List of Recoil vinyl acetates, all extremely rare

After the studio master tape recording, the Acetate is the very first part of the record manufacturing process. It is actually a piece of metal, covered in a layer of acetone (therefore causing it weigh more than a standard record). An engineer places a blank acetate on a cutting lathe which then carves a groove into the disc, based on the sound waves the cutter receives from the sound source attached to it (master tape). When finished, the acetate is then used to press up the more familiar vinyl records. This is achieved by first coating the acetate with a layer of metal. This ‘metal mother’ is then removed from the acetate (both ‘a’ and ‘b’ sides), and placed on a vinyl stamper. These two metal mothers are then placed on the top and bottom of the machine. A ‘puck’ (lump of vinyl) is placed on the vinyl stamper, with paper labels on top and bottom sides. When the vinyl stamper is activated, the metal mothers come down on both sides of the puck, squeezing the vinyl out to the edges. And bingo, a pressed record.

Sometimes, acetates contain versions of songs that are not released. Also, for every record pressed, an acetate exists. An acetate label is usually the label of the manufacturer (not the record label, but the pressing plant used, like Sterling Sound, The Exchange, Bernie Grundman Mastering or Future Disc, for example). The label is usually either hand written, or is typed. They are rarely, if ever, professionally printed.

“Each of these was made specifically for me to double check the ‘cut’ of the record in question on my home equipment and in a listening environment I was familiar with. The nature of Acetates is that they do not respond well to repeated plays and, apart from one or two test listens, should be kept unplayed once they have served their purpose. The very first playback of an acetate is the best. They also have a unique smell, due to the chemical manufacturing process no doubt, and they are much thicker, heavier and less flexible than a standard piece of vinyl.”