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…

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*******

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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.

Categories
Guitar Equipment

Gibson Guitar Amplifers: 1966

Download a twelve-page scan of the entire guitar-amp line represented in Gibson’s 1966 catalog:

DOWNLOAD: Gibson_amps_1966

Models covered, with specs and photos, include: Gibson GSS-100, GSS-50, and PLUS-50 solid-state amplifiers; Gibson Titan, Mercury, Atlas, and Atlas Medalist (Bass) amps; Vanguard GA-77, Apollo GA-95, Multi-stereo GA-79, Ranger GA-66, and Saturn GA-45 Reverb/Tremolo amps; Lancer GA-35, Minuteman GA-20 RVT, Explorer GA-15 RVT, Recording GA-75 and GA-75L, Skylark GA-5 and GA-5T practice/studio amps.

Above is some of the most awful product-prose that I have ever encountered, taken directly from p.16 of the 1966 catalog.  ‘Butterflies, Stroking, Squeezing the full measure …..’  Were these people fucking high?  Actually, the problem is that they probably weren’t high.  Yet.  1966 seems to have been a decisive year in musical-instrument marketing; the very last year that manufacturers denied the very existence of Rock and Roll.  Most of the catalogs and advertisements from 1966 (and earlier) were very staid, grown-up, and had a romantic rather than… aquarian… sensibility.  In 1967 we start to see the bright colors, bold graphic design, and general emphasis on youth that remain in most musical-instrument marketing even today.

Above, the Gibson Atlas.  What a beautiful piece of industrial design this is.  After I came across this catalog, I looked for any examples of this unit for sale.  I could not find a single one.  While I am sure that the Gibson Atlas did not ship in nearly the same numbers as, say, a Fender Bassman, there is another reason that these 60’s Gibson amps are not too common today: reliability and build quality.  While Gibson amps of the 1940s-60s are excellent sounding in general, Leo Fender really had these midwesterners beat as far as construction quality.  Earlier this month I serviced a couple of early 60s Gibsons for a client.  Opening up a mint-condition Gibson circa ’62 student amp… I can’t recall the model, but it was a PP 6AQ5 amp with fixed-depth trem…  anyway, opened it up to find a few haphazardly placed terminal strips, and even a few multi-component junctions meeting in mid-air.  This is in sharp contract to the build of even the cheapest Fenders, all of which have carefully laid-out, serviceman-friendly terminal boards.  The same construction techniques you will find in much military and commercial hardware of the pre-PCB age.  This is not surprising when you remember that Leo Fender began his career as a radio repairman rather than as a luthier or musician.  As you (IF you) learn to design and build tube audio equipment, take some time to open up as many old pieces of hardware as you can find.  $2, $5 pieces… old test equipment, radios, organs…  check out the construction and mounting techniques, lead dress, solder joints…  you will find a huge variety of techniques used, all of which will have some useful applications in your own work.  This is all the stuff that can’t learn from schematics, and certainly not from reading (blogs) online.

Categories
Publications

Out-of-print Book Report: “Starting Your Own Band” (1980)

Ah salad days.

Making noise with some high-school bros

and/or chicks

maybe you were on the “wheels-of-steel”

or maybe you were the one who pushed ‘RECORD’ while others were in the lights

Good days.

“Starting your own band” (h.f. ‘SYOB’) was published in paperback by Weekly Reader Books of Middletown CT in 1980.  It’s the work of one Lani Van Ryzin, who also wrote several other books on subjects and near as “Cutting a Record in Nashville” and as far as one volume on creating magical spaces in your yard.  Anyhow, SYOB is a 64pp volume squarely aimed at high-school students.  Some of the suggestions on offer:

“To succeed, (a band) must flow together– not just musically, but in feelings, too. And it simply won’t flow if’s full of personality hassles…”

“It’s probably best not to start talking ‘Band Talk’ until after several jam sessions.”

“Extension cords are expensive and necessary…”

“Making music is making sounds, and the quality of the sound you make is critical.”

Could there ever really be a book of a sufficient length to offer the knowledge necessary to operate a rock-band smoothly?  The answer is no.  Lani, if you’re out there, tell us about the bands you were in…  send us some MP3s.

Back to the photos.  I am going to wishfully believe that these pics were shot in Connecticut, home of the publishing company responsible for this treatise…  prove me wrong (or right).   As I look at these images, which truly feel like they are from so-very-long-ago, I have to recognize that I was in a high-school garage-band in CT a mere 10 years later.  Trying not to cross the line from ‘historical research’ to ‘actual nostalgia.’  Wish me luck.


 

Categories
Guitar Equipment Uncategorized

Heathkit Rock-Band Hardware c. 1969


Download a five-page scan of the various guitar amps, guitars, effects, and other Rock-combo-flotsam available from Heathkit in 1969:

DOWNLOAD: Heathkit_guitar_amps_1969

Products on offer include: Heathkit Starmaker TA-16 amplifier; AKG and Shure mics and Atlas stands; TA-27 guitar amp; Harmony ‘Silhouette’ H17 electric guitar; Heathkit TA-28 “Fuzz” Booster and TA-58 headphone amp; TA-17 amplifier head and TA-17-1 speaker system; TA-38 bass amplifer (130 lbs!); and a kit version of the famous Vox Jaguar organ.


M. and I were digging through some local pawn shops last week and we spotted the above-depicted ‘Starmaker’ amplifer buried under some radial arm saws.  Coincidentally enough, the price they were asking was the same $119 that it would have cost you to buy as a kit in 1969.  “…in about 8-10 hours and you’ll have the best value around in a solid-state amp.  Order yours now.”

Kit-built electronics were a fascinating and vital part of consumer-culture in America through the 1970s. It’s kind of liberating when you think about it: a product which parses out some (but certainly not all) of the labor from the physical materials of the product; you, the consumer, can then create the finished product from a combination of your capital (money) and your raw labor/time.  I am about to do the same thing with a shed; we need someplace to put our lawnmower, and the right balance of capital/labor for my particular circumstances is a shed-kit.  I have neither the money to pay someone to build a shed for me nor the free time to build a shed from a blueprint and a pile of uncut lumber; the shed kit seems like the right choice for me.   At some point in America, the value of the labor required to complete a piece of consumer-electronics equipment fell below a certain point, thanks to a combination automation (robots) and cheap foreign labor.  This made the Heathkit a fairly indefensible option.   This affordability of foreign labor (and transportation costs…) can’t last forever though.  So I have to wonder:  as foreign labor prices continue to rise, will we ever see a return of the kit-option for consumer electronics in America?

Do you ever come across a Vox Jaguar and wonder why it does not work quite right?  Well now we know: it could have originated as one of these kits; 91 lbs of cold solder joints and sloppy lead dress.  Heathkit makes a  bold claim about the capability of the above Jaguar when used in league with their TA-38 bass amp:  “Here’s a combination that will produce the most mind-bending, soul-grabbing sound around.”  266 lbs, $499.00.

 

Categories
Synthesizers

Keyboard accessories circa mid 70s

The ACOUSTIC Model 500 ‘Keyboard Control Center.’ Never seen this piece before.  The original ACOUSTIC amps from the early 70s are really not-terrible solid-state amps.  We used one back in high school for the Rhodes and it was pretty excellent.

The Komplete Kustom lineup from their sadder post-Naugahyde era.  See this link for a detailed discussion of the earlier, more iconic Kustom pieces.

The Powerhouse Rhythm Unit, an infinite-loop tape cartridge playback system designed to do the work of a drum machine.

The WMS Interphaser, a phase-shift pedal from a small maker.

Nothing too exciting today…  just a few odds and ends that caught my eye. 


Categories
Uncategorized

Radio Show: Live 6.13.11: WPKN 89.5 FM

Thanks to Steve DiCostanzo and WPKN 89.5 FM in Bridgeport CT for inviting me on-air for two hours last night to present a program that I call “The Devil in God’s House: Gospel Music themes in RockNRoll of the Nixon Era.”  The show was live last night 6/13 from 10PM til midnight.

Click here to see the set list and stream the entire broadcast anytime in high-quality.  It’s a two-hour show full of great music.

Categories
Mixtapes Recordings

Summer 2011

The culmination of the past 4 months of crate digging: Summer 2011 at Preservation Sound.  If you see me, ask me for a copy.  Full track list/links follow the pics.

Follow the link for track information…

Continue reading “Summer 2011”
Categories
Synthesizers

Keys of the 70s

Strings & Things Memphis advert for keyboards circa 1977.

Been looking through some mid-70s issues of “Contemporary Keyboard” (h.f. “CK”) magazine.  CK later became simply “Keyboard,” which is still in publication; it’s part of the GUITAR PLAYER family of publications.  NEways…   1976/7 was an interesting time in the development of keyboard instruments.  Affordable polyphonic (IE., you can play more than one note at a time) synthesizers were still a few years away, and realistic-sounding electronic pianos were still about a decade away.  So what you had was a very mixed bag of Electronic Pianos and ‘String Synthesizers,’ which are both basically hyped-up electric organs; some still-useful electro-acoustic instruments; and a pretty wide range of pretty experimental synthesizers, many from small manufacturers that didn’t stay around very long.  In about 6 years this would all be blown away by advanced Japanese synths with built-in programming, patch memory, and all with polyphony;  the Roland/Korg/Yamaha DX7 era; and this too would fall at the hands of the dreaded Korg M1, which ushered in the Rompler era.  Anyone out there using an M1 lately?

The ARP pro-soloist, typical of the ‘preset’ synths of the era; preset synths offered interfaces optimized for live-performance rather than endless tweaking in the studio.

The Hohner Clavinet, HIP II, and Stringvox.  The Clavinet has attained classic status, and many are still in use; not so sure about the HIP II and Stringvox.

A couple of Moogs from different ends of the spectrum.  The Minitmoog was a ‘preset’ synth; the Polymoog was not a true synth; it was closer to an organ in terms of its basic operating principle.

Oberheim Expander

A few Paia synth-kit offerings of the mid 70s: the Surf Synthesizer, The Gnome, and the classic 4700.  See this link for previous PAIA coverage on PS dot com.

An advert for the Polyfusion System A.  See this link for previous coverage of the Polyfusion line.

The RMI Electra Piano.  When we were growing up in the late 80s/early 90s, ‘electric pianos’ like these were about fifty bucks or less; no one wanted them, and that has not changed.  They sound pretty awful but they’re still heavy and cumbersome!

The RMI KC-II Keyboard Computer.  From what I gather, this device is essentially a RAMpler; not too different in basic principle from the epic Synclavier in that the user could input waveforms which would then be manipulated.  This thing apparently cost $4700 which means that… yeah… there ain’t too many out there.

Roland MP-700 electronic piano

Sequential Circuits Model 700 programmer.  I assume that this thing has a bunch of jackpoints that you would connect to various I/O points on yr modular synth…  anyone use one of these?

The Steiner-Parker Synthacon.  A rare Minimoog-esque unit.  Apparently used on IN THE LIGHT.

The Strider Systems DCS1.   I can’t find any info on this piece.  Anyone?

Synare PS synth drums

Yamaha CP-30, yet another electronic piano

The Yamaha YC-45, the flagship model of their YC series.  The YCs are unapologetic “Combo Organs,” which explains why they are still in use while the string synths and electronic pianos rest mainly in landfills.  These are great-sounding, versatile organs; they also weigh a metric tonne so be forewarned.

Want more?  Check out this site; this man has dedicated his entire blog to territory that I only dare visit.

Tomorrow: some interesting keyboard amps and FX from the era.

Categories
Synthesizers

This Is What I Do

I play the keyboards.

Images of Rock n Roll Keyboard players circa the mid 1970s.

Categories
Custom Fabrication Gold Coast Recorders Technical

RCA OP-6/BA-2 Hybrid Mic Pre Amp: Listening Test/Shootout

Alright!  So earlier this week I described the successful completion of the RCA OP-6/BA-2 microphone preamp.  Check out this previous post for all the construction and technical details.   The short story is: the RCA OP-6 is one of the most fetishized vintage mic preamps out there; I have always wanted to try one out; the easiest/cheapest way for me to do this was to build one (or at least as close as I could get).  The problem is that the input stage requires a special attenuator device, exact values unknown; therefore I had to substitute an input stage from another device.  I chose the input stage from the RCA BA-2, as I have built many of these and they always work great.  The result: a hybrid of the OP-6 and the BA-2.

OK so there it is.  Anyway, the very helpful+generous TW came by to help me out on this one.  I wanted to try the OP-6/BA-2 Hybrid (hf. OBH) on a couple of different sources with a couple different types of mics. We a/b’d the OBH with an API 512.  I use the API 512 as a benchmark for mic-pre shootouts because it’s a high-quality unit that many people own and use regularly.  What you are about to hear are identical mics tracked through the two different preamps, direct to Pro Tools via a Lynx Aurora.  Levels were matched. No other processing, level adjustment, or manipulation was done.  You are hearing exactly what came out of the preamps.  To appreciate the differences between the units, you will need to listen to these files on good headphones or a full-range speaker system.   If you listen on a system with a subwoofer (we used the Blue Sky system at Gold Cost Recorders), you will hear some dramatic differences.

OK.  So first up: let’s listen to the drum kit above.  These are vintage ludwig drums, 30″ kick, 12″ and 14″ toms, 14×5 wood snare.  Cymbals are fairly dark old Zildjans.    You are hearing two identical Shure SM-81s placed right next to each other, approx 8 feet in front of the kit, pointed directly at the kit.  The 10db pads on the SM81s are engaged.  The SM81 is not the prettiest sounding mic, but they have a very flat frequency response.

First: here’s the API 512:

LISTEN: Drums_API

…and here’s the OBH:

LISTEN: Drums_RCA_hybrid

Our impressions were as follows: the OBH has more low end extension.  On the Blue Sky system, the kick drum in the OBH signal moved the room in a way that the API simply could not.  The API seemed to move the kit a little closer to the plane of the speakers, but at the same time the top end was not as in-focus.  There is a definite low-midrange boost going on with the API.  I can say this with relative confidence because I measured the frequency response of the OBH and it is totally flat from 15Hz – 10K, with only a very slight raise above 10K.  In terms of operation: the API gain control was at 3 o’clock; the OBH was at 9 o’clock.  WOW that is a lot of gain.

Next, let’s listen to some acoustic guitar.  TW played an old Martin D-19 (same as a D-18) that i mic’d with a well-matched old pair of Beyer M260s ribbon mics. The M260 has a built-in gentle roll off that starts at around 200hz

Alright so take a listen.  First, the API 512:

LISTEN: AcGtr_API

…and now the OBH:

LISTEN: AcGtr_RCA_Hybrid

Our impressions were that the OBH had more low bass but less low mids; it had a more ‘mellow’ feeling.  The OBH also had better high-end extension.   This also resulted in slightly more HVAC (air conditioning) room noise in the OBH.  Although I like the sound of the OBH again here, it is less of a clear-cut choice.  The mid-boost that API seems to deliver is very welcome in this particular setup.

In summary: TW put it this way: ‘(the OBH) is like a pair of gentle shelves (shelving EQs) on the very highs a lows.’  I think this is very accurate.  The OBH seems to give what I think of as an English sound: that sort of larger-than-life, hyper-real sound that UK records have always aspired to.  I highly encourage your DIY’ers out there to give this project a shot; you will find it to be a very useful tool.

Thanks again to TW for his help with this listening test; T’s band THE STEPKIDS is just back from LA where they did a direct-to-vinyl (!) live set in front of a studio audience (!!!) at Capsule Mastering Labs.  Check out the details of this very cool endeavor here and here.