BEATLES Sgt Pepper UK MONO Complete 3 Plays

	£		165
	$		219

Formerly mpsmith...

Hi, I am Mike, I have been a music collector for over 30 years now. My Ebay name has now changed at the request of Ebay for security - little else will change I hope, I will 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. I also will buy quality single items or collections of original quality rock, 60s popular, folk, prog, psych and underground etc.

PLEASE READ ALL DESCRIPTIONS AND CHECK PICTURES CAREFULLY FOR ALL THE INFORMATION GIVEN.

Artist or Band: THE BEATLES

Album Title: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band

Cat Number: PMC 7027 Mono

Label and Condition: Parlophone, yellow and black with silver text. Sold in UK etc., The gramophone Co Ltd etc. Made in Gt Britain on labels. (Please see scans for full details of anything needed). These two labels are beautifully clean - I have only once seen better, and that was the unplayed copy I sold a few weeks ago. These labels have only one spindle trace on side one and one or two on side two, a copy that has been played twice I was reliably told from the original owner (he played, liked, played again and recorded and put in store thereafter). The matt black finish on these barely even show fingermarks. A really super copy with few blemishes - one for the serious Beatles collector and connoisseur.

Country of Manufacture: Gt Britain

Rarity Factor: Well judge for yourselves, Beatles albums are not rare as such as I have always stated, but even modestly played copies are, a copy like this that has received now three plays, one from me for my mandatory play-grade - are just about as scarce as anything likely to be offered from this most famous group of all time.

Original Year of Release: 1967

Matrix Nos: XEX 637-1 / XEX 638-1. The small pressing codes looks like 6 MRG and C1 MDM, but these are always a challenge to the eye-sight but these look reasonably clear.

Album Information: Firstly can I state clearly this is another first timer on the Net, the other two copies I have sold within the last few weeks were sold and payed for quickly. I recently bought another a fine Beatles collection from a private seller and this is the first Pepper to be offered. A fine collection of original monos that all have been well looked after and little played. In fact these records have not been out of the case for over 30 years - hence the fine conditions. Please keep watch of my Ebay site as more will follow soon.

No lengthy history lesson needed about this album - anyone reading this will know all about this legendary record and its impact on the development of music. What will be more needed is what condition this record and cover is in and actually what’s on offer. Well as stated earlier, this copy is only lightly played. Even a brand new record can disappoint with a bad pressing or hidden nasties. Well this record did not disappoint (please see ‘vinyl condition and grade’). This copy simply looks magnificent. The cover looks really nice too, it still has that wonderful crackle when opened that only new laminated covers had - finding vintage covers that still do that is simply wonderful and almost sends a shiver down the spine. A cover that crackles is wonderful, a record that crackles is not so good, fear not there is little of that on this record. The record comes in its original psych red and white inner that is a strong Excellent. Thin paper always, this one still has fine colour, no major discolouring or serious marks, a few ruffles and most incredably NO splits. The edges on this pepper are fairly sharp and quite how this inner has avoided splitting is just remarkable, proving again this copy was seldom taken out. The insert is also included and is virtually mint, clean with no wear or creasing. Well there it is, a mint minus mono Pepper, how many of these will get offered today I wouldn’t know, but few I would confidently guess. Some may be offered in this condition, but how many will truly be up to this when they show up? I have been told by many of my buyers I undergrade, well I simply say better than overgrading - I do not use the word like mint, albeit minus for this record lightly but for this wonderful record I feel this is appropriate because if a better played Mono Pepper can be found I sure would like to see it. This is serious collector territory and its potential for investment is far better than money in the bank.

Cover Condition and Details: Excellent++, gatefold, laminated front, back and inner gatefold, comes with its original insert. Two large flipbacks in the centrefold (very strong, with no glue residue or sticking marks - just about the best flipbacks on this I have EVER seen). Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. Mono printed on back cover so this is the original cover for this record - no artificial upgrading (please see close up scan). The world’s most famous cover that set the standard for the future: a very clean original mono cover that looks really lovely. I cannot give a mint minus grading as the spine has some indentations/very light wear. This has not worn the spine as such as the laminate is still fully intact, it has just left some small marks near the top half - quite honestly bar this there would be little to fault on this fine attractive cover.

Cover Lamination: Beautiful lamination that is clean and shiny. This laminate is very strong, shiny with no dull patches, no lifting, peeling or dry areas. A few light surface marks if viewed under angled light but no nasty heavy indentations. Unusually for this cover too is it has virtually no creasing which is always a huge bonus - any creasing, even light ones do detract on this famous cover - any present are tiny and hardly show at all. You will be hard pressed to find the laminate on a Pepper better than this.

Cover Front: A fresh clean looking front that looks very nice indeed, clean with few marks. Slightly less intense colour than some I’ve seen but these do vary, it depends on the actual laminate. Stored in a non-smokers house, in a case for many years and there it stayed.

Cover Back: Immaculate and this will not be found better easily, the red is very rich and intense, super clean and unmarked. No ringwear or even a pressing mark.

Cover Gatefold Inner: Possibly the best I’ve yet seen - stunning as new look. The flipbacks are rock solid and unlifted or freyed and very clean - no sticking from any residues, this often happened, removing the yellow from the flipback edges making them appear white. The lamination on the hinge fold is fully intact and not cracked as many often are - simply remarkable, that's why it crackles when opened. This immaculate centrefold has the freshness of a new cover.

Cover Edges: Top and bottom edges are perfect with no wear - all still laminated. The spine is solid and square but does have the aforementioned marks, I cannot categorically state what has caused this, it may be a manufacture flaw like a print finisher grip mark, I have seen this before. The main thing is all its text is clear and fully intact under generally uncracked laminate. There is a tiny rub at the top spine too, all pretty minor, but I mention everything I see. All corners are sharp and crisp with hardly any wear.

This cover all round is truly lovely, with only those marks on the spine stopping it being graded almost to the top. Considering its age, its exceptional, it proves it has been kept to a high standard. A much better mono cover you will be unlikely to find easily, still. one for the serious collector.

Vinyl Condition: Mint(-), this is the unbanded early pressing, later pressings had the clear band divides with linking grooves as most standard LPs do. This one deserves the near highest of gradings because it simply it that. Super clean and shiny and to be quite honest visually a stunning exceptional record - I have seen copies graded as Mint that looked less than this one. Mono Peppers are usually found in a well played state - obviously a classic like this was played and played and wear set in very quickly - but that is what records were bought for, to be enjoyed and loved. Most have heavily marked labels, scuffs and a maze of scratches and with a sound quality that matches the looks. I have found clean looking copies before but few have compared to this one. This album in mono always seemed to suffer more than most even after just a few plays on the often clumsy decks of the times. ‘She’s Leaving Home’ for instance always was highly prone to distortion and sound degrading - like ‘Michelle’ does on Rubber Soul the inner bands on mono records always suffer because of the tracking angle and and backforce generated by the heavy tones arms of 60s mono decks. The groove walls could be stripped after just a few plays making them noisy and distorted. This track plays just about as good as I have heard it, with little to no evidence of any sound degrading at all. What a delight to hear this wonderful record with such clarity and fine sound. The incredible details and dynamic mono mix of this record are truly awesome - its a gateway into the recording studio - another masterwork of production by George Martin. Play this on a quality modern turntable and you will be astounded by the richness and details hidden in these vintage grooves -this is how this album was meant to be heard. Modern CDs simply cannot compete with the real thing - all the feeling is lost. Are the mono mixes available legally on CD anyway? This album has no distortion, and any pops or ticks are so few I can bearly remember any - and any surface sounds are light as can be reasonably expected - I did detect a few very light ticks on the final seconds of the fade out on the final track just before the psych sounds on the run out grooves, but little else to cause concern - finding a vintage mono copy that outperforms this copy will prove extremely difficult, and likely expensive too. Little spoilt my pure pleasure in grading this masterpiece again - this is a very, very good record and copy, and one to treasure.

Inner Sleeve Condition: Very strong as described earlier.

Insert Condition: A superb original, close to mint as they get.

Track Listing:Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart’s Club Band; With a little help from my friends; Lucy in the sky with diamonds; Getting better; Fixing a hole; She’s leaving home; Being for the benefit of Mr Kite; Within you without you; When I’m sixty four; Lovely Rita; Good morning, Good morning; Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart’s Club Band (reprise); A day in the life.

Album Played For Grading: Yes, it even approaches that remarkable mint copy I sold a few weeks ago.

Final Summary: This is such a clean copy and has to be one of my finest Beatles albums I have offered for sale on Ebay - just holding this fabulous copy gives pleasure - infact I even handled this record with gloves on just to avoid the chance of putting fingerprints on the label. Just check out the scans - have you ever seen labels much cleaner for a vintage Beatles album. The cover does have marks on the spine, but little else, and the actual record has little and playback of this quality will rarely be beaten, especially for a mono copy. I cannot apologize for my minimum selling price (I don't use reserves as it just confuses any potential bidder). This album cost me very deep and it will gain in value over a short time quickly - as stated earlier - albums like this are true investment quality and will not get offered in such lovely playing condition often. This UK pressed mono Sgt Pepper is light years above the normally found copy - just what would a large London shop charge for a copy like this?, if they could find one this fine. For my final summary I quote from the Virgin Top 1000 Albums of all Time ‘The Beatles reached for the sky, and they got it. This one album revolutionized, altered and reinvented the boundaries of 20th century popular music, style and graphic art. Thirty plus years on, this four-track recording is still a masterpiece. Equal credit is now justifiably placed with the elegant George Martin. he was the chemist who made their crazy ideas work. He shaped their glorious songs and fantasmagorical lyrics with melody and harmony, pushing recording techniques into unknown waters. Much of late 60s pop was fashioned out of this one record; a mass of third rate orange-coated-treacle-airship-jasmine-mushroomheaded-dreamweavers followed. Nothing came near it, and together with Revolver, nothing ever will’. - I can add little to that – Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

Buyer pays: (UK) £2.50 P&P , for first-class delivery with standard £28 insurance. Items that sell over £30 will be sent via Recorded Delivery and Special Delivery for over £55.

Europe: £4. This is covered up to £28 (45 Euros) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. A recorded airmail service is now in place for Europe too: this means any item will be fully covered to its true value, No customs sticker is needed for Europe, so this is a worthwhile investment. This costs extra £3, the item is tracked and the item has to be signed for - I will use this service to Europe as standard for very expensive rare items e.g. records over £75.

USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and other Far Eastern countries etc: £5.50. This is covered up to £28 (43 US Dollars) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more).

Extra insurance is available for non-UK items but bear in mind I have to state the true value of the item on the parcel and customs would be aware and you may well get charged import duties.

PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.65 to cover PayPal or cash conversions.

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.

Mailing Details: All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with a minimum of TWO stiffners for extra protection. More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection and three or four stiffners. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me.

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 intesting 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.