Customrecords.com – Have Your CDs Cut to Vinyl

Rewind.

So, now you know how to rip vinyl onto your computer with ease, but did you know that you can also have CDs and mp3s cut into your own custom vinyl records? I came across this exceptionally unique service on the internet years ago and now I will share it with you.

So. Say your girlfriend is a real record buff and you’ve been putting together this terrific– let’s say Ted Nugent– playlist for her for weeks (she’s also an avid hunter). Her Birthday is coming up and you’d like to surprise her with the unparalleled musical graces of Ted, but you really want to take it up a notch this year (got her a gun rack for her last birthday). Instead of partying like it’s 1998 and handing her a boring burnt cd with “Ted” scribbled in sharpee, you can really impress her.

Your girlfriend and Ted Nugent-- a match made in heaven.

I’m talking about giving her her own custom vinyl record with your own one-of-a-kind picture sleeve jacket cover. It doesn’t stop there. You can have your own record label stickers on the record, itself. And if you really want to raise the bar, you can even make the record a custom picture disk. She’ll love it and forget all about the gun rack.

Customrecords.com offers one of the coolest services I’ve ever heard of. You simply send them your CD and they will do a basic mastering job and cut it to vinyl for you, as well as have the sleeve and labels printed professionally. The only catch is that you are limited to one record per CD. Customrecords.com is not a commercial vinyl pressing house and makes it very clear that each record is made one-at-a-time. If you want a stack of records, look elsewhere, because a record from Customrecords.com is all about sentimental value. Every record is an original.

Here are some examples:

They also cater to a wide variety of record formats and there are a number of options you can choose for the music time allotted per-side. Just be warned that you will be charged for the extra play-time, despite the format of record. Fitting more music into the same space requires more work, as the grooves will be closer together and will require more time for cutting.

Cutting a record over at http://www.customrecords.com

The vinyl formats offered are as follows:

• SEVEN INCH 45rpm JUKEBOX RECORD (4 min per side)
• SEVEN INCH 45rpm JUKEBOX RECORD (red vinyl)
• SEVEN INCH 45rpm EP JUKEBOX RECORD (5 min per side)
• SEVEN INCH 33/45 rpm phonograph RECORD (small-hole)

• TEN INCH 78 rpm JUKEBOX PHONOGRAPH RECORD
• TEN INCH 78 rpm one-sided CLEAR JUKEBOX RECORD

• TWELVE INCH 33rpm VINYL RECORD (8 min per side)
• TWELVE INCH 33rpm ALBUM VINYL RECORD (12 min per side)
• TWELVE INCH 33rpm LP ALBUM VINYL RECORD (16 min per side)
• TWELVE INCH one-sided 33rpm CLEAR VINYL RECORD (12 min)

• SEVEN INCH one-sided 45rpm PICTURE DISC RECORD
• TWELVE INCH 33rpm one-sided PICTURE DISC RECORD

• TEN INCH 45rpm DJ DUBPLATE RECORD (6 min per side)
• TWELVE INCH 33rpm DJ DUBPLATE RECORD (8 min per side)
• TWELVE INCH 33rpm one-sided CLEAR DJ DUBPLATE RECORD

All of the records can be paired with the custom record label adhesive stickers and the custom picture sleeve, so there’s some serious room for creativity here for those of us who are artistically-inclined. The sleeves are offered in your choice of either matte or semi-gloss and use 18pt card stock. You have to provide both front and back artwork and the artwork must be of the appropriate size: 7″, 10″, and 12″ squares, respectively. You must also include a 1/4″ outward bleed on one of the sides for the “spine” of the record. They accept only .tif or .jpeg files at 400dpi.

As an added convenience, Customrecords.com also accepts music uploads via YouSendIt for free and you can even email the files to customrecords@comcast.net

The files must be in MP3, AIFF or WMA format.

I’m not going to be the bringer of bad news here, but these records are a little on the expensive side as you could imagine, seeing as how they give each record meticulous attention and each one is truly an original. Check out their site for pricing information.

And yes, they accept PayPal.

They even do 7″ custom records for corporate event invitations. So the next time you want to impress somebody with a playlist, go for the extra brownie points. Skip the CD and don’t even consider a USB stick (I hope people don’t actually do that). Just go for the record.