The ‘dinking’ of a 7″ is the process used to punch out a large centre hole in a record.   The process was first introduced in USA so that dinked 7″ records could be played in Jukeboxes.

Traditionally the large hole indicated that the 7″ was a 45rpm single. Jukeboxes were by far the most popular way to listen to music during the 1940’s and 50’s so 7″s pressed in the USA were by default pressed with a dinked or large centre hole. In fact during the 1940’s three quarters of all 7″s manufactured in USA went straight into Jukeboxes.

Long players or 33rpm 7″ were still manufactured with a small hole during this time and there were a few Jukeboxes in circulation that had the ability to play both dinked 45s, and 7″ with the smaller hole, used for 33rpm. The size of the hole would determine at which speed the record would be played.

In the UK 7″s were manufactured with small holes regardless of the speed. Jukebox operators would dink the 45 7″s themselves using a hand dinker.

As the popularity of the Jukebox declined and more records were manufactured for home listening, dinked 7″ records lost their appeal and the smaller hole started to become a standard request. Capitol Records introduced the 7″ with the knock-out centre that has been covered in a another blog post here

It was these knock out centres that eventually made the dinked centre redundant.

Whether you’re wishing to manufacture a standard 7″, a dinked 7″, or a 7″ with a knock out centre Well Tempered can help. Please get in touch for prices and any queries you may have.