Lathe Cut Camp 4! Mar 25-27, 2017!

This is where record cutters raise questions about cutting, and trade wisdom and experiment results. We love Scully, Neumann, Presto, & Rek-O-Kut lathes and Wilcox-Gay Recordios (among others). We are excited by the various modern pro and semi-pro systems, too, in production and development. We use strange, extinct disc-based dictation machines. And other stuff, too.

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piaptk
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Lathe Cut Camp 4! Mar 25-27, 2017!

Post: # 45701Unread post piaptk
Sun Jan 22, 2017 5:20 pm

Well, it's time to make some money again, (so I can take a month long trek in Nepal), and that means giving away the secrets of the lathe trolls in my Tucson, AZ Lathe Cave.

This is the fourth installment of the Lathe Cut Camp and every previous one has sold out. There are only 8 spots available!

Buy one here! http://piaptk.limitedrun.com/products/585550-lathe-cut-camp-4-march-25-27-2017


Lathe Cut Camp Number Four! Sat March 25-Mon March 27, 2017, Downtown Tucson, 9am-4pm daily.

New! If you want a cheap place to stay, you can now rent a room at my house for your stay!

Spend three days in scenic Tucson, AZ learning (almost) everything you need to know about DIY Record Cutting! The focus of this camp will be on mono "semi-professional" machines, with particular focus on Presto 6Ns, which are one of the most common and affordable vintage machines around. You can do some amazing things with these incredible machines, and I will show you how. Bring your own music and we will put it onto discs for you to take home. We will touch on professional record mastering/pressing, but my main interest and experience, and the focus of this camp will be on the more DIY and experimental side of the hobby. There are only 8 spots available, so buy early!

Perfect if you are interested in:
Vinyl records and how their masters are cut
Learning how this strange black art works
Buying a lathe to make your own records
Ordering lathe cuts from a lathe cut service
Cutting your own music to disc

Topics covered:
The science behind vinyl record cutting
Lathe Operations and equipment
The pressing process
Lacquer dub plate cutting
Experimental and alternative materials (plexiglass, laserdiscs, picnic plates, etc)


Please Note: You are responsible for your own transportation to/from Tucson and your accommodations. The studio is located at 750 north Stone, near downtown and a lot of seedy motels. I highly recommend avoiding any hotels on Oracle dr.

If you want to stay with me, we have several options. Includes five days of lodging on the west side of Tucson. Thurs thru Mon
I Buy/Sell/Restore Vintage Machines/Parts and Provide Phone/In Person Tech Support
www.MichaelDixonVinylArt.com
www.LatheCutCamp.com
www.RecordLatheParts.com
www.MobileVinylRecorders.com
www.LatheCuts.com

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pinkdressstudio
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Re: Lathe Cut Camp 4! Mar 25-27, 2017!

Post: # 45702Unread post pinkdressstudio
Sun Jan 22, 2017 5:52 pm

To anybody thinking about this, I would highly recommend it. My wife and I spent 3 days with Mike in his cave last August. I met a fantastic and interesting group of record misfits, and gained a ton of invaluable hands-on experience. Dude has cut a lot of records and has an incredible amount of knowledge. Also had a blast in the desert. Cool town. If you do go, don't tell Mike he looks like Jeff Lynne, bring him a Gorky Park 45 if you can find one, and by god don't mention Jack White.

Ryan Graham
Pink Dress Studio
Geneva, NY

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crowesBR
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Re: Lathe Cut Camp 4! Mar 25-27, 2017!

Post: # 45706Unread post crowesBR
Mon Jan 23, 2017 12:05 am

I think Jack White is great. :)

Mike is too. :D


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piaptk
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Re: Lathe Cut Camp 4! Mar 25-27, 2017!

Post: # 45732Unread post piaptk
Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:52 pm

I've got the exactly perfect number of Gorky Park 45s already. Zero. But thank you.
I Buy/Sell/Restore Vintage Machines/Parts and Provide Phone/In Person Tech Support
www.MichaelDixonVinylArt.com
www.LatheCutCamp.com
www.RecordLatheParts.com
www.MobileVinylRecorders.com
www.LatheCuts.com

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piaptk
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Re: Lathe Cut Camp 4! Mar 25-27, 2017!

Post: # 45858Unread post piaptk
Sun Jan 29, 2017 4:51 pm

I should like to add that spring time is beautiful in Tucson...
I Buy/Sell/Restore Vintage Machines/Parts and Provide Phone/In Person Tech Support
www.MichaelDixonVinylArt.com
www.LatheCutCamp.com
www.RecordLatheParts.com
www.MobileVinylRecorders.com
www.LatheCuts.com

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Nodnarb03
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Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:17 pm

Re: Lathe Cut Camp 4! Mar 25-27, 2017!

Post: # 46190Unread post Nodnarb03
Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:48 am

My name is Brandon and I wanted to take a few minutes to write up a review of the PIAPTK Lathe Cutting Camp 3 I attended back in August 2016 for anyone who has either never heard of PIAPTK and the lathe camp or anyone who might be on the fence about going to the 4th Camp Session scheduled for March 25-27, 2017.

I’m definitely a newbie in the lathe game, that I will not deny! However, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to test the waters and to gauge my interest/skill level in the art of lathe cutting , then by attending the PIAPTK Lathe Camp in the wonderfully weird city that is Tucson, AZ! I honestly did the camp as something fun to do since I really dig the majority of the bands on the PIAPTK roster, not necessarily because I had aspirations of pursuing a hobby/career in lathe-cutting or even purchasing a lathe of my own. But guess what? I’ll be damned if I don’t own a K10 now and can cut a new single on my dining room table any night of the week I choose!

The Lab (aka Lathe Cave) that Mike has set up in Tucson is like nothing I have ever seen (complete with several functioning Presto 6N’s and even a record store for you to peruse in your down time). He is an outstanding teacher who can break this down in layman’s terms so even a novice like myself can understand and follow along. His knowledge and network in the field are unprecedented, but most of all (and most appreciated) the dude is totally accessible and totally down to earth!! Not only was he sharing with us the ideas and techniques he has patiently learned/developed over the past 10+ years, but he was just as happily willing to get to know each of us and was kind enough to show us the amazing city of Tucson! If you’ve never been to Tucson, it’s one of the most creative places I’ve ever visited (crawling w/ both musicians and artists alike)…kinda like an artsy oasis in the desert!

This is both a great way for the beginner to get started or for the moderate user to really hone their craft as the session I took had a little of both! Each participant even heads home with a handful of copies of a fresh, hand-cut single of their own music! Best of all, is that you will begin building your own lathe network as I have a few of my fellow campers that I now keep in regular contact with. It’s an all-around awesome experience with amazing folks, all at an extremely affordable rate (3 days of 7-hour instructional classes plus 20-ish copies of your own single for only $300)…hell, if you don’t buy a spot, I might go a second time!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

DETAILS: Lathe Cut Camp 4! March 25-27, 2017 go to http://piaptk.limitedrun.com. DO IT!!

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SONARC
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Re: Lathe Cut Camp 4! Mar 25-27, 2017!

Post: # 46201Unread post SONARC
Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:29 pm

Hi folks, my name is J. Free, and I’m a hermit / lurker / music nerd, posting here for the first time (and yes, my name really is an alphanumeric character and a punctuation mark). Sometimes, I can be a bit of a slowpoke, and really meant to post something here much earlier, but every time I visit this site, I get lost in hours of reading, and by then I’m usually too brain-dead to string three words together in anything that might resemble a coherent sentence.

That said, I was just pulling out a few photos from the 3rd Lathe Camp to share here, along with some sort of testimonial of my own, when I see that my pal Brandon has pretty much said just about everything I might have said, in almost exactly the same words.

Like Brandon, I’m also a lathe-noob, having picked up a Presto K8 in 2016, just shortly before going to Tucson for Lathe Camp 3. Prior to the trip, my only knowledge of the world of lathe-cutting was through a handful of lathe-cuts made by Peter King, which I got several years ago, while working with a buddy in Minneapolis who ran a noise label called Freedom From. I hadn’t really given it a lot of thought back then, but became re-acquainted with the idea when searching for interesting alternatives to cutting records, about a year ago.

I’ve been immersed in many facets of the music “industry” over a number of years, and my own observations have been that typically, more time was wasted on hazing and ego-tripping, than just getting down to the nuts and bolts of it. Kind of like, “I dare you to want to be good at this”. Personally, I never got the impression that Mike subscribes to that school of thought, and it was really a refreshing change of pace to learn from someone who has the kind of knowledge base he does, and is willing to bring you aboard and share it with you, rather than simply blow his own horn, like a lot of the *professional* folks I’ve worked with over the years. His teaching style at Lathe Camp 3 was very relaxed, informal, down to earth, and thoroughly engaging, and like my buddy Brandon, I walked away feeling like, “yeah, I can do this!”

So, in March, I’ll be attending the 4th Lathe Camp, for some “remedial learning”, and also to get in some one-on-one time with Mike and my own K8. Why go a second time? Well, besides the fact that I’m always jumping at opportunities to get out of Portlandia for a bit, I can think of a ton of reasons - many of which echo the sentiments that Brandon always expressed, plus other reasons which have to do with taunting my liver and my record-buying budget. Mostly though, it’s because I really dig what I’m learning about this “black art”, and hope to eventually develop a respectable (well, decent, at least) skill-set in this area, and it does seem like if that’s where anyone else is at, you probably couldn’t find a better place to jump in and get yr feet wet than Lathe Camp.
Mike-LP-head.jpg
wallodiscs.jpg
cave-[adj].jpg
laserdisc.jpg
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SONARC
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Re: Lathe Cut Camp 8! Oct 6-8, 2018!

Post: # 50981Unread post SONARC
Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:04 pm

willis.jpg
Ladies and gents, the late great Mr Wesley Willis, bumping this thread, in order to divert your attention to...

Lathe Cut Camp 8!!!
Columbus Day Weekend Oct 6-8, 2018

And really, what else is there to do on a lame excuse for a holiday like Columbus Day??

Go enjoy Tucson - it's beautiful!
Hang out with PIAPTK from this very message board!
Learn about lathe cutting, vinyl record making, and make your very own lathe-cut records!
And much more that I don't even know yet!!

The first time I went to Lathe Camp, I had just acquired a Presto K8, and needed a confidence boost so I could actually use it.
After the second time I went to Lathe Camp, I made a bunch of records and pushed the limits of what I thought I could actually do,
so I ended up getting a Presto 6N, and a bunch of other fancy stuff, so I could make even more records, even better than before!

Now I'm thinking about going again, and who knows what will happen?
Maybe I'll meet more cool people from this message board?
Maybe I'll stay in Tucson?
Who knows?

See you there??
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