White Swirl

Nashville vinyl records maker key to Jack White's fastest single expands

Amid a vinyl records resurgence, one of the nation's leading vinyl record makers, United Record Pressing LLC, is expanding operations into a second location to try and meet demand. The Nashville-based record maker paid $5.5 million for a 142,000-square-foot warehouse site on Allied Drive off Nolensville Pike where it plans to add 16 presses and storage space.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/r ... m/8604167/

Maybe after they open the annex, they'll be able to press the records for the Desert Gold sets...

All smart-ass joking aside, this is terrific news for URP, their clients, and us.

My guide on the tour openly told me that even after they expand they will still be under machined and employed to keep up with all the orders. They said the last few years has had a major increase in vinyl sales and shows no signs of slowing down.

Gotta assume that they're got plans to expand both machinery and staff as soon as they're able to. At least one would hope so.

This is great news. I was under the impression that there wasn't the ability to make new vinyl pressing machines. That everyone that has them currently, has to keep taking parts from older, broken down machines to be used. I wonder if they found out a way to "modernize" vinyl pressing and build new machines or found some unused machines somewhere else they plan to rehab.

oojavaguru wrote:This is great news. I was under the impression that there wasn't the ability to make new vinyl pressing machines. That everyone that has them currently, has to keep taking parts from older, broken down machines to be used. I wonder if they found out a way to "modernize" vinyl pressing and build new machines or found some unused machines somewhere else they plan to rehab.

You are right. You can't get new machines. They don't make them anymore so as you said, they either have to acquire them from someone else who is no longer using them, or build frankenstein machines from old parts.

I wonder how long before this extra plant is up and running. It would be great if the extension plant was dedicated to TMR only.

Hopefully they'll finally have room for a QC department.

arewhyehen wrote:

oojavaguru wrote:This is great news. I was under the impression that there wasn't the ability to make new vinyl pressing machines. That everyone that has them currently, has to keep taking parts from older, broken down machines to be used. I wonder if they found out a way to "modernize" vinyl pressing and build new machines or found some unused machines somewhere else they plan to rehab.

You are right. You can't get new machines. They don't make them anymore so as you said, they either have to acquire them from someone else who is no longer using them, or build frankenstein machines from old parts.

If someone were on the ball, they'd figure out how to build those machines and start producing them.

Kali Durga wrote:

arewhyehen wrote:

oojavaguru wrote:This is great news. I was under the impression that there wasn't the ability to make new vinyl pressing machines. That everyone that has them currently, has to keep taking parts from older, broken down machines to be used. I wonder if they found out a way to "modernize" vinyl pressing and build new machines or found some unused machines somewhere else they plan to rehab.

You are right. You can't get new machines. They don't make them anymore so as you said, they either have to acquire them from someone else who is no longer using them, or build frankenstein machines from old parts.

If someone were on the ball, they'd figure out how to build those machines and start producing them.

Haha, I really don't see that being a profitable business. The start up costs would be astronomical and most pressing plants are already in business and doing just fine without new equipment. It's not really something that is going to grow enough to sell enough new machines. Even if some plants purchased new equipment, it's not like they will be needing new machines each year, so your sales would die fast.

But it doesn't need to be a new business. Do all machinery manufacturers specialize in only one sort of machine? Couldn't an existing company add pressing machines to their scope?

Obviously I know nothing about the machinery business, but it's as valid a speculation as anything else that goes on here.

It's not only the pressing machines that aren't made any longer, it's everything in the chain for making records. New cutting machines haven't been made since the 60s. People working on the machines, the cutting heads, and are familiar with the formulation of plating are retiring. It's a real possibility that if folks don't apprentice in these areas, the art of record production could be lost. It's a strange industry to be based on technology that was in it's height in the the first half of the 1900s. A lot of equipment was scrapped when tape based systems came along.

rsimms3 wrote:It's not only the pressing machines that aren't made any longer, it's everything in the chain for making records. New cutting machines haven't been made since the 60s. People working on the machines, the cutting heads, and are familiar with the formulation of plating are retiring. It's a real possibility that if folks don't apprentice in these areas, the art of record production could be lost. It's a strange industry to be based on technology that was in it's height in the the first half of the 1900s. A lot of equipment was scrapped when tape based systems came along.

if that is true, as long as I could make a livable wage, sign me up for that apprentice ship!

I would be in contact with places like Welcome to 1979 in Nashville in that case. They are the outfit that records live to tape the Upstairs at URP series of releases. They are having a live-to-lathe recording session on May 5th. You can stream it live here: http://welcometo1979.com/News.html