white label copies of records - YAY or NAY?

maxveritech

as we all know, white label / test pressings of records play an important role in the promotion of any release, but there seem to be two schools of thoughts on the value of white labels:on one hand, they are less valuable than the regular release version because you don't get the label, nice sleeve etcbut on the other hand, it's a pre-release version and harder-to-find version of a piece, hence is scarcer.just curious as to people's stances on this... personally i like whites as you can just go to town on the records and scribble a million and one different things on 'em... vinyl graf is ace!cheersmax

youngEINSTEIN

if there's a record i really like i will seek a white label copy. from my experience the white labels sound better. first off the press= better sound quality to these ears. peace, stein. . .

Kinetic

YAY

spelunk

Yay, especially when I'm staring at the 20 or so that I pulled this weekend. Not only are they technically rarer, but it gurantees a first press in situations when there is confusion.

I don't know how valuable they are though in comparison to the OG. I've got a test press of Issac Hayes - Black Moses.

karlophone

Max - theres a diff between a white label promo pressing and an acetate/test press.

WLP do have the full art, jacket, lyric sheet, inserts, etc. they differ from a standard press in that the label is marked promotional in some way (and is white or other not-normal color(s), and theres usually a sticker or stamp on the cover (but not always)

test press/acetates have no sleeve or art, etc.

as for my choice: i love WLPs. earlier pressing etc.

note that there are times when the WLP is in mono and the regular one only came in stereo (or vice versa). those are extra cool/$.

test pressings are cool too, but in a way i dislike the lack of art etc. unless its an artist i 'seriously' collect, where having the test press is cool. and yeah, sometimes they sound quite different from the final version, which is sweet.

value: for common records, a minty WLP can be only a hair more $ than the regular.
the older/rarer the record, the more the WLP. a good rule of thumb is anything from the early 70s and back on WLP can be 1.5 to 2x more than the regular one (if anyone cares about the record of course.)

then theres WLP stuff like led zeppelin 1 and 2, cream wheels of fire mono, 'audition copies' of early dylan on columbia, etc. those are humdreds if not more in some cases.

ExtraExtra

I don't really care either way unless there is something significantly bad about one or the other.

ariel_calmer

I'm pretty indifferent as well. A WLP is a nice touch but I wouldn't go out of my way to upgrade. Like I enjoy my WLP of "texas twister" but wouldn't really care if I had a regular press.

Skip Drinkwater

test press/acetates have no sleeve or art, etc.

I found a test press of "One Nation Under A Groove" the other day, that comes in the actual cover, along with a piece of paper than lists the songs, label, writers, etc. The label on the vinyl itself though, was all white with only "Warner Bros" written, along with a warning that says this is only for authorized personal and shouldn't be sold or distributed, blah blah. I was excited to find the test press being that it's one of my favorite LP's of all time. Plus it was in great shape.

SoulOnIce

I'm pretty indifferent as well. A WLP is a nice touch but I wouldn't go out of my way to upgrade. Like I enjoy my WLP of "texas twister" but wouldn't really care if I had a regular press.

There is a definite plus if only for a moment
of satisfaction when you check a disc on a find
like a rare Atlantic title and it's a WLP. Always
feels like some sort of enhanced score, tangible or
not.

An odd thing are releases that are harder to find in
stock copy than promo ... there are tons of these, including
a majority of the Embryo catalog. I feel like every Air, Brute Force,
Floating Opera, etc, etc I have ever seen were WLP with sticker.

karlophone

An odd thing are releases that are harder to find in
stock copy than promo ... there are tons of these, including
a majority of the Embryo catalog. I feel like every Air, Brute Force,
Floating Opera, etc, etc I have ever seen were WLP with sticker.

yeah, very true. i think this happened when the original advance orders tanked, (due to label non promotion or whatever) so the distributors said fuck it and the manufacturers either didnt press regulars or destroyed the ones they did press - or they went straight to cut out bins. therefore the white labels that went to record stores and radio far outnumber surviving regular copies. records that basically no one bought (at least not for full retail) when they came out.

Skip Drinkwater

I'm pretty indifferent as well. A WLP is a nice touch but I wouldn't go out of my way to upgrade. Like I enjoy my WLP of "texas twister" but wouldn't really care if I had a regular press.

There is a definite plus if only for a moment
of satisfaction when you check a disc on a find
like a rare Atlantic title and it's a WLP. Always
feels like some sort of enhanced score, tangible or
not.

An odd thing are releases that are harder to find in
stock copy than promo ... there are tons of these, including
a majority of the Embryo catalog. I feel like every Air, Brute Force,
Floating Opera, etc, etc I have ever seen were WLP with sticker.

Don't forget Mainstream. There are ceretain records on that label I have never seen stock copies of.

Jonny_Paycheck

I just bought 100 or so Atlantic (& affiliated) white label tests and acetates from th 60s & 70s in plain sleeves. Many of them only have the cat. number so some research will be necessary.

Among them was a VELVET UNDERGROUND TEST PRESSING. (alas, it was Loaded, on Cotillion) The other identifiably cool record in the batch was a white label ACETATE of the Dynamics LP on Cotillion.

They'll be going straight to ebay so I suppose we'll all see what they're worth.