Tag: guitar equipment

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Guitar Equipment Pro Audio Archive

Vintage Marshall Archive Material Part 2: 1974

Download the complete sixteen-page 1974 Marshall Amplification catalog:

DOWNLOAD: Marshall_1974_Cat

Products covered, with text, specs, and photos, include: Marshall 1959, 1987, 1989, 1992, 2048, 2068, and 1986 tube heads; 1960, 1982, 1990, 2049, 2045, 2069, and 1935 speaker cabinets; Marshall 2064, 2065, and 2052 ‘powercel’ cabinets; Marshall 2040, 2078, and 2077 combo amps; Marshall Disco Unit (yup…) 1993 ‘turntable control unit’; Marshall 2071, 2050, and 2070 mixers; plus a slew of additional P.A. equipment.

I spent yesterday doing the final wiring and installation of my newly-restored Wheatstone SP-6 console into the control room at Gold Coast Recorders.  Took the opportunity to listen to a pile of records that I had not gotten around to.  “The Welsh Connection” by Man really caught my ear, and got me into a real UK Rock circa ’75 kinda mood.  Hence today’s post.

The most interesting bits to the ’74 Marshall Catalog are the 2050 and 2070 mixers, neither of which seem to have survived the 1970s. I cannot find a single reference to them on the web, other than in a book about Marshall.

The much smaller # 2071 mini-mixer remains in evidence; here’s a link to one for sale for a few bucks in Ireland.   A unit cosmetically similar to the 2050 is also available in England right now; price is quite good IMO…

And of course, let’s not forget the Marshall Disco Unit.

Jim Marshall offers some sage advice here as well:

This really is true.  Do not try to Disco alone.  Sad at best.

Finally, we meet the face of Marshall:

Oh that’s the wrong pic.

Here he is:

Follow this link for previous vintage Marshall coverage on PS dot com.

 

 

Categories
Guitar Equipment

A Lost Fender Guitar Design – The ‘Acoustic-Electric’ of 1965

Looking through some old Fender Guitar Catalogs, I came across this unusual entry.

Behold the Fender Acoustic-Electric as it appears in the Fender 1965 Catalog (see catalog cover at right).  I have never come across any record of this instrument before, and yet there it is… photographed…  so at least one of them was made.

The Acoustic-Electric is pretty clearly the ancestor of the Fender Coronado, Fender’s ill-fated Gibson ES-335 competitor.  The  Coronado was sold from 1966 through 1972.   There are a few notable differences between the Coronado and the Acoustic-Electric tho – the pickup design, the tailpiece design, bridge style, and the knob/switch placement.  We also see a dot-neck on a two-pickup instrument (Coronados had block inlays on the 2-pickup instruments and dot-necks with single pickups), as well as the classic Fender headstock shape rather than the soft lower bout of the Coronado headstock.  Taken in total, these small changes seem to represent a deliberate attempt to make the Coronado a more ‘rock/pop’ instrument than the somewhat ‘classier,’ ‘jazzier’ Acoustic -Electric.  This change in direction would seem to correspond neatly with Fender’s purchase by CBS.  I have to wonder if the Acoustic-Electric represented the thinking of Fender’s old-guard, which lost influence once CBS took charge.  Who knows.  Anyway, has anyone ever come across a Fender Acoustic-Electric?  Or were they all destroyed?  Anyone?

Categories
Guitar Equipment

Bass c. ’70

Just a few random things today that caught my eye.  The Hagstrom 8-string bass pictured above with players Noel Redding, among others, was recently re-issued.  seems like not a bad choice for live rock bands.   Tom Petersson of the not-terrible band Cheap Trick has used a similar contraption for years.   Yes I am joking btw Cheap Trick is rad.  ANYways…

Good lord.  Just in case the SVT is not big/heavy/loud enough for you, Fender swings back with 435 watt PS-400.  I have only seen one of these in my life; can’t recall when/where.  Great fan-site for these amps here…  interesting picks of melted (like, literally) 6550 tubes from some sort of biasing-mishap.  Proceed with caution…

The Fender Precision bass in classic James Jamerson trim.  Who is James Jamerson?  Books have been written…  but you can start here. Kinda invented maybe 25% of the electric bass guitar lexicon?  Rough guess.

The electric bass Jamerson played was a stock 1962 Fender Precision Bass which was dubbed “The Funk Machine.” Jamerson bought it after his first Precision (a gift from fellow bassist Horace “Chili” Ruth) was stolen. It had a three-tone sunburst finish, a tortoise-shell style pickguard, and chrome pickup and bridge covers (the latter containing a piece of foam used to dampen sustain). He typically set its volume and tone knobs on full. This instrument was also stolen, just days before Jamerson’s death in 1983. To date, it has not been found.

(source)

 

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Guitar Equipment Icons Pro Audio Archive

ICON: Kustom Instrument Amplifiers: 150, 250, 500 series

Download the twelve-page 1972 Kustom Electronics, INC catalog for their 150, 250, and 500-series guitar and bass amplifiers.

DOWNLOAD: Kustom_150_250_500_Catalog

Kustom amps, with their ‘tuck and roll’ sparkle-Naugahyde upholstery covering, are a true icon of the rocknroll amplifier.  Bud Ross took the idea of RocknRoll=hot rods to its logical conclusion with these things.

Tuck and Roll custom hot-rod upholstery (web source)

Interesting how well the Rock-Music/Hot-Rod connection worked in the 50s/early 60s.  Consider the Gibson Firebird and Fender Stratocaster guitars, both of which had direct aesthetic relations to youth-favored automotive designs of the times.  At right: the 1953 Buick Wildcat (source).  Below that, the Fender Stratocaster, designed in 1953 (source).

I wonder why no one has made a Honda Civic or Subaru WRX flavored guitar (or beat-making software interface WHOA maybe getting too far out there…)

The 1940 Chrysler Windsor, designed by Ray Dietrich (source)

The 1963 Gibson Firebird, also designed by Ray Dietrich (source)

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From Wikipedia:

“Rockabilly and Motown musicians originally used (Kustom) amps. Other artists known for using the Kustom brand for live applications are Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Altamonts, Dusty Murphy, 3 and Sheryl Crow. Some of the most famous Kustom P.A. users include Creedence Clearwater Revival, Leon Russell, Johnny Cash, Roy Clark, The Jackson 5, Carl Perkins,Alun Tan Lan(Y Niwl) and The Carpenters.”

All of the original 1960s and 70s Kustoms are solid-state amps, so their appeal nowadays is mainly for their cosmetic a(e)ffect.  These things were no slouches in the technical department, tho – the 250 and 500 lines shipped with optional JBL or Altec speakers (look for the silver dustcap on the drivers); furthermore, when you come across one of these things nowadays, they generally work well, which is more than can be said for most 40-year-old solid-state guitar amps.

Pictured above is a German 1972 pricelist for the entire Kustom line.  If there is enough demand I will scan and upload the entire thing.

(web source)

(Web Source)

A Kustom-Brand Police Radar gun.  Hot Rod Cars are still a focus here, but the situation has changed dramatically.  And yes the same man is responsible for both product lines.   (Web Source)

Since Kustoms are so iconic, there is a ton of information on the web regarding these artifacts and their very colorful and storied creator Bud Ross.   Ever wonder what the connection was between Kustom and Kasino?  And a gambling addiction? Promo branded halter-tops?  Unsavory-looking plush toys?  And police radar guns?  Yes folks it’s all true.  This is an American Epic.  Here’s my pick of the best:

History of Kustom/Kasino amps and Bud Ross

A great stockpile of vintage Kustom literature

Personal site of a Kustom super-collector

History of the various Kustom lines

Polymath Bud Ross on-camera delivering an oral history of Kustom and his later ventures

Categories
Guitar Equipment

SUNN amplifiers c. 1970

Download the ten-panel SUNN amplifiers 1970 catalog:

DOWNLOAD: Sunn_Amps_1970_Catalog

Models covered, with specs and photos, include: SUNN Dymos, Solarus, Sonaro, Sentura 1, Sonic 1-40, Sceptre, Sorado, Sentura II, Solos, 200s, 1000s, 1200s, and 2000s instrument amps; plus Sunn Concert Sound System and Coliseum Sound System.

I’ve been using a SUNN Sonaro as our ‘house’ studio bass amp for several years.  E actually found this for me, deadstock, on eBay about 10 years ago.  Since then I have re-tubed and recapped it entirely, and it is really a fantastic amplifier.  Very simple, but always sounds great.  The ‘hi boost’ and ‘low boost’ switches enable one to get some very modern sounds out of this ancient tube head; much more versatile than, say, a Bassman.  The cabinet is not so great.  insufficient low end for many songs.

Growing up we also had one of these ‘Concert’ PA heads.  We used it briefly in our teen-age garage band.  For some reason, it regularly shocked the lead singer. Even if he was not touching anything else.  It basically kept him in a constant state of terror.  sorry J.  It was all we could afford at the time.  The CONCERT is a solid-state amp and it is not recommended.

SUNN amps have an interesting story.  From Wikipedia (abridged by PS.com):

“In early 1963, The Kingsmen, a band based in the U.S. state of Oregon, became known for the song “Louie, Louie“. After their hit single, The Kingsmen soon embarked on a fifty-state national tour. Because the band was used to playing small hops and school dances, many of the members found themselves ill-equipped with the amplifiers that they were currently using. Bassist Norm Sundholm discovered that his bass amp was not nearly powerful enough to play larger concert halls. Sundholm enlisted the help of his brother Conrad to help solve his problem. By 1964, the Sundholm brothers had designed a high powered concert bass amplifier. … Thus, the Sunn Musical Equipment Company was founded.”

What Wiki does not tell you is that Conrad’s ‘solution’ was basically to add a pre-amp stage to a Dynaco Mark 3 home hi-fi amp and stick it in a big speaker cabinet.   This basic design would provide the essential platform for all the classic SUNN amp heads.  The crucial point of all of this is that all the classic SUNNs (including the humble Sonaro) use the very powerful 6550 output tubes coupled to an ultra linear output transformer.  To my knowledge, no other major instrument amp manufacturer was using ultralinear transformers in 1970.  Not even the Ampeg SVTs of the era use ultralinear operation.   This fact gives SUNN amps a real advantage in accurate low-end (bass) sound reproduction.

I’ve also owned a Sunn SCEPTRE, and other than the crappy-sounding sold-state reverb circuit, it was pretty great as well.  It is still easy to get a great deal (around $400) for many of these classic SUNN heads, and I highly recommend them, especially since you can now easily get the proper high-voltage filter caps that these amps need.   This makes it very very easy to re-cap the amps for proper operation.

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To download the original schematic for the SUNN 1200S, click here: 1200s_schem

Categories
Guitar Equipment Pro Audio Archive Publications

Johnson Sound Systems of Manitoba circa 1951

Download the abridged (10pp from 20pp) JOHNSON SOUND SYSTEMS circa 1951 catalog:

DOWNLOAD: JohnsonSoundSystems_catalog

Alright here’s a real obscurity for you.  JOHNSON was a brand/dealer of ‘musical merchandise’ in Brandon, Manitoba Canada in the 1940s/50s.  I’ve scanned the 10 pages from their circa 1951 catalog (the date is a guess based on the particular microphone models available in the catalog).  I’ve omitted the pages featuring luthiery parts, electric razors (!), etc.  Amplifier models featured include:  The Johnson Vibrante, Maestro, Johnson Junior guitar amps; and the Johnson M1, M2, M3, and J1 PA heads; plus Hofner classical and archtop guitars, mics from a few makers, Celestion Rola G-12, P-44, Z10Z0 speakers, plus pickups, etc.

For a few words about JOHNSON and its founder Albert Johnson, plus photos of many later models of Johnson amps, visit this site.  The most interesting fact: these amps were not re-branded pieces from another manufacturer; they were in fact unique designs built on the familiar+dear Hammond chassis.

Categories
Guitar Equipment Icons Publications

BOSS guitar effects and associated audio products 1984

Download the entire twenty-four-page 1984 BOSS full-line catalog (7.3 MB file).

DOWNLOAD: Boss_Full_product_Line_1984

Products covered, with full specs and photos, include: Boss DD-2 digital delay, HM-2 heavy metal, CE-3 and CE-2 chorus, BF-2 flanger, CS-2 Compression Sustainer, DM-2 (analog) delay, OC-2 Octaver, VB-2 Vibrato, TW-1 touch wah, GE-10 equalizer, plus many more pedals; HC-2 handclapper and PC-2 Percussion synth; DE-200, DM-300, DM-100, RX-100 tabletop delay/reverbs; SCC-700 effects controller; BX-600, BX-400, KM-60 mixers; plus many more odd items.

Volumes can be said about the BOSS brand of audio products.  BOSS was created in 1976 as a guitarist-oriented division of the ROLAND corporation of Japan.  They arrived at their classic form-factor of a small cast-metal pedal with large foot-switch and safely recessed knobs in 1977.  Since then, these devices have become as ubiquitous as the electric-guitar itself.

Audacious, perhaps, but probably accurate.  When a young kid gets the guitar and amp he has been wanting, the next thing he wants is a ‘pedal.’  And more likely than not, that pedal will be a BOSS pedal.  To a novice guitar-player, these effect units literally open up a world of possibilities, offering the potential to free the instrument entirely from the acoustic sound that the vibrating strings create and into a world of engineered audio.

When I was a kid learning to play guitar, the BOSS digital delay pedal (ie ‘Echo pedal’) was our holy grail of pedal effects.  These things were so expensive that almost no one could afford one.  They cost as much or more than your amplifier.  On the other hand, we had no interest in the DM-2 ‘Delay’ (read: Analog Delay) pedal, which has more limited echo time and ‘impefect’ ‘analog processing’ which causes noticeable high-frequency loss on the echo repeats.

Ironic now that the DD-2 digital delay pedal is nearly worthless, while the DM-2 and DM-3 analog delay pedals of the same era trade for upwards of $400.  I have been using a DM-2 in my live-performance guitar setup for several years and it is a truly great device.

I used one of these percussion-synths for a long time too.  These are very cool if you can find one cheap.

I can’t imagine that this mixer sounds very good but shit it is funky.   A cosmetic holdover from the 1970s BOSS line.

Have you seen ‘THE BOSS BOOK” (no author attributed) from Hal Leonard Publishers?

I encountered this 122-page volume at the bookshop one afternoon and I have to say: it is one of the best books in the (albeit limited) genre of ‘musical-instrument-writing’ that I have come across.  Extremely dense, rigorous, and well-illustrated.  If you have ever used guitar-effect pedals in your work, I highly suggest that you pick it up. “TBB” traces the development of each of the effect devices from their inception through discontinuation.  This history is in many ways the history of the evolution of the electric guitar and audio processing in the 1980s.  A lot to think about.

Categories
Guitar Equipment Publications

Gretsch Guitars 1978 Full-Line Catalog

Download the entire eight-page 1978 Gretsch Electric Guitars Catalog:

DOWNLOAD: GretschElectricGuitars1978Catalog

Models covered, in text and photo: include: Gretsch #7595, 7594, and 7593 White Falcon; #7680 and 7685 Super Axe and Atkins Axe; the usual #7690 super Chet, 7670 Country Gentleman, 7660 Nashville, and 7655 Tennessean; The Gretsch Committee #7628 and 7629 bass; Roc Jet #7611; Country Roc #7620; TK 300 #7625 and Bass #7627; Broadkaster #7609; and Country Club #7576.

The late 70’s were hardly the most lauded period in Gretsch history; were it not for the lingering (after-after-after) effects of ‘Beatlemania’ I doubt they would have even lasted this long.  Interesting to see that they have kept most of the circa 1964 classics intact; but more interesting is the scattered approaches to innovation that they assumed with their newer models, like the Alembic-influenced Committee models seen above.  BTW; an etymological question: when did the phrase ‘designed by committee’ become synonymous with ‘bad design’ rather than ‘this is a positive feature’?

Not really sure where they were going with the TK300 line…  Punk/new wave maybe? Odd-shape-for-the-sake-of-odd-shape?  Then figure in the oft-noted ‘Super Axe’ with its built-in phaser and compressor, already several years into production (feel like they beat Gibson to the party here…  feel like the RD artists came later…).

Did anyone really think that phase-shift was such a fantastic effect that you would want it around for ever and ever and ever in your guitar?  As much as I dislike 80’s guitar design, at least people had the good sense not to market high-end guitars in the 80’s with built in chorus and flange effects (prove me wrong here people…).

Categories
Guitar Equipment Pro Audio Archive

Orange Amplifiers Full-Line Catalog Circa 1970

Download the entire twelve-page c. 1970 Orange Musical Industries Catalog:

DOWNLOAD: Orange_catalog_1970

This catalog contains photos and specs on familiar pieces like the Graphic 80 and 120 heads (see above).  It also details many extremely obscure products such as the Orange 15 (!!!) channel Mixing Console # 101R, the Orange Deluxe and Deluxe Custom Disco (DJ) units, and the Orange Cart Machine and Condenser microphone units.  Crazy.

Categories
Guitar Equipment Pro Audio Archive Publications

Fender Album Of Stars Promotional Magazine c. 1968

Download the entire 32-page Fender ‘album of stars’ promotional magazine, circa 1968:

DOWNLOAD PART 1: FenderAlbumofStars1

DOWNLOAD PART 2: FenderAlbumOfStars2

Apologies for the weird alias-ing.  I’ll get better at scanning eventually.

A special PreservationSound nod to Merry-Go-Round frontman Emitt Rhodes (standing), aka the father of home recording.  IF you are not familiar with Rhodes and his outstanding work, check him out…Also be sure to scope this amazing early music video for one of his best tracks. “Hey how do we let people know that he plays EVERYTHING on these recordings?”

Some of the images in this 32-page ‘album’ have been reproduced often; for instance, the highly-dubious Dylan-with-Jazz Bass.  Many, though, have never been seen by those who do not possess the actual document. This is a fairly rare item these days, as it was created with the intention of being cut-up and pinned to one’s wall.  There are actually cut-lines printed in the margin of each page.  So dig in….

Artists include:  Union Gap, Mike Bloomfield and the Electric Flag, Brenda Lee and the Casuals, The Fifth Dimension, Sebastiao Neto with Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, Oscar Mesa and Mike Saluzzi with Roger Williams, The Merry-Go-Round, Vic Gaskin with Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Brown Jr., Herman’s Hermits, Chad and Jeremy, Bob Dylan, Wayne Newton, Sonny and Cher, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Lee Michaels, Noel Harrison, Edgar Willis and Barry Rillera with Ray Charles, Ian and Sylvia, The James Cotton Blues Band, Duke Ellington and Mercer Ellington, The Beach Boys, Don Ellis (check the prototype echo ((?)) unit), The Baja Marimba Band, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The First Edition (feat. Kenny Rogers on a Coronado Bass II), Rick Nelson and James Nelson, The Chambers Brothers, The Byrds, and a dude who apparently played a Stratocaster guitar named Jimi Hendrix.