Australias last vinyl press

[treeboy]

Short piece on the Beeb today

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29628063

Intrigued by the "missing auto presses" in Brazil!. How can one go missing?

[von staubig]

Methinks that if a producer goes out of business, there will not be anybody in the market for a second hand press so it will just be abandoned and eventually forgotten about and so goes 'missing'.
Are there many producers left in the UK?

[The Divine One]

Methinks that if a producer goes out of business, there will not be anybody in the market for a second hand press so it will just be abandoned and eventually forgotten about and so goes 'missing'.
Are there many producers left in the UK?

Any producers?! As far as I'm aware, nobody's manufactured a record pressing machine since the 1970s, possibly the 1960s. It's just ancient machines which work round the clock, break down, get serviced, press a few hundred thousand more records, break down etc.

From what I hear, getting vinyl pressed is a nightmare right now. Waiting times of three months are standard, largely due to major labels clogging up the presses for Record Store Day. The same major labels which were very keen on putting independent shops out of business, when they could shift millions of CDs in supermarkets. And the same major labels who (allegedly) bought pressing machines in the late 80s and dumped them in the sea...*

*if this story can be verified, I'd be keen to hear some background...

[treeboy]

Right, where's me snorkel?
I'd be keen to hear more on that too. Sounds crazy enough to be true.

Could it be this?

http://www.audioculture.co.nz/scenes/truth-and-legend-the-hmv-and-emi-recording-studios-and-pressing-plant

[Viva Chiba]

I wonder how much it would actually cost to construct a new pressing unit from scratch, using modern-fangled technology? Surely this could be achieved ... but I suppose it would be considered too much of a risky investment, despite the perennially stale 'vinyl revival' stories circulated by our 'news' outlets ...

[AlanP]

Right, where's me snorkel?
I'd be keen to hear more on that too. Sounds crazy enough to be true.

Could it be this?
http://www.audioculture.co.nz/scenes...pressing-plant

that's been a great old legend here, and I think Peter Mc's finally cracked it. but if every plant that was supposed to be dumped in a harbour here showed up, well, we'd have lots.

[von staubig]

Any producers?! As far as I'm aware, nobody's manufactured a record pressing machine since the 1970s, possibly the 1960s. It's just ancient machines which work round the clock, break down, get serviced, press a few hundred thousand more records, break down etc.

Sorry, you misunderstood me. I meant are there many producers of vinyl records not presses.

[treeboy]

There's a few on here

http://monoequipped.wordpress.com/vinyl-pressing-plants/

be interesting to find out about some of the smaller operations

[jb stanislas]

There's a few on here

http://monoequipped.wordpress.com/vinyl-pressing-plants/

be interesting to find out about some of the smaller operations

I recall some talk, locally, about Corduroy. Dont know if it;s current.

http://www.corduroy.com.au/index.php?id=1

[Jazzman Gerald]

I wonder how much it would actually cost to construct a new pressing unit from scratch, using modern-fangled technology? Surely this could be achieved ... but I suppose it would be considered too much of a risky investment, despite the perennially stale 'vinyl revival' stories circulated by our 'news' outlets ...

GZ are doing it, the first new presses to be built anywhere in the world since the early '80s. It's true that demand is huge at the moment, all the European plants are working 24/7 and have a long backlog which is a real nuisance, especially when all these extra records they're making are mostly pop rubbish.