Getting a vinyl pressed (1 Viewer)

[axer]

Hey y'all,
A friend of mine recently recorded an album and semi-released it. Anyways for his birthday commin up i was gonna get it pressed to vinyl for him (and for me too!). The album was recorded in Sun studios, temple bar. I have a fair idea of sound and the recording process etc but not anything to do with vinyls. I will probably only get 5-10 pressed (depending on the cost). I have only recently bought my first turntable and vinyls (me tinks they are nicer to listen to than cds).
So i have a few questions that maybe people could answer:
What is the best way to go about getting the vinyl pressed?
Would the master cd be sufficient or should i get the datatapes (at least I think they got some) that they have from the recording studio?
Can you please recommend places (and their websites if possible) that i can get this done? - I've been told that the czech republic is probably the best place to get them done (moneywise that is).
Thanks for any advice.

 

[guy of the tiger]

as far as I know, not many people will press that few for you, and if those who do would be wazzo expensive

Hey y'all,
A friend of mine recently recorded an album and semi-released it. Anyways for his birthday commin up i was gonna get it pressed to vinyl for him (and for me too!). The album was recorded in Sun studios, temple bar. I have a fair idea of sound and the recording process etc but not anything to do with vinyls. I will probably only get 5-10 pressed (depending on the cost). I have only recently bought my first turntable and vinyls (me tinks they are nicer to listen to than cds).
So i have a few questions that maybe people could answer:
What is the best way to go about getting the vinyl pressed?
Would the master cd be sufficient or should i get the datatapes (at least I think they got some) that they have from the recording studio?
Can you please recommend places (and their websites if possible) that i can get this done? - I've been told that the czech republic is probably the best place to get them done (moneywise that is).
Thanks for any advice.

 

[taubstumm]

you'll have to get a glass master made regardless of how many copies you want. it'll cost a couple of hundred euros at least.

as far as i know, there are a couple of places in london that do 12" vinyl without doing a glass master, but it's just test pressings so you can only play them a few times before the quality starts to degrade rapidly.

it'll pretty much cost you the same to do 5 copies as it would to do 500 copies; about a grand if it's an album.

but then, why not actually do 500 copies, relsease the album properly and let everyone hear it? that'd be a great birthday pressie.

 

[axer]

thanks for the advice guys, i think i will get him a pair of socks!
l8r.

 

[taubstumm]

thanks for the advice guys, i think i will get him a pair of socks!
l8r.

i hope we haven't put you off; take a look at gzcd's vinyl price list and see if that's any use to you. you could also write them an email explaining what you want to do and see if they can help out.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

You need to get them Lathe cut if you want as few as that. There was a place in New Zealand that did it(cant remember the name) I remember it was a minimum of 20 or something and I think they worked out about 15/20 quid each but that was a few years ago. I'll try and find out for you if I remember. also the quality is not great so be warned.

 

[Goodbye]

That place in NZ is no more... They did a short run of Beastie Boys 7inchz and then went bust... A little Kiwi told me...

 

[egg_]

Saw a thing on the web a while ago advertising a home lathe-cutting thing, where you could just hook up a source to your cutter, pop on a blank vinyl disc and away you go
Probably cost an arm and a leg though

 

[Evil Lizzie]

I will probably only get 5-10 pressed (depending on the cost).

I dunno - €200 isn't a bad price to pay for a vinyl when you think about it

 

[egg_]

This place does vinyl in v small quantities (1-10 copies)
http://www.dubshop.dk/

They probably use one of these
http://www.vestax.com/products/vrx2000.htm

 

[kevin gallen]

This place does vinyl in v small quantities (1-10 copies)
http://www.dubshop.dk/

They probably use one of these
http://www.vestax.com/products/vrx2000.htm

$9000 would take quite a few bands to chip in for that

 

[Rimbaud]

thanks for the advice guys, i think i will get him a pair of socks!
l8r.

Socks are a bit cheaper alright!

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

THIS is what you need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3284&item=5729917992&rd=1

 

[Pantone247]

THIS is what you need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3284&item=5729917992&rd=1

cheaper still...

I wonder is their a business oppurtunity staring us in the face here...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3284&item=5730937234&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

 

[aoboa]

I don't think there is anywhere left doing Lathe cuts. Besides the quality is pretty damn poor anyway and they only last a little longer than a Dubplate.

Best bet is to find somewhere that will do a white label run (aimed more at dance music obviously) like this place:
http://www.europadisk.com/djspec.html
Google search will turn up loads more. Press 50/100 and give the rest away as promos or sell.

Other option is to get a Dubplate cut - these are basically the same as an acetate/lacquer but not as big. Sometimes called a reference cut. These are €40/€50 sometimes more... depends where you go. 20 plays and they're pretty f**ked though but they're listenable for up to 50 plays.

Tom:
Glass master is for CD production. Vinyl is more complex. Normal production process is in four stages:
Lacquer/Acetate -> Plating (inverse of Lacquer) -> Metalwork (metal copy of Lacquer) -> Stamper (used to press the records.
Normally considered as three processes: Cut -> Metalwork -> Press (unless you go for DMM)
So, you need either a Lacquer or Metalwork as your master for a pressing plant. A lot of pressing plants won't accept Metalwork though, prefering to take the process from the Lacquer on.

 

[aoboa]

http://www.dubstudio.co.uk

A bit late but this place does really high quality durable PVC dubplates.