LED ZEPPELIN 4 RARER FINAL UK 1971 ATLANTIC PLUM PRESS, EX++ LP, PLAYS SUPERBLY.

	£		84
	$		111

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Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: LED ZEPPELIN

Album Title: Led Zeppelin (IV)

Producer: Jimmy Page

Executive Producer: Peter Grant

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Black Dog; Rock and Roll; The Battle of Evermore; Stairway to Heaven.

Side 2: Misty Mountain Hop; Four Sticks; Going to California; When the Levee Breaks.

Label/Format: Atlantic red and maroon (‘plum’) format with matt gently textured surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both little short of immaculate, both look gorgeous with only one or two ultra fine and spindle traces. This legendary rock classic appears hardly played and sounds superb.

Catalogue Number: 2401012

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: This record has a moderate rim warp, but had no affect on sound when I played this on my Linn LP12 Sondek (all equipment used listed further down). There is relatively mild movement whilst playing side one. On side two the ‘wave’ motion is more noticeable, but still no tracking problem or sound at all on my turntable. As there is no sudden jerk movement, this should cause no issues with any turntable worthy of a name. My Ortofon cartridge base still had plenty of clearance from the record, and I track at 2 grams. With that in mind, I also tested at its minimum weight of 1.5 grams, and still no issues whatsoever. But the movement is seen – but certainly not heard – this record plays with fantastic clean sound, and its one of the very best pressings in terms of audio I have heard on a plum copy in years. Not all copies are this clean and almost free of unwanted sounds, clicks and crackle. Indeed this has hardly contact sound at all and no clicks were heard. For those concerned about a warp or arm movement, this is not for you. But for those who simply want a superb, hardly played copy with great sound, nice cover and inner (for a change) and not going to sit and worry about arm movement (mostly on side two, for a while), this will please. Simply put this one, relax and enjoy one of the greatest rock albums ever made.

Weight of this Record: 126 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: The album itself is quite common, predictably selling in vast numbers. Pressing quality can be an issue however, and this album was pressed many times with several label variants. This copy is one of the final ‘Plum’ label examples sold. The proof of this being the K 50008 Kinney sticker on the back cover. Prior to the new orange and green label Kinney copies being manufactured, Atlantic sold all the existing copies rather than wasting them. But to comply to the takeover, a sticker was put on the original covers to denote the forthcoming change. These later stickered covers are arguably the rarest of all. Also Plum label copies are rarely seen so little used, I doubt if this has been played more than a couple of times.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: 2401012 A//3 1 3 1 0 & 2401012 B//4 1 1 1 6

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘PECKO DUCK’ & ‘PORKY’

Musicians: Robert Plant – vocals, harmonica; Jimmy Page – acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin; John Paul Jones – synthesiser, bass guitar, keyboards, mandolin, recorders; John Bonham – drums. Guests: Sandy Denny – vocals; Ian Stewart – piano.

Brief Info: After the issue of three sublime albums, how could this legendary band offer even more? Well the answer was with this untitled album, always known as ‘Four’. It’s untexted sleeve design suggested anonymity, but nothing was left to question over this album’s content. An undisputed masterpiece within the genre of ‘Rock’. Led Zeppelin were never so strident as on ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Black Dog’, two selections of undiluted brilliance. The blues standard ‘When the Levee Breaks’ is massively powerful, particularly through John Bonham’s thunderous drumming, and the group’s love of folk forms surfaces on the graceful ‘Battle of Evermore’, complete with a cameo from Fairport Convention’s Sandy Denny and the beautiful mandolins. ‘Stairway to Heaven’ has, of course, become the album’s best-known track, but the anthem-like stature it has since assumed should not obscure it’s groundbreaking companion songs. This album left much of heavy metal, and indeed rock itself, trailing in it’s wake. It charted at 1 in the UK and 2 in the US and has become an evergreen classic of huge stature and remains as popular and in-demand as when first issued. Conditions for collectors is always an issue: these monolithic masterpieces were so often played to destruction and so many fail to please when played on modern highly clinical equipment. The finer grooves on this album often meant just a tiny fine mark or light scratch sounded more freely than on earlier albums. The perilous final seconds of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ often meant arms being lifted prematurely resulting in scratches on those ultra fine innermost grooves with annoying loud clicks ruining those vital last few words – this has no such issues. However, as stated above, the record has a light (side one) and moderate (side two) warp meaning the arm as mild and moderate wave movement. No sudden jerks still makes this easy to track and with no inherent sound issues. I feel most turntables with no have issues, but if you have doubts, best leave it. I did test this at the maximum and minimum weights for my cartridge at 2 and 1.5 grams with no problems or sound whatsoever. And I for one, do not sit and watch my deck whilst listening to music. One to get on and enjoy, and this copy to near maximum, it being one the cleanest and best sounding Plum copies I have heard in years.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: or very close to. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England, uncredited and including the original dark, matt and flipbacked inner sleeve, that also uncredited.

Cover Front: Another wear-prone cover, the early ones were matt and vulnerable. Later ones were shinier with a coated surface. This front is very nice indeed with little to fault at all. Very clean, fresh and hardly rubbed, just a gentle very fine crease trace on the bottom left corner, it hardly registers. No price sticker issues and hardly marked, this an exceptional front compared to most originals seen.

Cover Back: A few light marks near the top edge but little else. A mild pressure line near the to left corner from a raised internal flipback, that a purely natural blemish and few would even mention it. Again, hardly creased, the lack of rubbing, especially ring wear is a major plus. The scarce ‘transition’ Kinney K 50008 sticker has hardly aged and still quite clean, clearly never removed. These elusive stickers add interest and history to this legendary album.

Cover Inner Gatefold: The beautiful graphic still looks very clean and impressive. A crease to the bottom of the fold, little else.

Top Edges: Both straight, flush and flat with minimal hint of wear.

Bottom Edges: Again straight, any rubbing patchy and quite light, storage edges seldom escape with none.

Right Edge(s), and Type: All clean, mostly sharp with any thickening little and light, hardly any really. Record enters on the back edge – the front is closed – all are guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: A very fine spine as well, these often badly worn. Solid, straight with hardly any hint of compression, also folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and near parallel. No text printed on this, the graphic fully intact and unfaded as-seen.

Corners: Any tip rubs mostly very small and light, excellent shape generally retained with no heavy knocks. The light dink on the bottom left being mostly evident inside.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this very famous, but wear-prone 1970’s cover, one that could prove difficult to find much better. This attractive and little worn item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): and actually looking better still. Over 18 years of Ebay record selling, I have hardly ever seen a fully intact example of this ultra fragile inner sleeve. They were never lined and the card is soft and uncompromisingly fragile. The record usually has a fairly sharp rim, hence any movement in transit means it cuts through the edges, often on all three folds. So-much-so, even when purchased new, they were often split from day one. This example only had two fine edge splits, the edge one very small indeed. As always, I will carefully repair edge splits and have done so here to stop the split widening in future. Now fully intact again and repaired as neatly as possible and registering little. This is the most handsome LZ4 original inner sleeve I have seen in a decade. Both flipbacks are immaculate, it retains very deep colour and has no creasing or marks. The top entrance is also superb, crisp and very neat with no tears or thickening. The inners with subsequent pressing were much paler and the card more robust with no flipbacks. Beware of substitutions, later ones are very different. With most originals shredded, torn and very tatty indeed, I really do consider this one exceptional as-seen on the pictures.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): arguably better, this NOT taking into account of the warp, this purely a visual grading of the playing surfaces, and both are fantastic. A brilliant visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and very solidly pressed (these are often very thin and flimsy). A copy appearing hardly played on all the evidence with any surface traces few, ultra light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, barely anything even registers. Visually a super record that should please many, if not most collectors (if the warp is no concern).

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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic album plays even above it’s high visual grading with hardly anything to fault. But I state again, there is gentle arm movement on side one, and more moderate on two. But caused no tracking or audio issues on my turntable*. I recognise all turntables, arms and cartridges are different, so that is why I am making this issue abundantly clear. This offers 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 are minimal indeed and possibly the least I have heard to date on a plum label copy. This is an exceptional clean pressing in terms of quiet, clean sound. Few available copies will outperform it in that respect I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. For audio quality, it will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended on that basis. For the last time, if the warp is a concern – and most collectors will know their own turntable’s capabilities well enough – do not bid. But I feel most respectable systems will have no issues playing this.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie 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 D7500 DSLR 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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. 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] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 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]) = £16.50 (£17.50 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 only 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 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.