What's the best place to get vinyl pressed these days? United? Musicol? Any other joints worth checkin' out?

We got a quote from Pirates Press in SF (they're a middleman for GZ Digital Media in the Czech Republic) that about made our eyes pop out of our heads. $1900 for 500 vinyl LPs, or $1550 for 250. Damn!

Hey all,

Fairly new to this - our band recently cut some tracks that we're currently in the process of mixing. We have five tracks (but could record more, as we have a home studio) and are looking to cut a 7" release with digital download for our first release.

We are based in Brooklyn and I have been doing some research on pressing vinyls and releasing ourselves (as we are without a label/distro). We have checked out some local stuff, along with Morphius, Rainbo, United, some of the bigger ones and they seem pretty reasonable but I am just wondering if anyone has had any other good experiences, specifically with getting good, cheap 7"s?

Had great success with Morphius out of Baltimore. http://www.morphius.com/manufacturing/

Very personable and ended up getting an extra 20 or so records with overages.

Lots of great recommendations here. So I thought I would add one more. 

We were using United for a long time but recently switched everything over to Morohius Records http://www.morphius.com/ . They are located in Baltimore MD and have been really great to work with. 

They are a one stop shop. Covers, vinyl, and CDs. We have had two records done with them, HOLLYWOOD - Stunts and Cheap Freaks - Bury Them All. The quality of the records is amazing. Blows United out of the water. The Cheap Freaks records feel like they are 180 gram and we just went with the standard. They will also place any record you press with them in all the online stores at no extra cost, which is nice. 

Anyway worth checking out. 

You should ask JB from Born Bad Records...

http://www.bornbadrecords.net/disque-manufacture/

Nacker said:

Anyone know of a cheaper pressing plant than GZ in europe?

Rainbo did a great job for me years ago...but my experience with United was painless.  I think there are some other sources listed over at "The Lathe Trolls" site.

Is that the dude that hand-presses stuff? Many moons ago the [pre-Embrooks] Lyds ended up with a NZ hand-pressed clear vinyl 7", that was pretty gravelly but fun. Kinda played a bit like an acetate, i.e. you wouldn't get too many plays out of it before it started to deteriorate...!! 

Thee Wild Wraith said:

Anyone interested in doing short runs might consider Peter King out of New Zealand. He will do minimum runs of 20. His prices are pretty damned cheap as long as you do a small run (like 100 or less). Most people wouldn't want to do that, but I think it's great. Aside from the normal stuff he also does 5"s, 8"s, square records, triangles and custom shaped stuff. Everything he does is on clear vinyl.

He doesn't have a website, you have to call him or write him a letter for a quote. If anyone is interested I can email you his contact info. There are a few videos of him making records up on youtube, do a search for "peter king vinyl".

I was pretty happy with the records he did for me. They look great. I'd say the sound quality is a little lower than a regular record, but still really good in my opinion. He's a good option for smaller bands, and people interested in weird/novelty vinyl. Also he's just a really friendly and helpful guy.

Weirdly, I found it's cheaper to go via Disc Manufacturing Services in Portsmouth [who seem to get all their vinyl pressed by GZ] than it is to deal with GZ directly??! I can only assume that DMS put a lot of business GZ's way and get a better deal...

Nacker said:

Anyone know of a cheaper pressing plant than GZ in europe?

re Europe, we've used vinylfactory for our first two releases. 

a top quality final product; not the cheapest in the UK but would rather push out something which people will want to keep. 

high predigree - it's the old EMI factory at Hayes.

Interesting! Would you send me his email address please?

Thee Wild Wraith said:

Anyone interested in doing short runs might consider Peter King out of New Zealand. He will do minimum runs of 20. His prices are pretty damned cheap as long as you do a small run (like 100 or less). Most people wouldn't want to do that, but I think it's great. Aside from the normal stuff he also does 5"s, 8"s, square records, triangles and custom shaped stuff. Everything he does is on clear vinyl.

He doesn't have a website, you have to call him or write him a letter for a quote. If anyone is interested I can email you his contact info. There are a few videos of him making records up on youtube, do a search for "peter king vinyl".

I was pretty happy with the records he did for me. They look great. I'd say the sound quality is a little lower than a regular record, but still really good in my opinion. He's a good option for smaller bands, and people interested in weird/novelty vinyl. Also he's just a really friendly and helpful guy.

Anyone know of a cheaper pressing plant than GZ in europe?

I would write him. I'll take his address. Jacksn45@gmail.com     also what kind of price was he charging?

Thee Wild Wraith said:

Anyone interested in doing short runs might consider Peter King out of New Zealand. He will do minimum runs of 20. His prices are pretty damned cheap as long as you do a small run (like 100 or less). Most people wouldn't want to do that, but I think it's great. Aside from the normal stuff he also does 5"s, 8"s, square records, triangles and custom shaped stuff. Everything he does is on clear vinyl.

He doesn't have a website, you have to call him or write him a letter for a quote. If anyone is interested I can email you his contact info. There are a few videos of him making records up on youtube, do a search for "peter king vinyl".

I was pretty happy with the records he did for me. They look great. I'd say the sound quality is a little lower than a regular record, but still really good in my opinion. He's a good option for smaller bands, and people interested in weird/novelty vinyl. Also he's just a really friendly and helpful guy.

Anyone interested in doing short runs might consider Peter King out of New Zealand. He will do minimum runs of 20. His prices are pretty damned cheap as long as you do a small run (like 100 or less). Most people wouldn't want to do that, but I think it's great. Aside from the normal stuff he also does 5"s, 8"s, square records, triangles and custom shaped stuff. Everything he does is on clear vinyl.

He doesn't have a website, you have to call him or write him a letter for a quote. If anyone is interested I can email you his contact info. There are a few videos of him making records up on youtube, do a search for "peter king vinyl".

I was pretty happy with the records he did for me. They look great. I'd say the sound quality is a little lower than a regular record, but still really good in my opinion. He's a good option for smaller bands, and people interested in weird/novelty vinyl. Also he's just a really friendly and helpful guy.

Rainbo Records has 100 12"s for $850. Aardvark will master and plate a 12" for $424, and with a current special United can press 100 copies for $314, total of $738.

Has anyone tried Furnace MFG? Just curious... a friend was inquiring about this same thing on Facebook today.

My asshole is still quite sore from my last dealing with United. First time I used them I had nothing but nice things to say, but this time around all kinds of surprise fees. And a missing test press GRRRR
~T

I have always had good results with with pressing with Rainbo Records in Santa Monica CA (now in Canoga Park CA); http://www.rainborecords.com I have heard records pressed by United Records and they are OK. If you can cut your Master Lacquers elsewhere and supply them to them within their specs, then they can sound pretty good. Here is a guy who cuts my Master Lacquers; http://www.groove-o-matic.com It is all MONO though! I have worked with folks that have used several plants in the Czech Republic over the years and they do a good job, but the Shipping Costs and Transit Time (plus exchange rates) sometimes cause havoc with things. Back in the early 1980s there was Imperial Records up in Vancouver BC, but they got busted for pressing Bootlegs (read about that in Clinton Heylin's book "Bootleg: The Other Record Industry") That pretty much killed things up here in Seattle for a while. There have been several record pressing plants that went under in the 90s that their presses ended up sold for scrap metal! Sad. If I had the cash and the space I woulda invested in that equipment. SIGH! Hopefully this helps out someone here.

It seems to me that this could be a pretty lucrative business to open, especially with how CDs aren't selling anymore and more and more bands and labels (even majors) are turning back to pressing vinyl, not to mention the fact that there are very few pressing plants anymore (none in all of Canada? That's insane). I wonder how hard it would be to open a little pressing shop...?

Spin the Bottle Records said:

Since I have moved from the U.S. to Canada pressing records has become quite a bit more expensive. There are no pressing plants in Canada. Now I have to pay extra shipping and duty tax. Very aggravating. I barely break even and even lose money from time to time. Obviously I am not in it to make money, but I sure don't like losing it.

I've heard rumor of a plant opening in Montreal. I hope this happens.

Since I have moved from the U.S. to Canada pressing records has become quite a bit more expensive. There are no pressing plants in Canada. Now I have to pay extra shipping and duty tax. Very aggravating. I barely break even and even lose money from time to time. Obviously I am not in it to make money, but I sure don't like losing it.

I've heard rumor of a plant opening in Montreal. I hope this happens.

rainbo records in canoga park california. i just got 500 7" records for 950 bucks. including everything mastering, plating etc...
best deal ive found.

oh....for LPs, you really cant do it with a real proper jacket for under $1600 roughly.

imprint has bad ass rates on jackets. 500 for like $570 or something.

the cheapest thing I could imagine is that, plus get a United special when they do 490 LPs for $999....this is one of their "usuals" they run now and again...so that brings ya to about $1600.

Then ya gotta buy baggies for another $50. so with the best deals in the world...you still need like $1650...oh fuck...then theres OVERS...the devil overs are...but both of these specials I mentioned fortunately include shipping. But now you have to wait and read when they come back. So you're still lookin at $1700...and to be conservative I would never EVER budget less than 2 grand on an LP. Because theres always a dick coming at my ass from around the corner shadows.

Well, everyone has their own opinion seriously. Keep in mind theres two parts to it...mastering/plating....and THEN pressing. for pressing, United is great. some people have issues with their mastering. The source transferring onto the metal stamper I mean.

GZ Media (and Pirates Press) has some kind of diamond-headed cutting lathe that makes the records louder and more accurate with a lower noise floor I think. well, hence the louder part. they do sound good, but are expensive.

So anyway, in the realm of affordability, I found that lots of people highly recommend Aardvark for vinyl mastering/plating, and for LPs, its ironically CHEAPER than United's own mastering/plating service, and has higher accuracy in the translation supposedly. Now, this is just from talking to bands and people that swear it's a big difference, I've never done a side by side comparison or anything. But I heard it so much that it has to be true.

For pressing the vinyl, just have the mastering people you select (if separate from the pressing plant) send it to the place that does pressing cheapest. Overall, for budget, quality and reliability, the United plant is probably the best combo for the buck in terms of pressing. In a perfect world I would personally do Aardvark mastering, ship to United or Bill Smith for pressing...maybe Rainbo, and then package in Dorado jackets.

On the CHEAP, look for United's specials and pounce. They have some reaaaallly good ones at times that have saved me up to like $400 on a job. Thats a lot for small labels. Thats the short answer to this. I just wanted to break down how you can get high quality for cheap by breaking it up across places.