Lathe-Cut Records

My own lathe-cut records

While it is certainly possible, selling hundreds of vinyl records as a small artist can be challenging without the help from a label in 2024. If this is your case, you may want to consider a "lathe-cut" release.

In a nutshell, unlike a typical vinyl record which is created from molds(stampers), a lathe-cut record is created by "carving"(or in other cases, by "embossing") grooves(sound) on the surface of a blank solid disc with a lathe. This means there is usually no minimum order for lathe-cut records unlike pressed records(200~300 in many cases). However the price-per-unit is more expensive than a pressed record as they can't really be mass-produced. Each disc has to be cut one by one manually in real time.

A general consensus on lathe-cut record(asides from acetate dubplates) is that it sounds inferior to a pressed record. This may be true in a lot of cases; many lathe cutters these days are hobbyists so they may lack knowledge/equipment when compared to an engineer at a professional vinyl pressing plant. If they cut with an ancient 1930's Presto brand lathe that hasn't been maintained in 50 years, the end result may not be so... desirable. If they don't master the audio before cutting, the record will likely sound terrible. Stylus temperature, mastering, disc material, groove spacing, dust control etc... they all play a factor and lathe-cutting is not a simple job. However, given that a cutter knows what they are doing, their cuts could sound comparable to a normal vinyl record to say the least. Make sure you listen to their cuts(most proper cutters supply an audio sample of their previous cut) before ordering. Also check out if they are reputable enough by browsing through forums.

The Dub Crate, Music House(a legend) and 1-800-Dubplate seem to be popular destinations in the UK scene. However I'm sure there are many cutters out there who are as good. Personally I have ordered from Disc Archive in Germany to cut my records. The pricing is good, the audio quality is nice(maybe it lacks a bit of high end compared to a normal record but it's still very playable in club environment). Overall recommended! Just to be clear I ain't sponsored haha.

In case you want to get into lathe-cutting yourself, check out The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls! Finally just wanna say big up Floppi J for building his own lathe, check his page out!