Led Zeppelin II RL SS - RCA Sticker

I recently bought an old pressing of LZ II. It has "RL SS" scratched on both sides of the runout, and an older white Record Club of America sticker applied on the back cover.

It's got the SD 8236 (and ST-A-691671 PR) on the labels, made of relatively thick vinyl and seems to be in EX+ or borderline NM condition, at least visually. The cover is a heavier gatefold in EX shape with SD 8236 on the spine.

The matrix numbers are lightly pressed and thus hard to read, but here goes:

Runout on side 1, at 4 positions around the label - RL SS, HT, M (or W?), and what appears to be STH-691011-J (could be ST-A-691671-J as it is quite faint)
Runout on side 2 - RL SS, HT, M and looks like STA-691671-J.

I searched a number of threads - I didn't see anything on this particular RCA version with these specific numbers.

Anyone know what I've found, and where it was pressed?

 

I don't know about the RCA white sticker you are asking for, but "PR" after "ST-A-691671" on labels should means vinyl pressed by Presswell plant.

And I amazed and perplexed regarding the hight letter "J" you have as lacquer, FWIK, Mr. Ludwig worked only on -A, -B and -C cuts...

 

Thanks, and indeed, this is a really unusual version. Again, the matrix was tough to read, but the “J” was relatively prominent at the end.

The record club label is an old school style white rectangular sticker on the back, which makes me wonder if the album was sourced directly from the label (and not repressed).

I will recheck the matrix letter in the morning...

 

The sleeve could've been a swap out hence you have a label pressing which was later inserted into a club pressing. But I imagine record clubs did source some product right from labels at times.

I checked Discogs and couldn't see anything close to what you have. Definitely check the matrix details again. They can be hard to read and it's easy to get a letter or number wrong. I think that HT you saw might be AT.

 

You’re right - upon closer examination, it’s an “AT.”

 

Just looked at it again - I can confirm it’s a “J.”

This one is really interesting!

 

Where did you purchase this pressing?

 

eBay - it came from a local and highly rated (100%) seller in the SF East Bay.

I couldn’t find much data on it prior to the purchase, but it seemed to be worth a roll of the dice, given the condition.

 

What's the sellers name? Just curious.

I was looking through the discogs listing hoping I'd find a -J matrix in general but gave up. There are a lot of entries on there

 

The reason I asked.....there is a thread on this forum currently discussing forged RL's from E-bay. I'm not saying yours is a forgery, but you may want to check out that thread........I own 5 different LZ II RL pressings, and I've never seen a J stamper.

 

@wwright Ok I did some digging on Discogs.

I found a few copies of interest:

1) Dated to 1973 on Discogs (no idea if that is correct, uploader dates it using the inner sleeve, which could've been added later) that has the same -J/-J matrix details for both sides but no RL: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

2) I also found a copy that sounds similar to yours in terms of the jacket and is labels an a record club issue with an unknown date. However, there are no matrix details: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

3) There's also this one, which has one side with the -J matrix but no RL and it's a gold sticker sleeve: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

4) Here's one from 1975 with a -J on one side, no RL: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

5) From 1973 side A matches your -J, no RL: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

Sorry to say this but it looks like you don't have an RL pressing. Might be worth posting a picture of the RL SS etching here or in the thread @Dr. Funk mentioned so we can all take a look at it, might be obvious that it was etched in later.

Post the eBay seller you bought from. There's a very knowledgeable membership base here and we'll probably know something about that seller; good or bad.

Once we can confirm this for you, you can try and get your money back from the seller via eBay or Paypal if you want.

 

This is a tremendous help - thank you!

The seller is Weller22 on eBay. Just tried to paste the picture but that went nowhere. Will figure that out momentarily.

 

Not an expert here, I’ve only seen pics of Zep RL deadwax, but I have plenty of other RL pressings by mulitiple artists. That RL in your pic doesn’t look right at all. Now the real experts can chime in!

 

Here's the eBay listing:
LED ZEPPELIN - II 1969 Atlantic SD 8236 PR Robert Ludwig RL SS Hot Mix NEAR MINT | eBay

$250? ouch..

 

Does not look like any “RL” I’ve ever seen. Was it advertised as one? Also, listening to it will be the deciding factor. Also, the “SS” doesn’t look right either.

 

Yeah that "R" is especially weird looking. Compare those initials to the one in the discogs listing that the seller linked to: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

They don't even look the same. I also noticed that the seller failed to include other parts of the matrix details like -J/-J. If it was a true RL in NM condition, $250 would've been a good price.

@wwright I think you have enough information here to make a claim. I noticed the auction ended Nov 19th so you are still within your 30 day eBay guarantee so you can make a claim through them if the seller refuses to refund your money. Us the information in this thread but really, his RL doesn't even match the RL in the photos he linked to on Discogs. Sorry about all this. But you'll get your money back either via eBay or Paypal.

 

Now that is a total, 100%, counterfeit! The etching even goes over the groove!

 

This is a fake for sure!!!

 

Looking at the ebay link, isn't the deadwax on side 2 way too large?

here is a pic of my RL SS for comparison to the pic above:

 

Don't fear: it's returnable under eBay's money back guarantee.

In his description he links to the discogs entry, but there is no mention of a J laquer in the notes section. Only a b and c. You can respectfully point out that the matrix is different from the link in his description. If he doesn't comply simply click the return button.

Maybe he's a scammer or maybe he was scammed and doesn't know. But eBay has your back on this. And the seller knows it...

 

Definitely something wrong there. The J / J cutting is pretty common -- with its wide dead wax. Its not an RL nor a particularly dynamic or exciting mastering. I'd say someone added the RL initials to crank some money out of a common record.

 

Agree very wrong - good luck sorting this out. The RL on this one is not like any RL that I have seen on any of his masterings on various records from the era.

 

We were discussing this record 2 days ago in the other thread, at least the buyer is a member here and has been made aware. I really hope all ends well and he gets his money back. That hack job is bs.....

 

It warms my heart when the forum rallies around a member to determine if they've
been scammed or not. I hope the seller gets bounced off Ebay (he should be ashamed
with a capital A but he's obviously a garden variety ripoff artist and a not very good
one at that). I'm glad that wwright can get his money back - can't fool Mom or the SHF.
Kudos to all for their help!