Apollo/Transco Lacquer Production Facility Destroyed
Image Credit: Apollo
Housed in a warehouse in Banning, California, Apollo/Transco produced lacquer discs that form the bases to the vinyl disc mastering process. It was one of only two companies in the world supplying the global vinyl industry. The other company is MDC Master Lacquer, it’s based in Japan and is significantly smaller.
The Apollo/Transco lacquer production facility, the largest in the world, has burned down, reports Analog Planet. As if that wasn’t bad enough they also manufacture all the cutting styli for Westrex cutting heads.
This all brings into question the supply chain for cutting masters and its impact on what appears to be a growing demand for vinyl albums. We have to assume that supply and demand will eventually cause albums to increase in price, just at a time when vinyl demand was making great inroads into the physical media market and starting to out sell vinyl.
The following statement has since been released on the Apollo Masters website:
“To all of wonderful customers. It is with great sadness we report the Apollo Masters manufacturing and storage facility had a devastating fire and suffered catastrophic damage. The best news is all of our employees are safe. We are uncertain of our future at this point and are evaluating options as we try to work through this difficult time. Thank you for all of the support over the years and the notes of encouragement and support we have received from you all.”
These lacquer discs play a crucial role in the production of vinyl records, and are cut by mastering engineers to create master discs, which are then supplied to pressing plants to make the stampers from which records are pressed.
There is an alternative process known as DMM (Direct Metal Mastering) that sidesteps the need for a lacquer. However, the final vinyl sound produced by this process is not favored by many vinyl audiophiles, also the process requires a specialised cutting head that is not widely available and cannot be retro fitted to many older lathes.
The scale of impact caused by a shortage of lacquer discs on the vinyl industry remains to be seen.
According to Analog Planet and Patch.com there were no injuries to employees or firefighters during the incident, and the cause of the blaze still remains under investigation.
A sad day for vinyl enthusiasts all over the world.
See here for details on the disc mastering and cutting process.
