You are right, they didn't mention that, but why complain about something that is better than described?

The shipping boxes were pretty unbelievable though!

I see Amazon.com are offering the 40th anniversary mp3 for free on June 30th. Saves on cardboard boxes i guess

This is probably me with vinyl problem.
I have replacement that is fine but even this had some plastic debris that i needed a cloth to get rid of at end of side 1

Well done you for stopping the almighty amazon!!!
Maybe more than a few have had the same problem as yours. I know Amazon do not send replacements out more than once. My vinyl looks fine though i have not played it, as i bought it for the dvd.

I got my US, EC, Australia, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Us promo, US sampler Editions..... my wife ask me if I was happy ....just replied "you can not understand".....)))

Finally decided to play my ZS40 vinyl yesterday after seeing comments on here - mine skips all over the place too so is going back to Amazon tomorrow. Hope the replacement is OK.

i don't recall so many faulty pressings of a single title before... relieved mine is fine. i bought a second copy which i've left sealed but i have to wonder...

A few hours off a plane after a couple of months overseas. picked up a lovely new Project III Debut turntable from Richer Sounds and a shiny new copy of the Ziggy 40th edition from my old haunt Banquet Records in Kingston.

Played it last night, skips during It Ain't Easy. Not played side 2 as i was so annoyed.

There is no fault pressing with my copy.

but a 1p coin on the arm, that used to work for me

My replacement copy skips all over the place - arguably worse than the first one that I sent back to Amazon!

My copy skips in the beginning of STAR

have read reports of other copies that skip during Star. what i don't get it copies skipping elsewhere or randomly. so far i've only read of one set of stamper numbers, so if one skips they should all skip, and all in the same place. the only other obvious explanation is that the bass is causing skips on turntables with low tracking weight... dependant on model, are those with skips adjusting the tracking weight and trying again? (nb: this should be done with care, at tiny increments, NOT by placing a coin on the headshell)

I've rebalanced my tone arm and i've set it to 1.8 against a recommended 1.75.

The It Ain't Easy skip has gone but about 50:50 it jumps into the first strum of Starman from the lead in silence.

The only other difference is that I didn't have the anti skating weight fitted the first time i played the lp.

I'll play both sides tomorrow when I have some peace and quiet and update this post.

I agree with Matt - a faulty pressing will demonstrate the fault in exactly the same place on all pressings from the same stamper. From what I've read this LP does not seem to do this.

It is very possible that this LP is mastered at the "cutting edge" of technology in vinyl mastering, requiring a very accurate set up of the turntable tonearm and stylus. In the 60's the mastering engineer would place a test pressing on a very average record player (for the time) to make sure it didn't jump. I think those days are long gone. Some may have read the anecdote when Paul McCartney asked why the Beatles records sounded so bass-shy compared to US records (circa 65/66), resulting in Paperback Writer being mastered with a lot more bass compared to earlier releases.

Matt's comment about the bass is because a bass (record) groove makes the stylus move more and at much greater angles than a high frequency sound. Back in the days of half-speed mastering Telarc released a recording of the 1812 overture recorded with real canons - the bass energy was incredibly high, and the groove of this section contained what was almost right angles, making it a torture test for most turntables, with many jumping, not being able to cope.

Most stylii have an optimal (suggested) tracking weight, and a range a little lighter to a little heavier. Setting the weight to the higher level may fix the problem, assuming the balance and antiskating ( if present) are set correctly. BTW a higher weight ( within the range) will cause less damage than a weight that is too light. Too light and the stylus will rise and fall out of the groove and cause damage as it does so. Hopefully it goes without saying that the sylus must be absolutely clean. Best cleaner I have found and used is the Discwasher stylus brush - lots of very fine bristles all very close together.

Finally stylus shape will also have an effect of the turntable's ability to track a groove. Spherical stylii (round tip) have poor tracking, elliptical (oval) much better. Best of all are the non symmetrical shapes that are incredibly slender (so as to get around those sharp corners easily). These include Shibata, Fritz-guyer, Fine Line and so on. The stylus shape and it's arm ( cantilever) need to be a compatible mechanical match for the tonearm of the turntable, so best to research and/or seek advice.

I read recently on a hi-fi forum that's it's a rule of thumb that the stylus/cartridge cost as much as the turntable. Not sure if I agree, but the general principle is OK. Often the cartridge and stylus is the weakest link of ready-to-buy turntables, and is the one thing that can be upgraded at a relatively low cost and make a substantial difference.