Above: The Browning And Rice brand Dual Compressor and Expressor circa 1980. There seems to be zero online information regarding these intriguing devices. Who are these Mssrs. Browning and Rice? As you might imagine, it is v v difficult to research the keywords ‘Browning’ ‘Rice’ on the internet. Anyone?
Category: Uncategorized
I’ve been buying and selling guitar effects pedals for a long time; I currently have maybe 60, and have probably had 300-400 pass through my hands at one time or another. There are just so many of the fkkn things out there that I’m bound to find at least a couple every month for $5 – $10 at the yard sales and flea markets of Southern CT. I also have all the available books on the subject, but even still, there were just so many of these things made that I am bound to be surprised regularly. Here are three interesting units that I have never come across. Above: The VestaFire R-1X digital reverb c. 1988.
Above: Sescom, 80’s maker of some pretty excellent DI boxes, also made a guitar compression pedal in 1981? Probably worth checking out. This thing was crazy expensive at the time, btw, $254 in ’13-bucks. Anyhow, as deep+ wide as the pool of vintage pedals is, can you even imagine how nuts its gonna be 25 years from now, what with the huge explosion in ’boutique’ and ‘DIY’ pedal-craft of the past decade. It’s really taken on folk-art proportions.
Above: The Castle Phaser III of 1981. Goddamn folks loved the shit outta Phase Shift way back when.
Categories
Yu Brother, I <3 U
Above: best ad ever. “Yu Brother” (what???) of Taiwan introduces their line of microphones and guitar effect pedals in 1981. “From popular to professional type, we have got it all!” Yes you do, brother. This might as well be from another planet.
Above: the 1989 advert that caught my attention
I’ve said it many times, but pls let me re-iterate: as much as the content of this site may make me seem like some retro-fetish trainspotter, my investigation into all of this old kit is due to the fact that I make my living as a composer and sound engineer, and I am constantly looking for new sources of (inexpensive) inspiration. Because if you have to write and/or record three or four songs per day, the process can be either a chore or a joy, and what can make the difference is the novelty and new avenues that some ‘new’ (to you) gear can offer. Y’all know how much I love spring reverb, so when I spotted this ad for a guitar-mounted mechanical-reverb system in an ’89 ‘Guitar Player’ I searched for an old unit to buy on eBay. There were several, but they were not cheap. And then google told me that they had been re-issued by the original manufacturer! $99 plus shipping later, and a brand-new ASPRI arrived direct from dude in just a couple of days.
First of all, the packing is really spectacular, and in fact won some sort of Quebec design-award (I think it’s very fitting that this thing is from Montreal; if you’ve spent some time there I think you can see the whole kinda clever/artsy/slightly-fantastical vibe of that whole city reflected in the ASPRI).
The ASPRI mounts to any flat-top acoustic gtr in about 10 seconds. it does not contact the top of the gtr at all; just the saddle and the side; and the side is completely padded, so there really is no danger of damaging the instrument. BTW, if your saddle height is VERY high, the I’d imagine that the Aspri won’t work properly; that being said, I have yet to find a gtr that it has not worked on.
So basically what it does: it’s a box of springs that receive their exciting-energy from the motion of the strings; it does this by means of three little stainless-steel feet that effectively become the saddle of the gtr while the ASPRI is mounted. So yes there is some loss of ‘tone’ and volume, but what you get in return is a really transporting experience. Playing this thing, esp. bottleneck style, is really uncanny; it really does turn a living room into a concert hall.
There are a zillion YouTube videos of dudes demo’ing their ASPRIs, so no need to add to that fray; check ’em out if your curious. If you are a dedicated acoustic gtr player like I am, and you’re looking for a new direction, I feel like you are bound to get a couple new songs outta this thing.
To buy an aspri, visit: https://www.aspri.com
I really can’t figure this one out. So there’s a ghost who sings in a band. He (she?) rides a motorcycle and delivers his vocal performance while crouched-down (never a good idea, btw, you can’t get very much breath this way, but whatever).
This deceased person entered the afterlife due to, perhaps, riding their motorcycle in the rain? (above)…
…also it looks like maybe an oil-slick was involved? (above)….
… but, primarily, let’s remember that this is an advert for guitar strings (above). Daddario XLs, are, btw, my #1 choice in electric guitar strings and always have been. I’ve purchased maybe 500 or more sets of their XL115, I really do love them. They are all I will use.
Anyhow, S.Hall, whoever you are, if this ad is sincerely an homage to a fallen band-mate who crashed his Suzuki, never to rock the SM58 again, I salute you and mean no disrespect. If not, though, please write in and tell us exactly how this works in terms of advocating for Daddadrio XL’s over the competing brands. Please explain how it represents both the product-benefit and the consumer-benefit. Thanks!
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For previous inscrutable-advert coverage on PS Dot Com, click here…
Categories
‘Tude
Oh stop.
‘Tude. What is it, and why does it matter? ‘Tude, which is, rather reflexively, a “bad-attitude”-driven abbreviation of the word ‘attitude,’ was a charming blend of equal parts arrogance, vanity, and naivete.
Although ‘tude could be found in abundance in many discourses of American culture in the 1980s, it was especially dominant in male rock and pop music-performance. More to the point: if you were a male growing up musically-inclined in the 1980s, this was the dominant image available for you to aspire to. For some reason, the basic idea of being a musician/ writing music, etc., was linked to this silly pout and shitty attitude. Oh and ridiculous outfits, naturally. Personally, it took me about ten years of reactionary lo-fi-indie mewling to bounce back from the damage caused by this nonsense. But, yes, eventually I did get over it, and I now own and in fact like guitars with humbucking pickups.
I am still not sure what the rebellious stance of these fellows was based on. I mean, did they like their jobs or not? Did they like their fans or not? Perhaps they were angry at the government, or some unseen agent? For fucks sake man, you’re a guitar player! You make music for a living! Where is the joy? Why the hostility? I may not agree with the tenets of ‘Punk,’ dude, but at least it’s an ethos. WTF were these guys aiming that vague bitchiness at? Please use the comments session to discuss. Oh and spare the ‘tude, pls.
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October is 80’s Month At PS Dot Com
How y’all doing this fine day… it is sunny+beautiful in Southern CT today, although between the ‘federal government shutdown’ and ongoing MetroNorth train debacle it feels more like we’re in some quaint developing country! Yea! Gonna have some roasted meats and rum-based cocktails and just take it easy for a bit. How’s that for DIY’d Lemonade?
above: very rare goth-synth blotter acid c. 1981
Anyways… we’ve got a whole slew of 1980’s features coming at you this month. I’ve been going through hundreds, maybe thousands, of obscure 80’s catalogs + pro-audio and musician publications to bring y’all some forgotten and neglected gems (junk?) from the shiniest, stupidest decade on record. As always, if you are using any of this kit to make tracks these days, let us know your thoughts! Cos it’s all about finding fresh inspiration wherever ya can….
Above: “The Drumssette.” (Source)
I was doing some research for our upcoming series of 80’s-themed posts (since ‘Speaker-weeks’ seemed to put most of you to sleep…) when I stumbled across RetroThing dot com. Really some great bits on here. Where else r u gonna find out abt “The Drumsette,” a DIY’d melotron-type-drum-machine. Come on! Check em out…
Download a rather lengthy brochure introducing the KEF model 105 Hi-Fi speaker system:
DOWNLOAD: KEF_105_speakers
Sway + Sanchez return tonight to Firehouse 12, 45 Crown ST, New Haven CT, for 4 hours of lost LP gems… it’s been a great summer for crate digging and I’ve excited to be able to deliver some all-new sets.
Above: last week’s finds (thanks DS): The Electric Prunes 2nd LP “Underground”; Twarz, Poland’s Janis c. 1970; Cherry People, obscure Shondells-styled pop rock; Earth Opera, which was Dave Grisman’s psych band before he found fame as a roots performer; FUSION, an early Ry Cooder project, v v Beefheart psych weirdo blues; Barrabas, spanish rock band c. 1970; Black Pearl, a v cool MC5-type Dopers-Play-James-Brown RnB freakout music; and two LPs from The Equals (Israeli pressings ?!?!), utterly fantastic band fronted by a young Eddy Grant.
Come on down to CT’s best bar and hear all the non-hits.