DOWNLINERS SECT The Sect V. RARE ORIG UK 64 Columbia LP

	£		129
	$		171

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: DOWNLINERS SECT

Album Title: The Sect.

Producer(s): Mike Collier.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Hurt by Love; One Ugly Child; Lonely and Blue; Our Little Rendezvous; Guitar Boogie; Too Much Monkey Business; Sect Appeal.

Side 2: Baby What’s On Your Mind; Cops and Robbers; Easy Rider; Bloodhouse; Bright Lights; I Wanna Put a Tiger in hyour Tank; Be a Sect Maniac.

Label/Format: Columbia – orig black and turqoise labels with the embossed K T tax codes on side one. These are very pronounced and totally unworn, both letters retain all ink. (Please see my label scans).

Label Conditions: Both very clean and attractive with only light and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. These classic beat albums often took a lot of hammer and most played into submission often used as party music and few survive in playable conditions. This has only been very lightly played, and has survived the swinging sixties with nothing more than a few light surface marks that have NO sound whatsoever. It plays with immaculate and as close to perfect sound as any vintage beat mono album ever will. This is a real rare beauty.

Cat Number: 33SX 1658.

Mode / Speed: Mono / 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: 151 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 135 to 145 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, many records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 50 records from these eras.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Rare: seldom seen or offered especially in top playing conditions.

Original Year of Release: 1964

Matrix Nos: XAX 2729-1 N / XAX 2730-1 N

Stamper Codes: 1 A / 1 R

Musicians: Don Craine - guitar, autoharp, vocals; Keith Grant - bass guitar, vocals; Terry Gibson - lead guitar; Ray Sone/Pip Harvey - harmonica; Johnny Sutton - drums.

Brief Info: One of earliest of the ‘Beat’ revolution that swept the middle of the 60s in the UK. The Downliners Sect sound similar to the early Rolling Stones, Them, Kinks and Yardbirds recording at the same time. This was their classic debut album and one of the greatest of its genre. Unfortunately they did not go on to develop their sound like the majority of the aforementioned acts. Instead they drifted into country music and lost their initial appeal and split after a relatively short time. One of the rarest early beat albums and most sort-after by connoisseurs of the sound, it rarely gets offered or seen in decent conditions and this goes way beyond ‘decent’. This is a superb copy that has survived the heady 60s and Dansette era. Most worn grey with vast playing and the majority badly scratched with poor worn sound - all traits of the classic beat album from this period. This one has not only ‘survived’, the record looks very modestly played and although there are a very few light surface marks, none sound at all and importantly the sound is fantastic and plays devoid of any distortion or high frequency clipping or break up. Such records were not really made to be played on stereo equipment and 99.9 percent were subjected to cheap mono record players of the day and these tracked at massive weights grinding out all the lovely details and charisma of the mono recording. Blunt, thick or chipped sapphire needles destroyed so many of these gems making top playing originals near impossible to find. This one retains that wonderful dynamic mono power and grace and can be played loud with high confidence. The age of the single channel analogue sound is fully retained and those around at the time will know exactly what such a record should sound like. The cover is also in fine condition, the front superb, the back lightly aged with some toning and mild grubbiness but given the incredible age, this is almost has to be regarded as normal. A highly important album for the beat enthusiast, this is one of the true classics.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High.

Cover Grade and Format: Slightly better than EX(-), the front is more EX. A single format with a laminated front that wraps around the edges on to the three large rear flipbacks. Printed and made in England by Ernest J. Day & Co Ltd, London.

Lamination & Front: All full adhered with a fine shine and excellent clarity. Minimal traces of any dulling or friction rubs and any creases are small and light, most confined to just the edges. No peeling and with few marks to the very smooth surface. There is a small rub to the bottom left corner tip. For attractiveness, this legendary front cover will take a fair amount of beating.

Cover Back: The back has some toning and moderately mild grubbiness around the centre of the edges - clearly the handling areas - hardly excessive for a cover this great age. The odd other smallish tone stain spot as well creasing has been avoided as has ringwear and the flipbacks look great with no wear or damage and that can be considered unusual for a 1964 era cover. One hairline mark is apparent but there is no real wear to the text on the back panel and the important imprint is pristine under the flipback’s laminate. A very reasonable back, lightly aged yes, but I make no excuses for any cover of this type and age, I think it’s earned the right to have a few mild blemishes, most like this are seen almost in tatters.

Top Edge: Little wear at all.

Bottom Edge: Likewise.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp with little wear and no feathering, slightly thickened near the centre if being critical. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: A lovely solid spine too with just light rubbing to the very ends. Straight, uncompressed, all text is perfect and unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate.

Corners:

Cover Summary: A very strong all round example of this very fragile 70’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner: EX the original very early polylined Emitex inner, the same type included with the early Beatles albums, it has the ‘patents applied for’ text. A very solid and substantial inner that is quite clean, mildly darkened with age but the lining is very solid with a very neat and clear window. All edges unsplit and strong and creasing is minimal and light. A very nice example.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Better than EX(-), very close EX and this in no way does this wonderful record full justice. Please remember all the facts regarding such a record. A very fine visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and heavily pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence. A very few light surface marks, little more than hairlines only that have NO effect on play whatsoever. Wonderful labels and clean playing surfaces - a great survivor of its generation, this will blow most others away. Visually a super record that should please most realistic collectors but the visual perfectionist will have to wait the near impossible.

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 snippetts 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 above its near EX visual grading with nothing to fault. 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 register and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing. The lack of clipping and high frequency breakup or reverb is wonderful to state and is true. How many mono beat records ever will play from start to finish devoid of such problems on revealing stereo equipment? Few, but this one does and was a pleasure to listen to. Few copies will match or outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, I cannot imagine finding an original with cleaner sound. The minor surface marks are totally ignored and I truly regard this one as exceptional. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

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 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth 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.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within 48 hours maximum. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) 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 TWO thick stiffners for even extra protection. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity and well as sender label. 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. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but NOT surface mail abroad. I never make profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends, with the total costs including ‘standard’ or ‘optional extra insurance’ P&P – ALL UK and Russian packets go out non-negotiable Recorded Delivery. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 7 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional.

PLEASE NOTE: I will now only send packets to Russia with Recorded Delivery at a cost of £7 per single LP. If this is unacceptable to Russian collectors, please do not bid. I only want my records to arrive safely and this gives packets a better chance to do so. Also ALL UK packets will be sent with either Recorded or Special Delivery as standard (both have to be signed for). All shipping costs and rules can be found after my description. If they are not acceptable, please do not bid.

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 will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. 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 – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & OPTIONS:

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

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4 (OPTIONAL).

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA (NOT RUSSIA, see below) (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £5.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £9 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: RUSSIA (Recorded Only, if this is unacceptable, please do not bid):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ only £7) = £9 (OPTIONAL extra insurance as above).

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £8.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £13 (OPTIONAL).

* If Rules allow for that country.

PLEASE NOTE: I always get a Royal Mail ‘Proof-of-Posting’ receipt for ALL packets that are sent out and I am happy to prove this to any customer who wishes to see it via email.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders.

The customer can choose their method of shipping with the exception of second class or surface mail overseas – these I will NOT use. 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 (£35).

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 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. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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 neccessarily 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’.