Dire Straits Communique 1979 Vertigo RJ-7588 Japan Pressing OBI Play Test NM

$

40

• Dire Straits.
• Communique.
• Original Japanese Pressing (fanatical manufacturing quality control & pure vinyl formulations).
• With OBI.
• Inner Picture Sleeve With Band Members.
• With 4 page Lyric Sheet, Both English And Japanese.
• Translucent Vinyl (when held up to bright background light).

Item Details
Manufactured By: Nippon Phonogram Co., Ltd., Tokyo
Recorded: December 1978 At Compass Point Studio, Nassau, Bahamas
Mixed: January 1979 At Muscle Sholes Sound, Sheffield, Alabama
Lacquer Cut By: Shinichi Bobby Hata ("BH" in matrix)
Pressing By: Nippon Phonogram Co., Ltd., Tokyo
Original Issue: 1979
This Issue: 1979
Label: Vertigo RJ-7588
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (etch: BSK-1-3330 (stamp:) 9102031A 111 ꔰ ꔰ ꔰ F (etch:) ① BH
Side 2: (etch: BSK-2-3330 (stamp:) 9102031B 111 ꔰ ꔰ ꔰ F (etch:) ① BH

Was bought new by this seller many years ago and now offered from his private collection (you have absolutely known provenance). Has had just a few plays only on an expertly setup high-end audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge. Has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit brand) to prevent warpage.
All vinyl sides are cleaned on a VPI HW-16.5 record cleaner. I use the Audio Intelligent "One-Step" formula that requires no rinsing and leaves no residue. It is alcohol free and uses enzyme agents to remove pressing mold-release compounds, fungi & bacteria, finger oils, and many other environmental contaminants. Made with laboratory-grade pure water(50X purer than distilled water). I neutralize residual static charge from both vinyl and new inner sleeve with a Milty Zerostat. I wear nitrile surgical gloves while cleaning and play testing to avoid any chance of transferring finger oils to the vinyl.

Very sensitive play testing was performed straight off my Ayre P-5xe fully balanced phono preamp over Sennheiser HD 600 headphones using a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with NOS Soviet Voskhod matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
For track listings, please see my attached record label photographs.

I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. After cleaning I use very bright light and close visual inspection on each side to assign "visual-only" grades. However, I always perform play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment to assign play grades.
Grading Details
Note: Grading LPs by text characters is subjective and at best are only a guide as no two used records are of exactly the same quality. I do not use "EX" grades as my VG+ is right below "NM-." I never sell a "G" play grade and very rarely ever sell a "VG" play grade. Please, refer to both my photo evidence and detailed descriptions to judge by YOUR OWN grading standards. Questions are always welcome. Play quality is personally most important to me so vinyl visual qualities are separately graded and described in detail for your complete assessment.

Outer Jacket Inspection/grading:
(Front Face/Rear Face)
NM/NM
Front and back faces looked perfect except for tiny bits of rub wear on the bottom two corners.

Vinyl Visual Inspection/Grading:
(Side 1/Side 2)
NM/NM
Both labels do have LAST protective vinyl wear prevention treatment stickers on them. I usually treated my new vinyl with LAST before the very first play. Both sides looked perfect.

Play Testing/Grading:
(Side 1/Side 2)
NM/NM
Play testing is always performed after visual inspection and written notes get taken. I spot check each track by taking a couple of needle drops in each one. When the track width is noticeably greater I may take a few more play samples to get good coverage. I also listen to the lead-in, lead-out and some transition grooves to get a feel for the overall pressing quality. If I digitize my favorites to 96k/24-bit WAV files for archiving I can listen to an entire track while recording it. Below are play testing rundowns of each side.

Side 1 Play
First, I observed that the record sat pretty flat on my TT (I do use a record clamp, but even mild warps always show if present). LI grooves were very clean. T1 only had a couple of very tiny HF ticks in the first few seconds and then zero noise on all other play samples. The audio quality was beautiful as expected from a Japanese pressing. Even the long fadeout was very free of vinyl noise. T2 was recorded to get my last chance with my new cartridge. Very very, clean and crisp with delicious guitar solos. T3 was also recorded and it had only 1 tiny tick detected during the last seconds of play. T4 had zero vinyl noise on all play samples. An easy NM grade as expected

Side 2 Play
First, I observed that the record sat pretty flat on my TT (I do use a record clamp, but even mild warps always show if present). Lead-in grooves were quiet. T1 was recorded so it had a 100% play test. Just two mild LF ticks at about 1/2 and 3/4ths play length. All other tracks on the side had zero vinyl noise on all play samples. T3 had the quietest music levels but the Japanese pressing made sure no distracting noise intruded. T5 was noted for very impressive bass reproduction. There was a long fadeout that maintained quiet vinyl right into lead-out. Another very easy NM grade as well.

Superb preservation levels by an original owner is guaranteed to make any serious collector very satisfied.

Packaging

• Records are placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original inner sleeves (if still present) are included separately.
• All records will be placed into new MFSL-style "rice paper" plastic sleeves. Any original sleeves may be holding onto some dust and if paper lined could even be abrasive. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean and well protected during shipping and ultimately during buyer usage.
• Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
• Sent in high quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners and all corners double-taped.

Shipping

• Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $5 per single album sale. eBay keeps raising the rates for Media Mail but I still don't pass all of that or any costs for shipping materials on to the buyer. I do try to reduce additional costs for my customers.
• A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed on the same day ($5.00 plus $0.50 for each additional LP).
• If you do buy more than one LP on the same daydo not pay immediately but wait for my all-combined with the discount applied to your total.eBay does give you the option to "Request an invoice from the buyer," but this option is not available on the eBay mobile app. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.