Our Story

The year was 2009, and Clint Holley needed to make a change. Towards the tail end of working for 9 years as a live sound engineer at one of Cleveland, Ohio’s most cherished music venues, The Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, Clint saw a flier posted on the wall that caught his attention. “Need Your Vinyl Record Pressed?”, the flier from the newly operational Gotta Groove Records inquired. Clint, being a lifelong music fan and record collector, jumped at the opportunity to work for a vinyl record pressing plant and quickly called the number on the flier to ask about a possible job. On the other end of the phone was Vince Slusarz, Sr., co-owner of Gotta Groove Records.

“We don’t have any job openings at this time, but I see on your résumé you have a background in audio production. I am going to visit a mastering engineer with a lathe and was wondering if you might be interesting in joining me?” Having never seen a lathe prior, Clint accompanied Vince to learn more about what goes into manufacturing a vinyl record. At this meeting, Vince offered the mastering engineer the opportunity to become Gotta Groove’s go-to lacquer cutter, to which he flatly declined. Having come home enthralled after this visit, Clint mentioned to his wife the events of the day to which she responded, “Well, can’t you just go and get one of those cutting machines?” And thus, the idea for Well Made Music was born!

Given Clint’s background, as an auto mechanic in his youth and his experience in Music Production, the idea of owning and operating a vinyl-mastering lathe was daunting, yet exciting. Where could he find a lathe? How would he learn to use it? What followed was year and a half journey visiting with other lathe owners across the United States and led him to befriending Albert Grundy, a Neumann lathe repair technician based in Long Island, NY, and former President of the Audio Engineering Society (AES). Mr. Grundy sold Clint his first fully restored Neumann VMS-70 mastering system in 2010 and shortly thereafter Well Made Music agreed to provide the majority of master lacquers for Gotta Groove Records.

With a large queue of jobs from Gotta Groove, Clint spent hours and hours daily perfecting the craft of vinyl mastering. Gotta Groove’s industry-leading quality control left little room for error and the first master lacquers sent off for plating shipped in April of 2010. The initial reception of this partnership was phenomenal and would go on to solidify Gotta Groove as one of the best vinyl pressing plants in the world. In the summer of 2012, Clint was fortunate to purchase a 2^nd Neumann VMS-70 system, which ensured zero downtime and expanded capacity.

Several years and thousands of lacquer masters later, Clint enlisted the help of audio engineer Dave Polster in July of 2014 to assist with turnaround time while maintaining the high-quality service expected of the Well Made/Gotta Groove partnership. Having worked for Gotta Groove’s Quality Assurance department, Dave was able to give hands-on insight into the vinyl manufacturing process and assist with manufacturing-related troubleshooting. In addition, Dave’s recording experience and keen attention to detail allowed Well Made to take on more work and expand the business to new heights. Clint also taught Dave how to cut a full LP in just 24 seconds! In the late summer of 2014, Well Made Music outgrew its initial workshop in Clint’s home studio and relocated to the 78^th Street Studios building on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to superior acoustics, the new location added the ability to house both lathes, better accommodate guests, and help to simplify logistical concerns. During the summer of 2018, engineer Michael Fanos was added to the crew and has gone on to cut hundreds of lacquer sides in that time.

Fast-forward to September of 2021 and Well Made Music has now relocated to the Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee region, AKA: “The Birthplace of Country Music”. These newly-constructed studio spaces serve as some of the most premier audio mastering facilities located within the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Bristol mastering studio space allows the crew at Well Made Music the appropriate facilities to accommodate even the most-demanding of audio mastering projects. It also allows Clint Holley and Dave Polster a place to call home for their vintage-inspired direct-to-disc recording studio, The Earnest Tube, also located in Bristol, VA.

We stand behind every aspect of our work 100%. We truly believe our cumulative experience in both the mechanical and professional audio worlds allow us to create some of the finest modern sounding vinyl records available. We proudly cut lacquers, not corners! As a group of record collectors and giant music nerds, we stop short of nothing to ensure that we create records we ourselves would happily add to our libraries!