LED ZEPPELIN, HOUSES OF THE HOLY, 1973 UK ATLANTIC 1st PRESS

	£		53
	$		70

Hello, my name is Nick (aka cornerstonevinyl). I have been an avid record collector for many years, building up an extensive collection of mostly blues/rock, psych, progressive and classic rock albums from the mid sixties to early seventies period. I have decided to sell off a few choice albums in either the Fixed Price or Auction formats. These offerings represent the crème de la crème of my 35 years of record collecting and are of the highest quality. My grading is strict and any significant defects will be mentioned. You can rest assured that a record that I grade as MINT- will be both visually and aurally as fine a copy as you are ever likely to find (hopefully my feedback and 4.9/5.0 "item as described" rating will bear this out). My descriptions are concise and in accordance with the GRADINGS detailed below. I will not bore you with the unnecessary duplication of song lyrics, and self-respect will not allow the use of ridiculous words like "awesome, mega, hyper", etc., or endless exclamation marks. Customer satisfaction is of the highest importance to me. In the unlikely event that you are not entirely happy with an LP for any reason, I will refund you in full upon return without any hassle.

From my own personal collection it is my pleasure to offer an exceptional example of the iconic fifth studio album by LED ZEPPELIN titled “HOUSES OF THE HOLY”, Catalogue Number K 50014. This is an ORIGINAL 1973 UK STEREO 1st PRESSING on the ORANGE & GREEN ATLANTIC RECORD LABEL, with a 1st ISSUE HIPGNOSIS DESIGNED MATT-FINISH GATEFOLD SLEEVE. Complete with the correct 1st issue textured credits/lyric inner sleeve. [The textured card inner sleeve is the earliest possible design printed by MacNeill Press Ltd. The vinyl matrix numbers are the earliest A2/B2 and “ STERLING RL” is etched in the run-outs, indicating that the mastering was done at New York’s Sterling Studios by the renowned cutting engineer Robert Ludwig].

The sleeve is in EX+/MINT- condition with only the lightest signs of wear and no creases. It’s a beautiful example which will be almost impossible to improve upon.    

The vinyl is visually in EX+/MINT- condition. The green & orange Atlantic labels are unmarked with only a few faint spindle traces each side. I can confirm that the record has only received a few careful plays on top end hifi. The sound quality of the 1st pressings of Houses Of The Holy is outstanding – very powerful, dynamic and vibrant. Both sides play excellently throughout with no discernable deterioration in sound quality and a minimum of unwanted noise. There are no loud pops, repeat clicks, distortion, hiss or anything else (just a touch of light residual surface sound which is really not intrusive and only mentioned for complete accuracy).   

The textured credits/lyric inner sleeve is in EX condition with no splits or tears – just a touch of foxing from storage.

Overall this is a beautiful 1st press copy of Zeppelin’s iconic fifth album which will grace any record collection.

GRADINGS

The records that I offer for sale have been critically play-graded, at loud volume, on a Rega P5 turntable fitted with an Elys 2 cartridge. I will only sell records that play to a high standard. My grading is strict and in accordance with the following descriptions:

·         MINT- Record is superb, almost like new, with just a few sleeve removal type surface marks and no deterioration in sound quality. Sleeve is near perfect in all respects.

·         EX Record is a top quality example, with just a few very light surface marks which do not sound, and barely any discernable deterioration in sound quality. Sleeve has slight wear and/or creasing.

·         VG Record has some visual surface marks, but still plays to a high standard without any major deterioration in sound quality – just a few clicks or light surface sound in places. Sleeve has normal wear and tear without any major defects but is still very presentable.

     All records can be expected to rotate sufficiently evenly on the turntable for there to be no effect whatsoever on the audio playback. Minor warps or dishing will not be mentioned as virtually all records display these features to some degree and no record is perfectly flat.

PACKAGING         

LPs are packaged with care and well protected to ensure that they arrive safely in the same condition as they leave me. Records are removed from both inner and outer sleeves in order to prevent seam-splits in transit.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE

LPs posted outside of the UK will only be sent International Signed-For with insurance at the following cost:   

Europe - £10.95

Worldwide - £14.80