02/09/2025
This Scully 601 lathe, serial number 560, was purchased by Capitol records, Hollywood, when Frank Sinatra was signed to the label in 1957. This provenance has been independently confirmed by Jacob Horowitz, from The History of Recorded Sound, who documents all things Scully. It has cut some of the finest sounding records and greatest artists of all time, from 1957 until 1969, including Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Wanda Jackson, Gene Vincent, Peggy Lee, Liza Minnelli, Jimi Hendrix and Ravi Shankar. The list is endless.
In 1969, it was decommissioned from the studios when Capitol purchased a Neumann lathe. The Scully lathe became a test bed for Apollo lacquers, who were in turn purchased by Transco, who in turn used a Neumann lathe for testing. John Rooke, of Transco Blanx UK, first saw this Scully lathe when visiting the Transco factory in California in 2010. Terry Carlson confirmed that the lathe had come from Capitol Records, but was now mothballed and not in use. John Rooke decided to take on ownership of the lathe to have as a showpiece for his lacquer distribution company in England. It was shipped to the UK in 2015, when restoration work began, including Sean Davis initially, then major input from Crispin Guilde and John Goldstraw. After the fire that destroyed the Transco lacquer production facility in 2020, John Rooke decided to move the lathe to new stewardship, and offered the lathe to Curve Pusher, as John had known Lawrie Dunster for over 20 years at that time, and knew Lawrie was the right person to continue the restoration of the lathe. We at Curve Pusher have finally finished the restoration of the lathe to its current pristine state. The Westrex amplifiers and cutting head have been restored to as-new condition, and everything refreshed on the lathe so it can be used as it was originally intended. The lathe is immaculate and in perfect working order. We also have an option to use Ortofon cutting amplifiers and a Neumann SX74 cutting head as an option for an alternative sound, as required.
We can also cut ‘inside out’, as could some Scully lathes from the period (ie, the playback starts in the centre of the disc and plays to the outside).
With the provenance and cutting options this lathe facilitates, label owners and musicians have the chance to cut their records on a lathe that cut the original releases from the 1950s and 1960s, a unique and exciting opportunity.
