Jack White is gearing up to open his brand new Third Man vinyl pressing plant this coming Saturday in Detroit, and with it, continue his crusade to revive his beloved medium.
Jack White is gearing up to open his brand new Third Man vinyl pressing plant this coming Saturday. Take a sneak peep into the state-of-the-art facility.
The state-of-the-art facility will house eight brand new presses made in Germany – the first new machines built in over 35 years – contained within a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in the back of Third Man’s Cass Corridor store (which opened to the public November 2015).
Speaking to The Detroit News, Third Man Records co-founder Ben Blackwell says the plant is looking to pick up the slack in global vinyl production, not compete with existing plants, such as Detroit’s Archer Record Pressing.
“Our output is meant to augment what Archer is doing,” says Blackwell, “We’re not competing. Our view is another pressing plant doesn’t create competition, it alleviates backlog.”
The eight presses in the facility can pump out a total of about 5,000 records per eight-hour shift, or a record roughly every 45 seconds. Blackwell says the goal is for the plant to eventually be running 24/7 in order to keep up with the ever-growing demand for vinyl.
According to the company, Third Man Pressing aims to “[bring] the tangible, the unexpected and the beautiful back into the business” of vinyl production: a vision which has manifested beautifully with the unveiling of the plant, which Rolling Stone were lucky enough to shoot.
Check out the first look at Third Man Pressing below. All photo credits to Peter Baker.
