Short runs of lathe cut : where? who?

[andrea]

Hello,

I'm looking for someone able to do short runs of lathe cuts (polycarbonate).
Got several projects to get done, need to find someone with good communication and I can rely on.

At time of writing, projects are 12" albums.

Anyone?

[destro]

http://www.peterkinglathecutrecords.com./

http://www.poly-cut.com/

http://corporaterecords.biz/

There are 3 options for you, good luck!

[andrea]

Thanks Destro!

That's the kind of products I'm looking for.
But, I could need longer than 14 minutes on a 12"LP side...

Peter King is known to be 'out of internet' and I need to find someone whom I can contact using email (no phone).
Another problem is the turntime, and delay in setting a project. To save time and make good business, fast and easy communication is important for me.

[drdub]

shameless self promotion ;

dr. dub at
www.drdub.com

more shameless promotion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_5PqqfL87s

cheers mex

[piaptk]

You will have a hard time finding anyone besides Peter that wants to do full length LPs. For several reasons... Let's say someone cut you a single with 4 min per side for $6, which is a very reasonable price, considering that the polycarbonate cost $2-3, plus cutting needles are very expensive, it takes time to set it up, chances are good that you will ruin a few in the run, and it just takes a lot of time to cut it, plus the cost of the label, blah blah blah. To make the same amount of money on an LP with 18 minutes per side, they would have to charge you 4 1/2 times that: $26. Which would leave you the commisioner no room to make any money or even give any to the band. Another reason is that if the cutter has spent 18 minutes cutting one side, and then there is a screwup in the Bside, not only have they wasted a $4-5 piece of polycarb, but they've also wasted half an hour of their time and that much needle wear. With a single, they are only in to it for a max of 6 or 7 minutes.

It's just not in a cutters best interest to cut LPs for hire, so most don't. The ones that do are dub plate cutters and they will charge you $35+ because they aren't itnended to have more than 1 or 2 made, and certainly aren't meant to be sold. I'm not sure if you've ever had any first hand cutting experience, but, having just gotten into cutting a few years ago after a long time running a label selling Peter Kings lathe cuts, I can tell you, there is a LOT LOT LOT more time, money, and work involved in cutting than you can really imagine until you've done it.

Peter is probably the only one that will cut your LP. I talked to him last night, and he just got out of the hospital for surgery on his eye, but he said he only had a few jobs in the shop at the moment, so his wait time might be less. You just have to stay on him and call him every few weeks until he gets your stuff done. I love Peter, but he does have his faults as far as communication, speediness, etc. However, he is pretty cheap.

Good Luck!

[andrea]

Hi Piaptk,

Thanks for your post. Everything you say makes sense to me.

Is Peter accepting payment by bank transfer?

[piaptk]

Hi Piaptk,

Thanks for your post. Everything you say makes sense to me.

Is Peter accepting payment by bank transfer?

Yeah, that is pretty much the only way to send him money. Just give him a call and he will give you all the details. I've got all the account info if you need it, but it's probably best to check in with him before you send money so he is expecting it. Even though his prices have gone up in the last few years, he is still VERY reasonable, considering what goes in to one of these things. He can do it cheaper than most because of the lower value of the NZ$ and the fact that he runs 4 lathes at a time.

[destro]

You can get an international bank draft and mail it to him if that's easier for you. That's what I've done.

[MEGAMIKE]

hi
i do them ,18min per side ..

[mossboss]

Hey Mega
Seting up shop here are you ????
Cheers

[emorritt]

How many do you need? A pressing run of 100 LP's can be done for around $700 and if you don't need any fancy packaging a little less. Your cost is still around $6 - $7 each unit and you have 100 copies. For just a few, 5 to 10, then yes individual discs are more economical.

[andrea]

How many do you need? A pressing run of 100 LP's can be done for around $700 and if you don't need any fancy packaging a little less. Your cost is still around $6 - $7 each unit and you have 100 copies. For just a few, 5 to 10, then yes individual discs are more economical.

Could be interesting... Any good address for 100 LPs?

[piaptk]

How many do you need? A pressing run of 100 LP's can be done for around $700 and if you don't need any fancy packaging a little less. Your cost is still around $6 - $7 each unit and you have 100 copies. For just a few, 5 to 10, then yes individual discs are more economical.

Could be interesting... Any good address for 100 LPs?

You would just have to look a pressing plant near you. Where are you located?

[destro]

If you want 100 or more, your best bet money wise is to just use a regular pressing plant.

Some people here might disagree, but I only go with lathe cuts for 50 copies or less, after that you might as well spend a little more and use a pressing plant.

I don't know what country you're in, but if you're in the usa you might try Musicol or United Record Pressing. You can find both with a google search.

[piaptk]

I have Used four different us plants and had horrible experiences with all of them except United Record Pressing. Urp is, on my opinion, the best value for the money and the most professional to deal with.

Since you want 23 min+ per side, you should get it mastered at Aardvarkmastering.com, because most pressing plants don't like to cut that long. Aardvark also does some really cool locked grooves, inside out grooves, double grooves, etc. And they are pretty cheap.

[MEGAMIKE]

no money making here ,just vinylove making

[dietrich10]

I agree 100+ should become an actual pressing.

would cost me $736+ shipping.

[mossboss]

Yep
I know that kind of love very well Maga
Read the post's above Pretty Cheap Good work Only 20 Cents a record etc etc etc
Having seen so many pressing plants go out of buis I often wonder where do these people get their realities from to do those kind of post's
May be its the difference between a pro and a vinyl lover with no idea of the cost involved in providing a pressing service as against an amature produced lathe cut on a $1-2500 Presto done in the corner of they bedroom and charge good money for them with zilts overheads
They biggest concern being getting a low cost diamond stylus so as to further erode an already very low $ base
Arghhhhhhhh
Such is Life
Cheers

[piaptk]

Moss, what I think you are not understanding is that Lathe cuts are one of the things that is driving the new interest in vinyl.. which in turn sends you more business... there are not a lot of bands out there that afford to press a record or would be able to sell 3-500 of them if they did. Sure, 100 LPs costs $736, plus $100 shipping+ blank jackets $40 + whatever it costs to print them (silkscreening, etc), and if it is a label doing it (as opposed to a band), then they have to allow the band to make some money and still recoup the labels money. So, now an LP costs $20 for the end consumer to buy...

But with lathe cuts being out there, now ANY band that can sell 20 records can have their music on "vinyl"and not have to worry about losing $1000+, when musicians are generally the poorest of the poor. Then when they have a record, their friends/fans (who may or may not have a turntable) get excited about it and then possibly buy a turntable and subsequently buy more records at stores, which were made by pressing plants like yours. Another nice thing about lathe cuts is the fact that they are made in such a small quantity, it allows for much nicer, homemade packaging options.

It is very rarely that lathe cuts will take anything away from a pressing plant. As I said earlier, very few lathe cutters will make LPs, and 100 copy singles do not have the same economies of scale as 100 copy LPS.

I have pressed lathe cuts as well as about 20 full run records through pressing plants. Some records don't make sense for pressing plants, and some don't make sense for lathe cuts.

Rather than whining about how it is taking food off your table, you should look at the way that it is increasing interest in the whole industry and actually putting money IN your pocket. Look at the whole picture. An affordable diamond would actually help increase your business...

[cymbalism]

I've done 60 full lengths before and made it thru it all ok, just very time consuming work. The beauty part is going to the release party for the album and seeing all 60 get sold for $25 a pop because of the super unique sleeve it was in and hearing feedback from people once they played the lathe cut saying how much they enjoyed it then having a handful of the people who bought it come to you to get their 7"s cut.

There's no way the lathe cut will ever replace the pressed vinyl but for little guys wanting a record in this world of homemade cdrs and mp3s, it works until they can afford the pressed disc.