THE PENTANGLE (1st LP) SCARCE UK Orig 68 SUPERB EX++ LP

	£		79
	$		105

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: THE PENTANGLE

Album Title: The Pentangle

Producer(s): Shel Talmy.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Let No Man Steal Your Thyme; Bells; Hear My Call; Pentangling.

Side 2: Mirage; Way Behind the Sun; Bruton Town; Waltz.

Label/Format: Transatlantic – original white and purple format with smooth rims and textured from the outer ridge to the hole.

Label Condition: Stunning clean examples that show only the lightest and faintest spindle traces with the closest scrutiny under angled light. No wear around the hole area whatsoever. Without doubt a pair of the cleanest Transatlantic originals I have yet seen, these are simply gorgeous, with a snowy white finish, they honestly look as if they have never been handled. (Please see label scan, both look practically the same.)

Cat Number: TRA 162.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 150 grams, my heaviest example of this title ever. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 140 to 150 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 20 records from these eras. Later pressings were usually lighter still).

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Getting very scarce, and this copy will be difficult to find better. Many early copies suffer groove-wear distortions from less than worthy equipment of the time. An album of beautiful sound with complex acoustic instrumentation that was so easily damaged. This plays with crystal clarity with no groove wear or damage at all. A truly beautiful listening experience from one of the premier UK folk acts of this period.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: TRA 162 A2 / TRA 162 B1

Brief Artist & Album Info: Along with Fairport Convention the premier league of folk bands around this time. Pentangle had a unique sound blending folk with blues and jazz influences. A hugely talented five piece band who were: Terry Cox; Bert Jansch; Jacqui McShee; John Renbourn and Danny Thompson. All virtuoso performers, Thompson especially for me stands out as one of the finest upright bass players ever. His style is so distinctive and his guest appearances on various other albums can always be distinctly heard which is credit to an acoustic bass player. Jacqui McShee too has a wonderful expressive voice with possibly the purest and controlled vocal ever put to a folk record. Starting out more as a blues singer she began it all in the club and pub circuit. This debut album has a foreword on the back cover by John Peel, an obvious admirer of this band. A debut LP more than fulfilling the huge potential of all the members, this is arguably their finest album, but all their catalogue is magnificent. This copy is a beauty and is the much rarer fully laminated version, slightly later ones had only the front lamination. The labels have a textured finish too, later pressings became smooth all over. The only real blemish is the usual spine edge lifting which very few ever escape, this cover seems more prone to this than most and I only very rarely seen one with little and I can remember no example with zero. The actual record is fantastic, it has lovely clean playing surfaces with few marks, any present are tiny and non-sounding surface traces. It sounds marvellous too with truly studio-quality sound values. A vintage classic folk album, arguably the very best within its genre, that could justifiably be described as ground-breaking. A unique record and band, one for the connoisseur collector.

Cover Grade and Format: EX++ not taking into a account of the spine edge lifting (or non-adhesion, whatever you wish to describe as). This is NOT wear but a trait of many covers like this and this one in particular seems even more prone than most – few ever escape it. Laminate tightens with age - fact - sometimes actual movement can be seen on covers where writing has been applied. Pressmarks often visible in a different place to the writing with several millimetres often being the shift. Hasten to add, this has NO writing at all. This is a single format with full lamination, most found have the front only laminated but the early examples had both sides protected – a bit like the early and second versions of Cream’s ‘Disraeli Gears’. It was printed and made in England by Robert Stace. The more common ones with the back exposed wear badly and few escape ugly ringwear. This one has no no such worries and looks lovely. Even though protected, it remains a delicate sleeve and does not tolerate abuse or heavy handling well. This if a nice one and one of the better ones I have seen for some time.

Cover Lamination – Front & Back: Both sides have fresh and very shiny laminate that retains lovely clarity. The front retains a strong whiteness with mimimal traces of any discolour or yellowing. In terms of this cover, that I feel most collectors will be more than familiar with, it has much better adhesion than most. The lifting is only on the spine edge: the front being quite fine and only really below halfway. The back has a little more patchy blisters but again not wide and I consider these light on this one. I have in the past seen some massive blisters that really do spoil this cover, many do not even mention them but I feel it important. This laminate tightening apart, this cover has little else to fault and looks really attractive to the eye. With just a couple of light creases on either side away from the edges, this has faired better than most too. For some reason, this cover always seems to attract creasing. Any friction rubs or dulling is minimal and light, mild traces on the highly revealing black back under light but few will have less. The laminate ends well short of full width on the entrance edge but the exposed strips are very clean and have no traces of grime-line formation or toning on the white. A very fine vintage 60s cover that I feel the majority of collectors will enjoy.

Top & Bottom Edges: Both have avoided any noteworthy wear.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp, little wear and no feathering. Record entered on this right edge.

Spine and Text: Solid but quite fragile with minimal compression. Fully laminated with a few ultra fine hairline creases only. All text is perfect and unworn.

Corners: All four show very little wear, any tiny amounts present is confined to the very tips. All retain fine shape and definition with any crease traces being small and minimal.

Cover Summary: Age defying and looking really nice. Never one that ages well and very intolerant of any over handling or poor storage, this should please many collectors. Do not underestimate the difficulty in finding the fully laminated version.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX+ to EX++ (and given the wonderful audio clarity, undergraded at that). A superb copy with just a very few light surface trace marks or hairlines. A clean and heavy pressed record that retains a fine shine and is still very black. A copy hardly played on all the evidence reitterated by lovely sharp fully focused sound. Visually an age-defying record that should please most collectors.

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 snippetts 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This super record plays even above its high visual grading with nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - even Thompson’s double bass is fully focused, deep and vibrant - it can rattle speakers not up to the job. McShee’s vocals are pristine, with an in-the-room quality, this lady is up there with the very best ever. No pops or clicks were noted and a very fine pressing, any surface sounds barely even registered and this is an acoustic album - yes real instruments sounding quite breathtaking. Transatlantic records were not always the most reliable for quiet pressings but this one excels. Both channels are clean and unstressed, I feel very sure this record has been played little and has been looked after, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this truly magnificent copy. This record will prove very difficult to find better.

End Piece: A folk classic for sure, this band were in a class of their own and their high reputation has never diminished – and I can endorse that fully after watching them play live last year – a truly wonderful evening. Quality songs, vocals and musicians on a very clean, modestly played record, this should please the serious folk collector and I strongly recommend it. The late, great John Peel concludes his review on the back cover with ‘Play this record to those you love’ - truer words have rarely been spoken.

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 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within 48 hours maximum. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) 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 TWO thick stiffners for even extra protection. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity and well as sender label. 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. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but NOT surface mail abroad. I never make profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends, with the total costs including ‘standard’ or ‘optional extra insurance’ P&P – ALL UK and Russian packets go out non-negotiable Recorded Delivery. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 7 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional.

PLEASE NOTE: I will now only send packets to Russia with Recorded Delivery at a cost of £7 per single LP. If this is unacceptable to Russian collectors, please do not bid. I only want my records to arrive safely and this gives packets a better chance to do so. Also ALL UK packets will be sent with either Recorded or Special Delivery as standard (both have to be signed for). All shipping costs and rules can be found after my description. If they are not acceptable, please do not bid.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & OPTIONS:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4 (OPTIONAL).

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA (NOT RUSSIA, see below) (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £5.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £9 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: RUSSIA (Recorded Only, if this is unacceptable, please do not bid):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ only £7) = £9 (OPTIONAL extra insurance as above).

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £8.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £13 (OPTIONAL).

* If Rules allow for that country.

PLEASE NOTE: I always get a Royal Mail ‘Proof-of-Posting’ receipt for ALL packets that are sent out and I am happy to prove this to any customer who wishes to see it via email.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders.

The customer can choose their method of shipping with the exception of second class or surface mail overseas – these I will NOT use. The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£39).

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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 neccessarily 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’.