High Quality, In House, All Analog Mastering


Mastering is the process by which your audio gets cut into grooves on a lacquer disc that will ultimately become the metal master stamper that your record will be made from.

That means the best mastering equipment and most experienced mastering engineer are essential for getting the best record. Our mastering engineer, John Hull, has been cutting records for over 60 years and has mastered thousand of records. His cutting system includes a modified 1944 Scully lathe with Westrex cutting head and all tube cutting amplifier. The cutting is done directly from playback unit to amplifier to cutting head. This means none of the digital delay typically found in the mastering line is present to degrade the sound of your music.

More information on Studio C can be found here.




Laquer Cutting


Included in the cost of your Musicol vinyl pressing job is in-house mastering (lacquer cutting). We also do mastering for other pressing plants. We can do standard or custom lathe cuts for any vinyl prodiction run. Mastering Prices are listed below.

Standard Laquer Cutting

7"
$75 (per side)
12"
$150 (per side)

Custom Laquer Cutting

Locking Groove (per)
+$25
Inside Out Cut (per side)
+$50

When supplying CD masters, your music should be supplied to us in Redbook Standard CD format. It should be playable on a standard CD player. There is a $30 charge for any format changes needed. There is no extra charge to cut your master from 1/4" analog tape. However, your tape should have test tones, and be sequenced and ready to play. Any additional sequencing done in house will be billed as studio time at $55/hr.




Dub Plates / One Off Records


We offer dub-plate cutting services. We use the same all analog mastering setup to cut dub-plates (one off records). Pricing and suggested time per side are listed below.

Standard Dub-Plate Cutting

7"
$65
10"
$75
12"
$85

Custom Dub-Plate Cutting

Locking Groove (per)
+$35
Inside Out Cut (per side)
+$60


Suggested Dub-Plate Time Per Side

  7" @33rpm  
  06min:00sec  
  7" @45rpm  
  04min:30sec  
  10" @33rpm  
  07min:45sec  
  10" @45rpm  
  06min:15sec  
  12" @33rpm  
11min:00sec
  12" @45rpm  
08min:15sec