BEST SOUNDING 7" INCH LATHE CUT RECORDS & LATHE CUTS

 Located 2 miles from Green Point Brooklyn NY

Specializing In Custom Embossed Lathe Record Cutting 

• Black & Clear Records
• Lacquer Cutting In Stereo
• Custom Embossed Lathe Cut Records In Mono
• 7" Square Records

What Are Lathe Cut Records And Lathe Cuts ?

Lathe  cut records are recorded on clear or black polycarbonate, each lathe  cut record starts out as a 7 1/2" inch square, then it is trimmed into a  round disc after it's recorded, this is the way I do them. Others use  round blanks for the ease and convenience, but at a higher cost per  disc. Lacquer lathe cuts can be both in stereo or mono, polycarbonate  can only be embossed, and has to be MONO.

Diamond Cut Vs. Embossed

Diamond cut Pros & Cons:

• Stable groove tracking
• Excellent audio quality
• Louder cuts
• Good stereo separation.
• Lower surface noise at -65 db
• Cost $20 to $30 per disc

Embossed records Pros & Cons:

• Lower audio volume -10db
• No stereo separation
• Skips easily if recorded louder
• Low surface noise at -40 db 
• Excellent audio quality 20Hz -14Khz
• Less expensive than lacquer and diamond cut
• Cost $8 to $12 per disc

My  records are mono because you can not emboss stereo, even with a stereo  cutter head,. My records have a full frequency range from 20 Hz to  14Khz, you really don't need 15 Khz unless you like destroying your  cutter head or speakers.

They Are Not Pressed Records.

Today  people call them vinyl record pressings, but they are not, they are,  embossed records  and vinyl pressings are a different thing altogether,  we specialize in embossing 7" inch discs that are made from clear or  black polycarbonate plastic.

Lacquer  acetate records are very different, they are aluminum lacquer coated  discs, also recorded one at a time. Polycarbonate records are made by  embossing grooves into plastic, using a stereo or mono record cutting  lathe. Lacquers are cut and can not be embossed. These lathes were  normally used in the production and manufacturing process for vinyl  records, by cutting a lacquer master discs, then electroplated to make  the metal stampers used by the pressing plants.

An alternative to pressing vinyl records.

Lathe  cut records & lathe cuts recorded on a cutting lathe uses a moving  voice coil to drive a stylus that engraves the sound waves onto the  disc.

This  method has long been used for producing lacquer masters, which are then  used to make metal stampers for pressing vinyl records. Most of the  machines used for this purpose were manufactured pre-1960.

Vinyl And Polycarbonate

They  are two different things, one is "vinyl" and the other is  "polycarbonate", Pressed vinyl discs with no grooves can't be embossed,  it may be possible to be cut it with a diamond stylus, but a very costly  process, especially the amount of time a diamond stylus last, only 10  hours, at $200 a pop. Where as polycarbonate records can be cut or  embossed. Embossing styli can last up to 200 hours, this is a more  economical way of making one off records by recording them with a  sapphire embossing stylus.

7.5 " Inch Squares

Square records have the same playing time as a round 7" inch disc 45 or 33. Same price as the round 7 inch disc.

7" inch Round

Maximum  number of records I will make per order is 20, Minimum order is 2 for clear  and 2 for black polycarbonate with 2 audio files for each disc. Do not  ask me to do 20 different songs for each record, because this involves  changing settings for each cut, even for a few records.This also applies  to EP's, NO MIX and MATCH.

12" inch Lp 

I  can make a 12" inch, disc no problem, but I'm very reluctant to do so.  This is because intermittent bursts of surface noise can pop up randomly  at the OUTSIDE DIAMETER of the record, no matter who embosses them, if  this happens the entire 12 inch round disc, or a 13 x 13 inch square  sheet is scraped.

X-Ray Film

Since  the 1980's many people have begun experimenting with these lathes to  produce one-offs records, using clear polycarbonate plastic, using  materials such as picnic plates, squares sheets, and X-Ray film. X-ray  film when embossed is extremely noisy, this is the reason why I will not  do them.

Embossing Plastic Vs. Lacquer Cutting

Polycarbonate  plastic is not to be confused with Plexi Glass. Plexi can not be cut or  embossed with a sapphire or diamond stylus. On the other hand a lacquer  disc can only be cut with a sapphire stylus, it is not possible to  embossed lacquer.

Stereo HIFI phonograph records 

Lacquers  can be recorded in stereo or mono, a lacquer recorded with a stereo  cutter head will result in a great stereo playback, embossing a  polycarbonate disc with a stereo cutter head will result in a MONO play  back with a very small amount of stereo separation and it will skip  badly when playing it back.

Lock Grooves

Manny  have asked if I can cut LOCKED GROOVES, yes. I'm not willing to do so,  because It involves many different tracks on one side of a disc. This  means setting up levels for each track, it would be so time consuming  and a chance for error in losing the entire side, as I don't charge a  set-up fee.

Sibilant Vocal Tracks 

De-essing  (also de-sibilizing) is any technique intended to reduce or eliminate  excessive highs in the recording or the prominence of sibilant  consonants, such as the sounds normally found in the vocal track by "s"  and "sh", in recordings of the human voice.

Sibilant lies  in frequencies anywhere between 2–10 kHz, depending on the individual's  dental work.This causes havoc in record cutting.

I WILL NOT FIX THIS THIS, THIS IS THE STUDIO'S RESPONSIBILITY. 

All AUDIO IS TRANSFERRED "AS-IS"

I'll throw in the Behringer 9024 Ultra-Dyne to clean up some sibilance.

Recommended Cartridge For Playing Lathe Cut Records, are Stanton 681's or most magnetic cartridges.

• Pricing For Clear Records
• 7" Disc - 45 rpm - 4:00 mins. max.  $8
• 7" Disc  - 33 rpm EP  6:30 mins. max.  $10
• Minimum order is 2 for clear
• Add .50 cents per blank label

• Pricing For Black Records
• 7" Disc - 45 rpm - 4:00 mins. max.  $20
• 7" Disc  - 33 rpm EP 6:30 mins. max.  $22
• Minimum order is 2 for black.
• Add .50 cents per blank label

• Stanton 681 D6800SL after market imitation works the best.
• Anti skating must be set correctly in order to work.
• Embossed records will not play backwards.
• A warned out needle will tend to skip.
• Turntables that don't have a counter weighted tone arm.

• A heavy tone arm will tend to skip.
• Crosley record player or similar may or my not work.
• A magnetic is more preferable.
• Embossed records that are recorded louder tend to skip more.
• Playback stylus pressure no more than 3.5 grams.

There is a trade-off - Your Choice

• LOUDER CUT = The possibility for SKIPPING
• SOFTER CUT = Lower volume = zero chance for SKIPPING
• If your record skips, NO DO OVERS
• No refunds