EXCEPTIONAL Nr MINT AUDIO ROLLING STONES SATANIC MAJESTIES '60s UK MONO 3D COVER

	£		199
	$		264

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This is an early MONO pressing and is EASILY the best-sounding example that I have ever come across. I would play-grade it as VERY SAFE Near Mint (NM). 

'Their Satanic Majesties Request' was originally released in Dec 1967. This copy probably dates from 1968. It has the original red and white inner sleeve, the 3D lenticular cover and the following matrix numbers: ARL-8126-T2-3K and ARL-8127-T2-3K.

Description
Disc: The vinyl has retained its original sheen with barely a mark to be seen. It has clearly been rarely played and well looked-after. I have played the whole record in full from start to finish and it plays superbly with nothing to report. I think it would be very unlikely that you could find an original mono copy that plays better than this. I would like to grade the audio is Mint, but as it has been played I have no hesitation to play-grade the whole thing as a VERY SAFE Near Mint (NM).

Labels: No tears, stickers, writing etc, just some very light spindle marking suggesting that the record was rarely played. In particular, the spindle marking on the side one label suggests that side two was only played about half-a-dozen times.

Inner sleeve: The original red and white inner sleeve has a couple of neat splits at the centre of two of the seams, but there are no other significant issues, and very few other signs of age or use - a very nice example.

Sleeve: The sleeve has no seam splits, tears, writing, stickers etc, just some minor signs of age or use, including light wear to the edges and corners and a couple  of corner creases, but this is a well-above-average example that is much better than most.

Detracting features not covered above:  None.

All photographs are of the actual item for sale. Please ask any questions before you bid or buy.

Where gradings are given these are based on the UK Record Collector grading system (see below) and are visual gradings only, unless the listing specifically states that it is a play-grading.

I use the UK RECORD COLLECTOR GRADING SYSTEM. This grading system differs from some other grading systems, in particular the Goldmine grading system. Please make sure that you are familiar with the UK record collector grading system before you bid.

Mint: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

Excellent: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packag­ing might have slight wear and/or creasing.

Very Good: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable sur­face marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

Good: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, etc.

Fair: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for prop­erly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.

Poor: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

Bad: The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection-filler.

Plus (+) or Minus (-) are added where items fall between gradings. I only ever use one plus or minus.

Visually-graded vinyl vs play-graded vinyl: Many people collect vinyl and never play it, whereas other people collect records because they want to play them. A visual grading will identify physical flaws (such as scratches) and can help determine whether a record has been cared-for properly, but it will not identify noise caused by non-visible sources. Most vintage records are likely to have some background noise even if they look perfect. I believe that records are for playing and so I try to play-grade records whenever possible. I always state in the listing if I have played a record prior to listing it. If I have play-graded the record I will usually only give a brief description of how the record looks (i.e. not a visual grading). The grading in the listing will be a play-grading and may be slightly different from the grading that the record would receive from a purely visual inspection. If I haven't play-graded the record, it will be given a visual grading only.

Play-grading MONO records: Mono records and stereo records have different grooves. A stereo record produces a stereo sound via both lateral and vertical groove modulation, whereas a mono record is not intended to produce any sound from vertical modulation. Playing a mono record with a stereo cartridge will create distortion because it is trying to pick-up the vertical (stereo) part of the signal, whereas this is not intended to be heard on a mono record and so is just noise.  Using dedicated mono equipment or a pre-amp with a mono switch will eliminate the noise caused by vertical modulation leaving just the lateral groove signal which is how the record was intended to be heard. Based on the assumption that most people choosing to listen to a mono record will have the right equipment to listen to it, I play all mono records via a pre-amp with a mono switch.  My play-grading for a mono record is based on how the record sounds when played in mono. If you do not have mono equipment or a mono switch on your amp or pre-amp you will be reproducing the noise from the vertical part of the signal and so the record will not sound as good. This is not any fault of the record, it is inherent to playing any mono record through a system that it was not designed for.

P&P costs as follows:

UK:

First LP or 12" record = £5.50, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

First 7" record = £3.95, each additional item no extra P&P charge.

Europe:

First LP or 12" record = £18.95, each additional item = an extra £2.20 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £13.95, each additional item = an extra £1.00 P&P charge.

Rest of the world:

First LP or 12" record = £29.50, each additional item = an extra £2.20 P&P charge.

First 7" record = £18.95, each additional item = an extra £1.00 P&P charge.