The Mastering Lab, Melbourne

When Richmond Recorders closed, their Neumann VMS66 cutting lathe and pressing equipment was sold, and the buyers, including Gil Matthews, then formed The Mastering Lab, a Mastering studio based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Harry Williamson worked here as a cutting engineer, and this is the first entity at which 'ML' matrix numbers began. After a few months, Harry moved on, and Peter Freeland took over as cutting engineer, using a coat hanger as his signature. Peter's business was more often undertaken under The Record Plant, Melbourne, AU moniker. After Peter left, he was replaced by Matthew Anthony (3), who, along with Gil Matthews, used the signature 'MA+GM' in runouts. The Mastering Lab was used as a cutting facility for Corduroy Records (2) when they started up, having purchased pressing equipment from Sydney based All Music Manufacturing. Later, Corduroy purchased their own lathe, and began cutting their own records. Not to be confused with the more famous The Mastering Lab in California, US, or with The Record Plant, Melbourne, AU (which was also sometimes referred to as The Mastering Lab due to the connections mentioned above).