Hellbender Vinyl

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Hellbender Vinyl is a vinyl record manufacturing company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It operates the only vinyl pressing plant in Western Pennsylvania and, after buying Softwax Record Pressing in Philadelphia in 2025, became the largest vinyl plant in the state. The company also has a presence in Philadelphia’s Lawncrest neighborhood.

The company was founded by Jeff Betten, manager of Misra Records, and Matt Dowling, a member of the band Paperhaus. They started Hellbender Vinyl to support the vinyl revival that gained momentum in the 2010s.

Locations
- Pittsburgh: Lawrenceville
- Philadelphia: Lawncrest

Notable work and clients
Hellbender Vinyl has pressed records for a wide range of artists and brands, including Victoria Monét, Guster, Zao, Sparta, The Juliana Theory, and many others, as well as companies like Urban Outfitters and PepsiCo.

Awards and notable projects
- April 2025: Won the Excellence in Customer Service Award from the Business Intelligence Group.
- May 2025: Pressed a 7-inch record for The Ataris that included the ashes of singer Kristopher Roe’s father.
- Participated in Mountain Dew Baja Blast’s Super Bowl LIX ad campaign, producing a vinyl record of “Kiss from a Lime” by Seal for the spot.
- Worked with Pereira O’Dell in October 2024 to create a pancake-shaped record for IHOP’s “Working for the Weekday” campaign featuring Loverboy.
- Collaborated with Munnycat on the world’s first “3D vinyl record,” where the record doubles as 3D glasses for the album artwork.

Equipment and capacity
Hellbender Vinyl uses LiteTone and WarmTone presses from Viryl Technologies, along with a Hamilton M-231 and an SMT Model 1500. The setup enables production of several thousand records per day.