our last record was done at Golden, and the Mastered version sounds alot better than the un-mastered, so I would say he/they did great job... I have no clue what he charges...

If you don't go with Bob I would suggest seriously considering Steve Rooke at Abbey Road. He is pricey, (but isn't all mastering) but he works quickly and won't butcher your recording. He will do what is needed without going overboard to make it sound "finished".

My friend and I had a recording that we worked on mastered with him. We actually had the opportunity to be in London while it was being mastered and we sat in on the session. In this case, he did the entire album in a day. I think my friend payed 5 grand for that?

It was fascinating to watch the process, and to be in Abbey Road. Steve was such a cool guy. He bought us lunch and beer in the basement (deli style lunch) and was constantly worried about our comfort during the process. He phoned up for tea (!!!!) several times for us. (they actually have a tea guy who's job is to bring it up to the engineers... when they CALL downstairs on an actual telephone... just for tea!)

Steve had great ears and some really great stories about working on John Lennon remasters, Wilco's A ghost is Born, New Order, Teenage Fanclub... etc. He didn't talk about this stuff until we brought it up.

Really, he is tops.

I just looked at Bob's rates and they seem really reasonable.

I do think that Steve Rooke was like 5k or something. Probably a bit much! Anyway... just my experience with mastering.

I checked out Bob and Jason's new studio last week. Very Impressive!
I highly recommend it! The four of us crammed around the lathe for about 20 minutes while Bob enthusiastically explained to us the general workings of the thing. I never realized how much went into cutting a record.

If you are reading, thanks for showing us around Bob and Jason!
I'm excited to hear what the Locks stuff sounds like.

Donny

i really like the work carl saff has done for me. www.saffmastering.com great rates, great turn around, super smart and easy going person.

When my band recorded, the producer mastered it there and there.

I only trust Collin Jordan at Boiler Room Mastering in Chicago. No ego, and all talent.

i have used and readily endorse John Golden at goldenmastering.com professional, friendly, quick (depending on his backlog, being quite popular and all that) his site gives all info you may need to know....