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record pressing questions

maxveritechmaxveritech 87 Posts
edited May 2006 in Strut Central
Gday again!Just a question for anyone whose had experience with different pressing plants: I'm going through the process of compiling quotes from different places around the world. At the moment, it looks like United Record Pressing in NAshville is leading the field in terms of price for a couple hundred 7"s HOWEVER i noticed they're making a big point about letting customers know that if their music contains any kind of "sample", they will not press the record. Now obviously I'm not planning on sampling a massive slab of Pussy Cat Dolls or whatever is leading the charts at the moment, but I'm just wondering if anyone here has pressed with United and if their music was sample-based, what kind of experiences they had.I'm also looking at GZ Media in Czechoslovakia (the place where all us hardcore producers got wax pressed back in the golden ages on hardcore techno) but since they've been taken over, the prices are nowhere near what they used to be!Does anyone else have any recommendations for plants with decent 7" prices? For the Aussies, I've emailed Nick at Corduroy here but haven't heard back from him yet - he's known to give good prices for smaller independent labels...Thanks again everyone!cheersmax

  Comments

  • lucerolucero 425 Posts
    max, there was a recent thread on this here on the strut - click here


    and a related australian discussion here
  • maxveritechmaxveritech 87 Posts
    gday lucero - been a little while mate! hope things are treating you well over east! good to see blaze is still keeping himself busy..

    thanks for the links and i apologise to other 'strutters for digging up (pardon the pun) old stuff!
  • anasarcasmanasarcasm 365 Posts
    I'd like to co-sign on everything that Bambouche said in the linked thread. It was almost word for word what I was going to suggest to you. But i'd like to add that I had terrible experience with recordpressing.com. Who messed up my order; forgetting to shrink wrap our LP's, lagged on refunding, etc. United is also fairly inconsistent, and the sample clearence thing is a drag.

    Have you checked King Records New Zealand? I'm not sure if shipping would be much cheaper to Australia. They do odd shapes and odd sizing, and small runs. We did an 8" record with them recently which was nice.



    max, there was a recent thread on this here on the sturut - click here


    and a related australian discussion here
  • maxveritechmaxveritech 87 Posts
    I'd like to co-sign on everything that Bambouche said in the linked thread. It was almost word for word what I was going to suggest to you. But i'd like to add that I had terrible experience with recordpressing.com. Who messed up my order; forgetting to shrink wrap our LP's, lagged on refunding, etc. United is also fairly inconsistent, and the sample clearence thing is a drag.

    Have you checked King Records New Zealand? I'm not sure if shipping would be much cheaper to Australia. They do odd shapes and odd sizing, and small runs. We did an 8" record with them recently which was nice.

    Oh yeah, King is gold! I've used them for years with all my hardcore projects years ago. The quality of pressing has gone up dramatically over the years. For short runs, most definitely - and I probably will put out some limited edition beats and remixes just for the hell of it - but would like "proper" pressings for the "main" label!

    From the sounds of things, looks like I should give United the flick..! Thanks for the advice gentlemen!
  • Rob_SevierRob_Sevier 150 Posts
    I'd like to co-sign on everything that Bambouche said in the linked thread. It was almost word for word what I was going to suggest to you. But i'd like to add that I had terrible experience with recordpressing.com. Who messed up my order; forgetting to shrink wrap our LP's, lagged on refunding, etc. United is also fairly inconsistent, and the sample clearence thing is a drag.

    Have you checked King Records New Zealand? I'm not sure if shipping would be much cheaper to Australia. They do odd shapes and odd sizing, and small runs. We did an 8" record with them recently which was nice.

    Oh yeah, King is gold! I've used them for years with all my hardcore projects years ago. The quality of pressing has gone up dramatically over the years. For short runs, most definitely - and I probably will put out some limited edition beats and remixes just for the hell of it - but would like "proper" pressings for the "main" label!

    From the sounds of things, looks like I should give United the flick..! Thanks for the advice gentlemen!

    What a number of people have discovered is that Unired considers you guilty until proven innocent, as far as samples go. If it sounds sampled, they consider it an illegal sample. One way to potentially get around this is to get the master lacquers cut at Aardvark (www.aardvarkmastering.com), which is cheaper than getting them cut at United anyway. Then, it'll depend on whether or not they go out of their way to listen to your test pressing, which they often don't. I know of at least one case in which they did, however. The producer had to get their plates and stampers shipped back to them, and they were out a little dough. It ends up just being a hassle, more than anything.

    But don't go ahead assuming that you'll slip by with United. Keep your fingers crossed until the pressing arrives.
  • RustyBRustyB 223 Posts
    I'd like to co-sign on everything that Bambouche said in the linked thread. It was almost word for word what I was going to suggest to you. But i'd like to add that I had terrible experience with recordpressing.com. Who messed up my order; forgetting to shrink wrap our LP's, lagged on refunding, etc. United is also fairly inconsistent, and the sample clearence thing is a drag.

    Have you checked King Records New Zealand? I'm not sure if shipping would be much cheaper to Australia. They do odd shapes and odd sizing, and small runs. We did an 8" record with them recently which was nice.

    Oh yeah, King is gold! I've used them for years with all my hardcore projects years ago. The quality of pressing has gone up dramatically over the years. For short runs, most definitely - and I probably will put out some limited edition beats and remixes just for the hell of it - but would like "proper" pressings for the "main" label!

    From the sounds of things, looks like I should give United the flick..! Thanks for the advice gentlemen!

    What a number of people have discovered is that Unired considers you guilty until proven innocent, as far as samples go. If it sounds sampled, they consider it an illegal sample. One way to potentially get around this is to get the master lacquers cut at Aardvark (www.aardvarkmastering.com), which is cheaper than getting them cut at United anyway. Then, it'll depend on whether or not they go out of their way to listen to your test pressing, which they often don't. I know of at least one case in which they did, however. The producer had to get their plates and stampers shipped back to them, and they were out a little dough. It ends up just being a hassle, more than anything.

    But don't go ahead assuming that you'll slip by with United. Keep your fingers crossed until the pressing arrives.

    ACME in Canada is pretty good, and so is A&R in Dallas.. my 2 cents
  • maxveritechmaxveritech 87 Posts

    ACME in Canada is pretty good, and so is A&R in Dallas.. my 2 cents

    Thanks for the info! Acme I've checked out, haven't come across A&R in my travels though.. do they have a website or are they only contactable via phone? Can't seem to find an online home for them...
  • PABLOPABLO 1,921 Posts
    I see Archer is doing 7"s now.
    Anybody wanna vouch for them?
  • maxveritechmaxveritech 87 Posts
    I see Archer is doing 7"s now.
    Anybody wanna vouch for them?

    Noticed that too, I hit 'em up for an online quote and waiting to hear back from them... from what i saw online their prices look pretty good!
  • kwalitykwality 620 Posts
    I think Zenith in Melbourne are worth speaking to- I met their mastering engineer the other day and he's a gun. If he touches it I'm sure you'll get a good pressing. He's been doing it a long time and definately knows his stuff. Check them out at http://www.zenithrecords.org/

    By the way, I'm not connected to obese!
  • karlophonekarlophone 1,697 Posts
    Bill Smith in El Segundo did mine, high quality and they didnt give a f what was on it. Mastered it with the guy (what was his name..??) who used to be on SMBlvd (hollywood) but recently moved to ???. that guy was (hopefully still is) a mastering master.
  • maxveritechmaxveritech 87 Posts
    I think Zenith in Melbourne are worth speaking to- I met their mastering engineer the other day and he's a gun. If he touches it I'm sure you'll get a good pressing. He's been doing it a long time and definately knows his stuff. Check them out at http://www.zenithrecords.org/

    By the way, I'm not connected to obese!

    Cheers! checked 'em out today! The prices are certainly a lot higher than elsewhere but I think it's important to support local business - plus they make a point about being environmentally sound, so that sits well with me!
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