Hellbender Vinyl FAQ

We're musicians ourselves, and we started Hellbender Vinyl because we got tired of giving vinyl plants thousands of dollars and then have them not communicate with us for months.

When you choose to press your vinyl with Hellbender, you'll have a personal, dedicated concierge who will provide you with weekly updates throughout the entire process!

And because we're musicians ourselves, in addition to helping you with placing your order, we also won't settle for anything less than the best-sounding vinyl you've ever heard!

Every record is listened to and approved by our Head of Quality Assurance and Quality Control, Orlando "Buscrates" Marshall, an internationally-celebrated producer and vinyl DJ who doesn't let any order leave our facility until it meets his S-tier standards!

With our 100% test pressing approval rate and our legendary customer service, we assure you that you'll not only be satisfied, but thrilled with the results!

Average turnaround times at the moment are 90 business days or less for custom-pressed vinyl records, although this will vary depending on order size, complexity, etc.

If you have any questions or concerns, or if you have a specific deadline in mind for your project, please contact us in order to ensure that we can accommodate you!

For best results, we recommend a maximum of 18-20 minutes per 12" side at 33 1/3 rpm.

With 7" records at 45 rpm, we suggest no more than 4-5 minutes per side.

And for 10" records at 33 1/3 rpm, we suggest no more than 9-10 minutes per side.

We can and do make longer records, but volume-to-disc has a direct correlation with running time - the less time your music takes up on the record, the louder it can be made!

Conversely, the longer your side is, the lower the volume might end up to disc. There's only so much room on a record! Louder records take up more space, but if your running time isn’t too long, it will all fit just fine. When we make a record that's 25 minutes per side, however, sometimes our only option is to lower the volume in order to physically make all of those grooves fit on the disc. As a result, your 25-minute side is quieter, and pops and clicks that are inherent to the format become much more noticeable. Some of the benefits of a louder cut include masking the noise floor as well as other ticks and pops, and for those reasons we suggest 18-20 minute 33 1/3 rpm maximum sides whenever possible.

Remember, you can always put out a double LP!

Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns about your project.

Unless otherwise specified, all laquers for Hellbender Vinyl are cut by Well Made Music!

Clint Holley and his team at Well Made Music are Grammy Award-winning engineers, using a fully-restored vintage Neumann VMS-70 mastering lathe rig for that classic vinyl sound, who've worked with everyone from Willie Nelson to The Velvet Underground to Miles Davis.

Please contact us for a customized quote if supplying your own lacquers/stampers.

Yes, although our engineers will charge an additional fee, so please contact us for rates.

Most engineers can master for vinyl, though, so you're not required to use Hellbender for these services if you're already working with someone. However, you should tell your engineer that you're planning on releasing your record on vinyl, as they may then create a specific vinyl master separate from the master that will be submitted to digital platforms. What sounds good on vinyl can sometimes be different than what sounds good on Spotify!

Yes! There's no limit to what Hellbender Vinyl can create with the help of your imagination!

Please contact us today to start creating the record of your dreams!

Yes! If you'd like to just order 1 record from us, click here.

And if you're looking to order a different number of records than what you can find on our website, please contact us directly!

We accept Venmo, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Amazon, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and more!

Want to finance your project with Hellbender? We've now partnered with Affirm in order to help you pay in low monthly installment amounts instead! Get 0% APR and no late fees!

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Most likely not. We can only press records featuring music in which you have the express written consent of the copyright holder to reproduce. If you are the copyright holder, that's easy! But if your project includes a sound recording by Taylor Swift, for example, then I'm afraid you'll need to get her permission first.

Sure! We love showing people how their vinyl comes to life!

We're located at 5794 Butler Street in Upper Lawrenceville, next to Arsenal Strength and Somewhere Good Electric Tattooing (look for our sign out front). If you've reached the Pittsburgh Zoo, you've gone too far!

Just give us a heads up whenever you'd like to stop by!

We sell t-shirts, hats, tote bags, and more at our merch store!