LED ZEPPELIN III RARER Orig UK 70 1st Press Plum EX LP

	£		137
	$		181

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.25. Europe £12. Rest of World £16. ALL signed for. – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P as low as possible after the very significant Royal Mail price increases.

Artist or Band: LED ZEPPELIN

Album Title: Led Zeppelin III

Producer(s): Jimmy Page [Executive Producer: Peter Grant].

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Immigrant Song; Friends; Celebration; Since I’ve Been Loving You; Out on the Tiles.

Side 2: Gallows Pole; Tangerine; That’s the Way; Bron-y-aur Stomp; Hats Off to (Roy) Harper .

Label/Format: Atlantic – Red and Maroon (‘Plum’) format. This is the much rarer original format that denotes a ‘first pressing’ with the Jimmy Page and Peter Grant credits near the top. Also the 2401002 Catalogue Number with no break (Please see these details on my label scans).

Label Condition: Superb examples, very clean, fresh and hugely attractive. Deep, rich colour and amongst the least spindle marks yet seen on a genuine first issue. Any of the tiny few present are faint and very small – hardly any on side one in fact. Finding this massive album clearly hardly played is a considerable achievement and this plays with true audiophile sound.

Cat Number: 2401002.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 135 grams. A very good weight solid weight for this album.

Country of Manufacture: England for both record and Cover.

Rarity: The title itself is moderate. But first pressings with the label details as seen above are much rarer. The Peter Grant credit was soon removed and the catalogue number then included a hyphen. The Jimmy Page credit remained but was then moved down the label nearer the 6 o’clock position. These original labels are far more elusive and far less seen, especially in such lovely clean conditions. All evidence minimal usage and this reitterated by quite breathtaking sound. These earliest pressings truly have that X-factor in terms of detail, sonic delivery and sheer power. A copy that totally blew me away and I had to actually stop typing several times just to take in the wonderful information bursting from my speakers. If anyone thinks all Led Zeppelin plum pressings sound the same – think again – this is simply fantastic.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: 2401002 A-5 1 1 7 / 2401002 B-5 1 1 [‘GHC’ is the possible initial credit as well]

Run-Out Groove Etched Messages: ‘Do what thou wilt’ / ‘So mote it be’.

Musicians: Jimmy Page – Robert Plant – John Bonham – John Paul Jones.

Brief Info: A masterful third release - and sometimes, a little underrated - it’s always overshadowed by I, II and IV. A more varied album with more use of acoustic instruments than previously. A wonderful set with it’s beautiful moving wheel packaging that was designed by ‘Zacron’ (Visual Creations). A graphic artist of the London scene of the 1960s. His logo is seen on the inside bottom right corner area. Again peaking at No. 1 in the UK and US, this band could do little wrong at this time. With this label format, it is recognised as a first issue, they are far harder to find than the second label design. It includes (of course) the wheel cover, and a UK made one too, this in very pleasing condition with very few of the laminate issues that spoil so many. The record has mostly only ultra fine and faint whispy surface marks seen under bright angled light with just the odd tiny few more easily seen. And the really important factor is wonderful sound quality that has that real clout, detail and pizzazz of the master tape. It plays with barely anything unwanted and was a sheer joy to listen too.

Cover’s Potential for Wear & Damage: Moderately high. The moving wheel and windows often get damaged and the top and bottom edges often fall apart from use. Even though this cover is fully laminated, it often yellows badly particularly around the edges and is only scarcely found with none. Regularly seen also with manufacture creases on the laminate where adhesion clearly was an issue, probably due to the circular cut-out windows on the front.

Cover Condition and Details: EXCELLENT(++): a gatefold with the moving wheel with die cut windows on front, laminated front, back and inside. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group.

Cover Lamination – Front & Back: Even though this cover is fully laminated, if often ages badly. All 11 circle windows are pristine with no burring or damage. The wheel rotates easily and freely too in both directions. The laminate itself retains a fine shine, clarity and freshness and any dulling is minimal and faint. That is somewhat unusual, especially on the back as these are often badly dulled and yellowed. A very mild dull vertical line is seen critically with angled viewing, but I am certain this is a natural manufacture blemish of little real note. For the first time in some considerable time, I can offer this cover with no real laminate issues. All is fully adhered without any of the usual manufacture creases or lines – this makes a huge difference for the more discerning collector. Any marks are few and light and no hardly any usage creases and no dinks. The recessed wheel area on the front looks as made which no thickening or burring, clearly this functions has not been used at all. Lastly, this has minimal traces of any discolouration or yellowing, any faintest traces near the edges hardly even register and this one still really does appear white, rather than cream, off-white or yellow-white. So a cover that does justice to a first pressed record – one to hold and admire rather than hide away waiting for a better one.

Cover Gatefold Inner: I can find barely anything worthy of mention to fault. This is a heavyweight and robust cover, superbly manufactured and in this case, very neatly too. Not all were quite this well formed.

Top Edges: Very neat and crisp and devoid of the usual thickening and burring. Both very straight too.

Bottom Edges: Any hint of rubbing or thickening very light and mild. Seen from the front and back, there is no wear at all with incredibly sharp and neat ends. Any trace of wear is only seen viewed end-on which for a strorage edge like this, is hugely commendable.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front wheel edge is immaculate and totally unworn. The back entrance edge is mainly very sharp with just a couple of small burrs or thicken just below centre. Again only seen viewed end-on, this wear prone edge is impressive and guaranteed untrimmed.

Spine and Text: Totally immaculate: very solid and dead straight with no wear and still very black. Text is perfect and unworn under very solid and uncracked laminate. Any central crease formation is very light indeed with no effect on the text, all the laminate is present and unpeeled.

Corners: All corners are very impressive – the spine pair immaculate as made. Any rubbing to the right ones is very small and light and all retain better than excellent to near mint shape.

Cover Summary: A deceptively difficult cover often with many laminate issues and ageing. But this one has little to fault, a few faint surface marks, odd faint surface crease and the mildest hints of edge darkening, but try to find a much better one with a first issue record inside. A lovely example to hold and enjoy.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): the Polydor-style lined inner has aged little and that often tells the story for the rest of the set. Minimal discolouration and barely any creasing with all edges unsplit and no repairs. The lining is very clear with only modest crinkle as seen through two immaculate crisp window circles. To emphasise the vintage of this first issue, this has the date code 1170 (November 1970), this within three to five weeks of the issue, they hardly get much earlier than this.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: and this hardly does this lovely record full justice. With standard room light, this appears nearer Excellent(++). Only under my 150 watt intense light bulb, can ultra fine and faint whispy surface marks be seen. Possibly dry cloth cleaning the culprit, I can think of nothing else with a polylined inner. Totally superficial and little seen – totally harmless of course, nothing spoils the very impressive audio quality of this disc. Any other blemishes are few and light and I am sure this record has been played little. Very clean with a very fine shine, intense black and very solidly pressed. It should please most collectors, but not quite the perfectionists.

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 rarer first pressing plays even above it’s high visual grading with practically 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. As stated above, this really excels and without doubt has that bit extra in terms of detail, punch, dynamic range and sonic delivery. NOT all plum pressings of this record are the same – it is not that easy to explain, but the more discerning audiophile collectors who own high-end equipment will know exactly what I mean. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing. Those stunning acoustic guitars have an in-the-room quality and I am sure this even sounds a little louder cut than the later ones. Few copies will match or outperform this top quality pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and generally carefully handled. A one-owner-from-new copy and no damaging old heavyweight stylus have been near this prized copy. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – in fact it is one I will remember for some time. This one will prove immensely 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/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 Terrarium Black 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. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital 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.

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 stiffeners 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 8,000+ items sold in over 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 2 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). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as me first.

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.

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] = £4.25

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (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 [£50 maximum]) = £12 (enhanced 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16 (£17 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 can 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 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’.