Categories
Guitar Equipment Publications

Out-Of-Print-Book Report: “Electric Rock,” Richard Robinson 1971

“Electric Rock” (Pyramid Communications, 1971, 224pp) was written by Richard Robinson.  It’s a small paperback volume, mainly text, which offers an assessment of hundreds of the guitars, basses, amplifiers, and PA equipment that were available to the American public in 1971.

There is also ample text devoted to basic explanations of subjects such as ‘What is a piggyback amp?’

And in case you were wondering:

Try saying “The Shape Most Often Used For Rock Is Darkened In” 10 times.  It will assume a mantra-like quality.  And then you will know the shape of rock (darkened in).  “Electric Rock” is filled with plenty of such slightly-off prose.  It’s written in a circa ’70- streetwise-hipster voice, and this is not at all surprising once you learn a little about the author.  Richard Robinson is a fascinating character.  His slightly mean-spirited AllMusic profile tells most of the story.   RR is most famous for co-founding ‘Rock Scene’ magazine and for producing Lou Reed’s unsuccessful first solo album.  But he also produced a few of my personal favorite records of the era.  Check these tracks out…

Teenage Head by the Flaming Groovies

Sifting Around In a Haze by Andy Zwerling: 06 Sifting Around In A Haze

Reachin’ by Hackamore Brick

Anyhow.  Point is, RR had his finger on the pulse of a lot of music which would never amount to much commercially, but which has very much stood the test of time artistically.  Kinda like…  Reed’s first band the Velvet Underground.  Pretty interesting… this guy definitely knew what he was doing.

In case you’re wondering what ever happened to Richard Robinson, well…  apparently, here he is in 2007.  Different line of work. Life is funny, huh?  RR, if you are still out there, drop us a line.

Oh BTW one more thing to add about “Electric Rock”:  Lenny Kaye wrote the forward.  The-Lenny-Kaye as in, created ‘Nuggets‘ (basically the holy canon of Garage Rock) and also plays guitar (since the ’70s) for Patti Smith.

Check out ‘Electric Rock.’  One copy currently available at Amazon dot com.

Categories
Concert Sound

Carvin Mixing Consoles 1979

Download a fifteen-page scan of the mixing consoles on offer in Carvin’s 1979 Catalog:

DOWNLOAD: Carvin_Mixers_1979

Above is the playing-field of the flagship Q1608, a Quadraphonic console with 16 inputs and 8 outputs.  Other mixers on offer: the Carvin S1800, S1200, MP1000, MC1000, SP600, S600, MP600, MC600, and MP410 mixers.

Above is the MP410, a lil dude with 125 watts (into 4 ohm), a graphic EQ, and a built-in Hammond reverb.  Seems like a pretty good little keyboard amp.

One of the most repetitive selling points in this catalog is the alleged superiority of the new differential  input stage relative to input transformers.  Both methods certainly have their benefits; nowadays, input transformers are almost universally used as a selling point rather than a liability.  I personally prefer transformers, and use the Jensen 115 (click here to download details) for most of my builds.

Tomorrow: Carvin guitars of 1979.  If you’ve been enjoying this series, check out the very comprehensive Carvin Museum.  The Carvin Museum does not offer full catalog downloads as I’ve been doing, but they have done an admirable job of scanning and indexing every Carvin catalog from 1955 through 2005.

Categories
Concert Sound Guitar Equipment

Carvin Guitars, Amplifiers, and PA equipment: 1973 Catalog

Download the thirty-two page 1973 Carvin catalog (presented in two sections):

DOWNLOAD AMPS, SPEAKERS, AND PA: Carvin_1973_part1

DOWNLOAD GUITARS: Carvin_1973_part2

Products covered, with images, specs, and text, include: Carvin Lead amps LM1000, BL1250, FR1200, LP600, SM450 and TM565; Carvin Bass Amps ABM850, BM900, BM355, and FH2500; Super Amps SBL2000, SLM1600, SABM1800, and SBM1900; Combo amps VTR-212, ML212, and MB212; Tube amp head VTR2500 and TV2500; Solid-State heads ST4000, ST2400, B3000, B2000, and B1500; Carvin P2500, P4500, and P5000 PA heads; plus numerous speaker cabinets and components.

Guitars and bases include: Carvin AS50B, CM95, SS75B, SS65B electrics; Carvin SB60, SB40, and AB45 bass guitars; DBS98B and DTS90B doubleneck guitars; PRO-S8 and PRO-D6 steel guitars; plus more.

Above, some of the new offerings for 1973: we see a Folded-Horn bass enclosure (popularized by ACOUSTIC corp in the early 1970s); we see a return to tube amplification in the form of the VTR2500 amp head (seems similar to Ampeg V4 of the era); and we see a larger PA head with 8 inputs and some sort of quasi-notch filtering: power output is 170 watts into 4 ohms.  Can anyone hear the singer?

1973 Carvin AS50B.  AFAICT, this instrument uses the same body as the earlier OVATION “Tornado” guitar.

The 1973 Ovation SB60.  Identical to the cheaper SB40 save for the 1.5lbs heavier maple body. We’re near the start of the unfortunate ‘heavier-is-better’ guitar trend of the 1970s.

Doubleneck guitar/mandolin has been replaced by doubleneck guitar/12-string guitar.

Guild CopyCat tape echo has been replaced by Maestro ‘Sireko.’  Anyone out there have any experience with the merits of one vs the other?

Categories
Concert Sound Guitar Equipment

Carvin Guitars, Amplifiers, and PA equipment: 1971 Catalog

Download the thirty-two page 1971 Carvin catalog, presented in the original glorious black-and-white (9.9M zipped file):

DOWNLOAD: Carvin_1971_Catalog.pdf

Dig the excellent non-designed cover.  Products covered, with pictures, specs, and text, include: Carvin Super Band Leader amp SBL2000, Super Lead Master Amp SLM1600, Super Bass Master SBM1500, Band Leader BL1100 and BL1200, Lead Master LM990 and LM1000, Carvin Altec -equipped Lead and Bass Masters, Bass Master BM 755 and BM 775.  Public-Address (PA) systems/components include: PA5000 incorporating P2200 head and CR 150 speakers, PA600 featuring P3500 head and SR660 speakers, System 7000 featuring P4500 head.  ‘Compact’ instrument amplifiers include Twin Master TM550, Lead Performer LP400, Bass Master BM340.  Amplifier heads include Carvin B3000, B1600, B2400 and B1050 Bass amp heads or ‘Power units’ as Carvin calls them; L4000, L2500, and T2000 Lead Power Units, aka Guitar heads.

Guitars covered include: Carvin AS50B and AS50 hollowbody electrics, SS70, SS70B, SS65B, SS65 electric guitars, AB45 and SB40 electric basses, ABS95 bass/guitar doubleneck and AMS90 Mandolin/Guitar doubleneck; Carvin pedal steels # 41B, 61B, 81B, 101B, and 1010B; Carvin steel guitars PRO-S8, PRO-D8, PRO-D6; plus a range of parts and accessories.

1971 Carvin AS-50B Acoustic-Electric Guitar

1971 Carvin SB40 Electric Bass

1971 Carvin APS95 doubleneck

As far as i can determine, Carvin used imported European bodies for their acoustic electric guitars (similar to what Ovation did at the time) and imported the necks as well.  I am honestly not sure if they made their own solid-bodies, but given that they were making amplifier cabinets, I can’t see any reason why they would not have.  When you look at these guitars, the overall vibe is not Fender or Gibson…  I feel like the closest comparison is the work of fellow Californian Paul Bigsby.

(image source)

BTW, if you have not read Andy Babiuk’s excellent book on Paul Bigsby, spend the $32 and check it out.  Far and away one of the best books ever written on the subject of a musical-instrument innovator.    NEways…back to Carvin…

1971 Carvin Super Amp

1971 Carvin L4000 amplifier head

The most interesting thing about the amplifiers is the construction method used.  Years after even tube-based electronics had begun using printed-circuit-boards, Carvin was using point-to-point wiring for their all-solid-state amps.   The amplifiers ranged in power from 80 watts into 4 ohms up to 160 watts into 4 ohms (2 ohm capable).

Guild CopyCat Tape Echo as offered in the 1971 Carvin Catalog

As Carvin still does today, the catalog also includes accessories made by other manufacturers, as well as part and encouragement to ‘build your own!’

Plenty more on offer within the catalog.  Download and see…

Tomorrow: 1973.

Categories
Guitar Equipment

Carvin in the 1970s: Part 1

What If I told you that there was a US company that had been making good-quality electric guitars, PA equipment, and instrument amplifiers since the 1940s, in the United States, and for about the same price as better foreign made goods? And the company has remained in the same family for all those years? There is only one such company that I am aware of, and to be honest, I have never used a single piece of their equipment beyond a replacement humbucking pickup and a couple of raw speaker drivers.  And you probably haven’t either.  The company is Carvin.  While the appeal of the Carvin brand seems limited to aging hair metal’ers, fusion-bros, and faith musicians, it’s hard not to have a strong dose of respect for this resilient, independent corporation.

Lately i’ve been noticing that Carvin’s 1970s guitars are starting to look pretty fresh in an inscrutable WTF iron-curtain sorta way.  So I think it’s time to dig into my pile of 70s Carvin catalogs and get the discussion going here on these charmingly-misshapen sleepers.

This week I will be uploading original Carvin catalogs from the early, mid, and late 1970s.  Like I said, I can’t claim to have any particular knowledge of these offbeat items but maybe my readers can weigh in with some personal anecdotes about ye olde Carvins.

Categories
Uncategorized

Music at Home 1973

Dave Brubeck, his sons Darius, Chris, and Danny, and friends Mark Morgenstern, Perry Robinson, and Gerry Mulligan make music at home in 1973.  Growing up in Northern Fairfield county, Brubeck was one of the local musical-greats – along with Keith Richards, Meatloaf, Andy Powell, and Mary Travers.  The picture above is from vol 10, # 3 of “On The Sound” Magazine, which was a Fairfield-County lifestyle magazine published in the early 1970s.  Brubeck will be forever regarded as one of the titans of Jazz music.  He is now 91 years old and still lives in the house pictured above, AFAIK.

Categories
Magnecord

Magnecord Historical Archive Material Part VI

Today we’ll wrap up our series of original-source documents pertaining to Magnecord corporation, one of the pioneers of high-fidelity recording.

Click each link below to download the corresponding issue of ‘Magnecord INC,’ the company’s in-house publication.

Magnecord_INC_jan1953

Magnecord_INC_Nov1953

Magnecord_INC_Sept1953

Magnecord_INC_July1954

Magnecord_INC_may1954

As I noted earlier in this series, these documents are fascinating because they reveal a culture beginning to grasp the potential of affordable, widely accessible audio-recording.  Each issue of ‘Magnecord, INC’ describes what were essentially new-ideas as far as recording and playing-back sound in various artistic and commercial/industrial applications.  Consider the example above: the New Haven fire dep’t circ 1951.  Notice that there is no mention in this piece about enhancing public health and/or safety: here, the Magenecorder is being used to “..protect() the city and the fire department against complaints.”  While I am not saying that this was the birth of ‘PYA,’ aka, ‘Protect Your Ass,’ it’s certainly an example of an early milestone.  “This call is being recorded for quality and training purposes.”  Here’s where it began…

So many tape recorders.  So much tape.  So much to record.

Categories
Magnecord

Magnecord Historical Archive Material: Part V

Continuing the thread from yesterday’s post: here are the 1952 issues of Magnecord, INC.  Click on the link to download each issue.

Magnecord_INC_Jan1952

Magnecord_INC_Mar1952

Magnecord_INC_May1952

Magnecord_Inc_Nov1952

Magnecord_INC_sept1952

Categories
Magnecord Publications

Magnecord Historical Archive Material: Part IV

This week we’ll conclude our series of archival material courtesy of Magnecord founding partner John Boyers.  John’s son D. graciously scanned every page of every available issue of the company publication “Magnecord INC,” which was published between 1950 and 1954.

If anyone out there has any issues that we are missing, please chime in and let’s figure out a way to get them online.  Magnecord was a crucial developer of tape-recording and pro-audio hardware whose contributions have been largely forgotten in the modern era.  I use a Magnecord PT6 at our studio Gold Coast Recorders to make the occasional ‘old-time’ recording and it’s a testament to the skill of engineers like Mr. Boyers that the machine still works great SIXTY years after it rolled out the Chicago plant.

The ‘Magnecord INC’ publications are fascinating because they reveal the dawn of the high-fidelity audio-recording age.  Remember that these (and certain of the AMPEX machines of the era) were portable audio-recorders with 40hz- 15kz frequency response.  These facts opened up world of possibility for audio capture.   Reading through these old issue of “Magnecord INC” opens the door to a time when the world was first figuring out all of the things that could be done with a portable machine that could capture and playback sound to the near-limits of human hearing ability.  Many of the then-novel tape-recording tasks described in these publications may seem mundane; but many are surprising and quite odd applications which never really caught on past a few enthusiastic early-experimenters.

Without further ado, here are the issue from 1950.  More to follow tomorrow.  Download and enjoy.

Magnecord_INC_Feb1950

Magnecord_INC_Mar1950

Categories
Uncategorized

Better Living Through Auto-Reverse

Well alright…  Cheryl from the Madison office is finally coming over to the condo for dinner.  I think she said she liked John Denver and Jim Croce…

Gonna make pretty much the ultimate mix…  man this is really gonna set the mood…

OK it’s almost 8…  let’s get this tape up on the deck. Thanks to TEAC Auto-Reverse technology, the tape will play over and over and over and over again all night, regardless of how long the night ends up being.

What a fox.  Oh yeah?  Like the music?  Yeah I love these guys too… Saw them at the OysterFest a few years ago…  oh yeah, glad you dig it…

*************

*******

***

I am not making any of this up.  This is an actual TEAC print-ad from January 1976.  It features single-people in their mid-30s having a romantic evening at the gentleman’s home (condo).   The selling proposition of this product is ‘Auto-Reverse,’  AKA, you don’t have to flip the tape over when the side ends.  When we were growing up in the cassette-tape era, Auto-Reverse was still a premium-feature of the higher-priced tape players.  I actually don’t think I ever had an auto-reverse walkman; they were just too expensive. Flipping the tape was just part of life.  Good thing i was too young at the time to have any ladies to entertain.  By the time I started dating, the CD was already in-play.  ‘Repeat’ is of course a feature of all CD decks.

Anyhow, this advert is a good example of the ‘lifestyle-benefit’ advertising that consumer electronics manufacturers employed in the 70’s.  Set a little stage, tell a little story, allow the consumer to insert themselves into the scenario.  This was in some contrast to much electronics advertising of the 40s to 60s, much of which was focused on ‘fidelity’ and ‘value.’  By the 70s, 20-20k performance (OK, 30-15k) was a given in most equipment; transistors and PCBs had made this stuff affordable to most working-class folks; so the benefit of one brand over the other needs to be demonstrated in other ways.  In this case, the increased romantic-potential of a dinner-date.