A month or so ago, we brought you news of the services of Vinyl Carvers, especially their new Everlasting Dubplate offering. To put it briefly they offer, much like a variety of outlets across the world today, the possibility to cut very small runs of your own records on to highly resistant and high quality material which will last way longer then your average acetate dubplate. The service is also axed towards DJs for use in battles, production or live appearances.
As we've said there are other people out there offering similar services, in the UK, Europe or US, so we thought that getting a review from someone who knows about records and uses them in the context in which Vinyl Carvers claims they are best used would help shed some light and also let you all know whether or not it's worth your time and money. Step in mister 2tall, who we've roped in to help us with a few reviews recently, who got two single sided 12"s pressed by Vinyl Carvers ahead of his UK DMC finals performance and other live appearances. Read on for 2tall's opinion...

When i first heard there were people in the uk making "one off records" I thought "Yeah yeah, just another cheapie vinyl cutter" - i was proved wrong, the everlasting dubplate is here!
Vinyl Carvers are a company based in the UK who cut records by hand for very short runs, very useful perhaps for producers and remixers who want a quick solution to getting their sounds on wax. This is not a new concept, but I found that the records I got returned were far superior to anything i had seen before.
I got 2 records cut, single sided for my DMC routine this year, which included some heavy duty bass and skipless drums. The vinyl they used was perhaps a little on the heavy side but still comfortable to use, I was informed that lighter records would be coming in the next 2 months.
Sound quality is very impressive as it seems the plastic they use is similar to perspex in feel but the most suprising thing is the resistance to wear, I actually had all my sounds cut twice on the record assuming that I would quickly burn out the grooves as this is a custom record, which usually do not last long, but this is not the case! In fact I would go as far as to say that this is tougher than standard records.
The centre hole is a perfect size, and you get stickers to add to the record yourself as well. I would say this is a must for the scratch musician or DJ who wants their own crazy mash up to play out but also to keep for a long time. The prices match those of a dubplate house but again the record will last a hell of a lot longer than an acetate.
All in all i couldn't fault them, they run a fast and friendly service and are very down to earth when explaining the technical details, highly reccomended. I'm off to make show vinyls!
Jim 2tall, Needlework/Eclectic Breaks.

Many thanks to 2tall and the guys at Vinyl Carvers for their help and time. Be sure to check Vinylcarvers.com for more info, prices, etc...