Very impressive, solid, straight with minimal compression, the ends very gently tapered in manufacture. All text present and perfect and unworn under the solid and unpeeled laminate. Also the text is perfectly centred for maximum neatness, these fine details make the difference.

Corners: The bottom right has a tiny tip rub, the opposite bottom one has a minute tip crease, there is little else to fault with mostly better than excellent shape retained.

Cover Summary: A strong and visually striking all-round example of this clearly wear-prone late 1960’s cover, even with smallish issues, it will prove difficult to find a great deal better. The front is lovely, close to exceptional, this should please many collectors, but not for perfectionists.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): but actually looks better still, a couple of fine edge splits were neatly repaired by myself to stop them widening, they barely even register. A plain white solid unlined inner that has hardly aged. Hardly creased and still clean, it has the PATENT NO 1,125,555 code.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR MINT: black label copies are rare enough in their own right, let alone in this stunning clean, barely played condition. An impressive visual copy that is very clean with lovely shine and solidly pressed. Under my bright grading lamp, any surface traces are minuscule and faint, barely anything, I doubt if many better examples will even exist these days. A very complex album musically and with intricate grooves which tells any vinyl ‘reader’ what to expect in terms of quality when played. So many written-off by basic, almost crude record players of the time, this has more than survived, it has left it’s cover in nearly 50 years. It should please all fans and collectors of this legendary jazz-prog band.

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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This groundbreaking album plays up to it’s high visual grading with barely anything 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 barely even registered and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. There is no doubt whatsoever, this record has hardly been played and nothing spoilt the experience of this complex album. Few true originals will match or outperform this very early first pressing I feel sure. It will prove immensely difficult to find better and merits my highest recommendation.

* 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.

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] = £4.75

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

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK 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.