Siamese singles test pressings

[manillascissor]

Hello everyone. This is my first post after having registered a short while ago and visited many times. I have a small Smashing Pumpkins collection (I’d like to acquire more–who wouldn’t?), and one item I have always wanted to find more out about since I got it almost ten years ago. It is a test pressing set of the Siamese singles. They are all on black vinyl in plain white sleeves, with plain white labels. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. I was wondering two things:

1. Does anyone else have a set of these or ever seen them?
2. Does anyone have an idea what they might be worth, individually or as a set?

[some pumpkins]

im not the official vinyl guy here, but i think i can answer this.

there is a test pressing for every vinyl made. whether or not they were destroyed is another question.
worth? ALOT (to me at least) i think the peach rocket tp would be my most desired out of the siamese singles set.

so far there are two of them on the site.

rocket tp [url:12bbznt0]http://www.spfreaks.com/default.aspx?page=COLLDETAILS&item=1115[/url:12bbznt0]

cherub rock tp [url:12bbznt0]http://www.spfreaks.com/default.aspx?page=COLLDETAILS&item=2029[/url:12bbznt0]

[Cool As Ice Cream]

never seen a test pressing for the whole box set. is it just the four singles, or does it actually come in a box? (i guess it doesn’t come in a box.)

i’m not sure if they did a test pressing for the separate singles, and then another test pressing for the box set. i’d guess they didn’t, but i’m not sure.

does someone know: are all known test pressings for these four singles on black vinyl? (some pumpkins mentioned a peach test pressing, but i didn’t expect that to exist.)

anyway, this is worth a lot. it’s very rare, so it’s hard to put a price on it. with things like these the \"value\" is what someone wants to pay for it. $500 for the set? $1000? $1500? more?

[some pumpkins]

i did see a disarm purple tp on here [url:v8jut35g]http://www.spfreaks.com/default.aspx?page=COLLDETAILS&item=1110[/url:v8jut35g]

so i had just figured maybe there would be a rocket peach, cherub rock clear, and today red tp somewhere out there too.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

yes, possibly.

[manillascissor]

today red is on this site already. as is the disarm purple.

i bought the cherub rock clear t/p some years ago, but sold it, so it exists as well.

[manillascissor]

1. I don’t own and have never seen.
2. I wouldn’t dare break these up, since you have all four. You could make quite a little sum of money by selling as a complete set.

[manillascissor]

One more thing.

Why not submit pics for the site?

[pumpkinfan]

One more thing.

Why not submit pics for the site?[/quote:40sltxs8]

Looks like the Cherub Rock one already has a pic. I could submit pics of Today and Disarm, as those don’t look like they have a pic. But I don’t even see the writeup for Rocket. Maybe I missed something?

Someone asked whether the set came in a box. It didn’t (at least I didn’t get one from the person I bought these from). I have a box with the regular edition Siamese Singles, but not with these test pressings.

I should’ve asked this before–are there about 10 of each of these in existence?

By the way, thanks for all the replies so far.

[manillascissor]

Here’s what we have on the site:

Cherub Rock (black):
Cherub Rock (clear): MISSING

Today (red):
Today (black): MISSING

Today PH (black):
Disarm (purple):
Disarm (black):
Rocket (peach): MISSING

Rocket (black):

[Sven]

for any vinyl release, for sure: for any major label vinyl release: there is a test-pressing before the full production pressing run starts.

now:
for the ‘Siamese Singles’ box-

somehow i’ve always assumed/presumed the masters/pressing plates that were used to press the initial (coloured) 7\"-s were used to press the black ones for the ‘Siamese Singles’ box set.

even then:
of course: you’d want to check the pressed material, so there, for sure, were test pressings made for all four singles contained in the ‘Siamese Singles’ box set before the full run of 6.000 copies was churned out.

the box itself would have been manufactured elsewhere, most likely… that is: not at a standard vinyl pressing plant.
just like the mock-ups we’ve seen for TAFH it’s pretty likely there might have been some designs made and presented for examination by the band et al.
for some strange reason the OK-d version however bears a glaring typo which, apparently!, nobody noticed or corrected… or: was corrected per se by someone, but not carried out by the printer…

i’d say therefore there’s no point for any ‘box’ per se to exist with all four test-pressings other than someone buying either the ‘Rocket’ 7\" or the ‘Siamese Singles’ box set and fixing a ‘test-pressing’ \"COPY\" for a ‘major sale or auction’!!!-
i for me just don’t see any practical use for these for test-pressings to come fully packaged in a box of some sort—

my guess:
– for the separate singles, they made test-pressings on the designated and desired colour(ed) vinyl… that way both the pressing quality (sound-wise) and the vinyl colour and all could all in one go be checked…
– for the box, they made new and separate test-pressings from the same master-pressing plates (i think; ‘Purr Snickety’ still sounds as horrible as on the clear vinyl for example) on black vinyl to be sure all was (still) ok-

therefore I ask of you:

could it be: all BLACK test-pressings that we know of and have popped up and all… (the four SD-singles that is, of course!)
are, in fact-
test-pressings for the ‘box’ set pressing(s) of these 7\"s???-
could it be: all COLOURED test-pressings are for the separate release 7\"s???-

to me only this trajectum would make ‘sense’-

what’s your point of view on this???

[Anonymous]

Here’s what we have on the site:

Cherub Rock (clear): MISSING

[/quote:1e6fmsxx]

so the Cherub Rock clear 7" is missing from the site?
umm…I just bought it
I hope I didn’t outbid another freak from it-if so
sorry

[some pumpkins]

^ they’re talking about the test press version

[Anonymous]

oops I suppose it is the test pressing topic
my bad slap me silly

[some pumpkins]

that won’t be necessary

[Collectspumpkins]

Hello everyone. This is my first post after having registered a short while ago and visited many times. I have a small Smashing Pumpkins collection (I’d like to acquire more–who wouldn’t?), and one item I have always wanted to find more out about since I got it almost ten years ago. It is a test pressing set of the Siamese singles. They are all on black vinyl in plain white sleeves, with plain white labels. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. I was wondering two things:

1. Does anyone else have a set of these or ever seen them?
2. Does anyone have an idea what they might be worth, individually or as a set?[/quote:7a6oe4a8]

To close this topic out and put the final nail in the coffin:

1) Yes. There are individual 7" test pressings for both the boxset (black vinyl) and separate colored vinyl versions. I believe that at the height of my collection I had the following:

Cherub Rock Clear 7" Test Press
Cherub Rock Black 7" Test Press
Today Red 7" Test Press
Today Black 7" Test Press
Disarm Purple 7" Test Press
Disarm Black 7" Test Press
Rocket Black 7" Test Press

The only one I missed was the Rocket Peach 7" test press.

Also, just so you know, test pressings would not have come with the box. The box was made for the commercial release to give to the public. Test pressings are made to give to the label to check the sound quality of the 7" before production. Might there be some sample boxes, similar to the prototypes for the AFH box? Possibly, but I’ve never seen one. So if you acquire this set, you are just getting the singles only, no box.

2) As for value, that is always conjecture (what someone is willing to pay for an item, and it differs for each person) and you could probably be safe to assume $100-$150 for each. As for which ones (colored v. black) would be rarer, well I will leave that up for discussion.

Regards.

Shawn

[Cool As Ice Cream]

game, set, match.

well done.

[Sven]

game, set, match.

well done.[/quote:1y23sia2]

yes—!!!

and: there MIGHT not have been any need for a test press for Rocket on peach vinyl…

i.e.—

– the Rocket 7" was released with the box in late 1994.
– the Siamese Singles 4 x 7" was released in the box, around the very same time.

so:

– the pressing plates used to press the black 7" singles for the box—
– for: Cherub Rock, Today and Disarm were ‘tested’ again on black wax—
– for: Rocket: also: on black wax—
– both the run for the Siamese Singles box set inclusion of Rocket—
– and for the Rocket peach 7"—
– were pressed using the same pressing plates—
– which were tested in the same time-frame—
– and which were used in the same time-frame—
– i.e.: from pressing plates ‘tested’ via a ‘test-press’ on ONLY black wax for Rocket—

therefore:

– i highly suspect there was never any need for a test press on peach wax for Rocket—
– and: there might just never have been one to start with—

makes sense, right???

[fernandorees]

I have two of these

[manillascissor]

sell me one then.

[Author]

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