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Vintage Test Pressings
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Like galleys in the publishing industry or sales samples in the fashion world, test pressings are vinyl records made to analyze an album before it’s released. Also known as “demo discs,” these records were made in very limited quantities to allow...
Like galleys in the publishing industry or sales samples in the fashion world, test pressings are vinyl records made to analyze an album before it’s released. Also known as “demo discs,” these records were made in very limited quantities to allow recording artists, production staff, and management the chance to listen to an album before it was mass produced to ensure the production stampers were in full form. Copies were sometimes also shared with industry insiders, such as DJs, to get feedback on the music.
A test pressing is virtually identical to a commercial record aside from its label, which is often entirely or mostly blank. In some cases, record manufacturers would use up obsolete labels for test pressings by flipping them face down so only the blank white side was visible. Other times, special labels were applied that included the words “Test Pressing” along with blank lines where information like the catalog number, date, artist, or other attributes could be written or typed in. Usually, a test pressing would be packaged in a plain white album cover along with a label copy sheet, indicating the text to be printed on the final album.
Test pressings are distinctive from another popular collectible known as “lacquers” or “master discs” or “acetate discs” (though no acetate is used to make them). Unlike commercially available records, lacquers are not stamped vinyl, but rather lacquer-coated aluminum discs grooved by a cutting lathe. Lacquers would be nickel plated to create a negative image of the grooves, a “father” to be used in developing record-stampers, and, as such, could also be used to evaluate a recording’s suitability for commercial reproduction.
Since test pressings were some of the first records made from a particular stamper, they sometimes have better surface and sound quality than a standard commercial record. Collectors also appreciate the rarity of test pressings, as well as the fact that some vintage demo discs include unreleased songs or different track lists than the final album release.
For example, certain test pressings for Bob Dylan’s 1975 album “Blood on the Tracks” and the Beach Boys 1972 album “Holland” include different songs from the commercial release of those albums. Rarer still are test pressings for albums that never made it to a commercial release, like Five Day Rain’s self-titled album in 1970; The Rolling Stones’ “Golden B-Sides” in 1973 and “The History of the Rolling Stones” in 1975; Frank Zappa’s “Läther” in 1977 and “Crush All Boxes” in 1980; and the Smiths “Reel Around the Fountain” in 1983.
Another variety of test pressings are those made from vintage master recordings or unissued material: Record companies like Columbia and Decca made test pressings like this, some of which have been documented as one-offs made as personal gifts between employees. In more recent years, record labels have released limited-edition records they call “test pressings”—either those made from an unreleased album’s vintage test pressing or simply a small initial run of a new commercial album—to sell directly to fans as instant collectibles.
Continue readingLike galleys in the publishing industry or sales samples in the fashion world, test pressings are vinyl records made to analyze an album before it’s released. Also known as “demo discs,” these records were made in very limited quantities to allow recording artists, production staff, and management the chance to listen to an album before it was mass produced to ensure the production stampers were in full form. Copies were sometimes also shared with industry insiders, such as DJs, to get feedback on the music.
A test pressing is virtually identical to a commercial record aside from its label, which is often entirely or mostly blank. In some cases, record manufacturers would use up obsolete labels for test pressings by flipping them face down so only the blank white side was visible. Other times, special labels were applied that included the words “Test Pressing” along with blank lines where information like the catalog number, date, artist, or other attributes could be written or typed in. Usually, a test pressing would be packaged in a plain white album cover along with a label copy sheet, indicating the text to be printed on the final album.
Test pressings are distinctive from another popular collectible known as “lacquers” or “master discs” or “acetate discs” (though no acetate is used to make them). Unlike commercially available records, lacquers are not stamped vinyl, but rather lacquer-coated aluminum discs grooved by a cutting lathe. Lacquers would be nickel plated to create a negative image of the grooves, a “father” to be used in developing record-stampers, and, as such, could also be used to evaluate a recording’s suitability for commercial reproduction.
Since test pressings were some of the first records made from a particular stamper, they sometimes have better surface and sound quality than a standard commercial record. Collectors also appreciate the rarity of test pressings, as well as the fact that some vintage demo discs include unreleased...
Like galleys in the publishing industry or sales samples in the fashion world, test pressings are vinyl records made to analyze an album before it’s released. Also known as “demo discs,” these records were made in very limited quantities to allow recording artists, production staff, and management the chance to listen to an album before it was mass produced to ensure the production stampers were in full form. Copies were sometimes also shared with industry insiders, such as DJs, to get feedback on the music.
A test pressing is virtually identical to a commercial record aside from its label, which is often entirely or mostly blank. In some cases, record manufacturers would use up obsolete labels for test pressings by flipping them face down so only the blank white side was visible. Other times, special labels were applied that included the words “Test Pressing” along with blank lines where information like the catalog number, date, artist, or other attributes could be written or typed in. Usually, a test pressing would be packaged in a plain white album cover along with a label copy sheet, indicating the text to be printed on the final album.
Test pressings are distinctive from another popular collectible known as “lacquers” or “master discs” or “acetate discs” (though no acetate is used to make them). Unlike commercially available records, lacquers are not stamped vinyl, but rather lacquer-coated aluminum discs grooved by a cutting lathe. Lacquers would be nickel plated to create a negative image of the grooves, a “father” to be used in developing record-stampers, and, as such, could also be used to evaluate a recording’s suitability for commercial reproduction.
Since test pressings were some of the first records made from a particular stamper, they sometimes have better surface and sound quality than a standard commercial record. Collectors also appreciate the rarity of test pressings, as well as the fact that some vintage demo discs include unreleased songs or different track lists than the final album release.
For example, certain test pressings for Bob Dylan’s 1975 album “Blood on the Tracks” and the Beach Boys 1972 album “Holland” include different songs from the commercial release of those albums. Rarer still are test pressings for albums that never made it to a commercial release, like Five Day Rain’s self-titled album in 1970; The Rolling Stones’ “Golden B-Sides” in 1973 and “The History of the Rolling Stones” in 1975; Frank Zappa’s “Läther” in 1977 and “Crush All Boxes” in 1980; and the Smiths “Reel Around the Fountain” in 1983.
Another variety of test pressings are those made from vintage master recordings or unissued material: Record companies like Columbia and Decca made test pressings like this, some of which have been documented as one-offs made as personal gifts between employees. In more recent years, record labels have released limited-edition records they call “test pressings”—either those made from an unreleased album’s vintage test pressing or simply a small initial run of a new commercial album—to sell directly to fans as instant collectibles.
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