I'll begin. I remember you had to sometimes press 3 buttons to do certain tasks. I remember this thing wasn't cheap either. List price $995.00
Comments
With my first band, no one knew how to work the audio equipment
With my first band, no one knew how to work the audio equipment that was borrowed from the school for our rehersal
We had a tape delay that I often needed to refit the tape.
I looked somewhat like this :
[="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hamerfanclub.com%2Fforums%2Ftopic%2F55035-fsft-fulltone-tube-tape-echo%2F&ei=jjHKVIbKJ4eKyATpnIGIDw&bvm=bv.84607526,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNFPmnomcWlZHhlbJrB5wVt-z3K5kA&ust=1422622608554258"] 
[/]="http://www.google.c…"] [/]
And this was our mixer :
[[url=http://="http://www.google.c…"] 
[/]="http://www.google.c…"] [/]
One night, we played with 4 other bands and the band's signer just before use, stepped on it even thought it was on a rack. Good thing it was still working for us...
LUXURY! Ee, when I were a lad... My oldest piece of gear that I
LUXURY! Ee, when I were a lad...
My oldest piece of gear that I used professionally (got paid for using) in 1962 and that I still have is a [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.radiomus…"]Lowe-Opta Optacord model 412[/]="http://www.radiomus…"]Lowe-Opta Optacord model 412[/] battery/mains reel-to-reel recorder. For the day, the quality was excellent and it had surprisingly good wow and flutter figures for a battery unit.
Of course, I still use my trusty Avometer Model 8 from the mid-1960s, complete with its genuine heavy leather shoulder carry case.
DonnyThompson, post: 424419, member: 46114 wrote: The oldest pie
DonnyThompson, post: 424419, member: 46114 wrote: The oldest piece of gear I have right now is probably a [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.heilsoun…"]Heil[/]="http://www.heilsoun…"]Heil[/] Talk Box. I think I bought it around '79 or so. It still works, too
I loved that box. I sold mine in the 80's. Totally regret it. But, I am planning on making one. The designer of that was hear a while back. ;)
Arp Avatar ( guitar synth) was one that is very memorable. It wa
Arp Avatar ( guitar synth) was one that is very memorable. It was like having an Arp 2600 strapped to my Axe with this crazy Hex Fuxx that was in stereo. I could set up pulse beats and play to these wild filtering sequences.
I was the second person in Canada to own one in 1977. I paid $2800 for mine and coupled a Les Paul Custom to it.
It opened many doors for me. Was my introduction into New Wave and Pop.
It was a complete disaster for Arp, it never tracked well but the stereo fuzz part of it was very cool.I managed to get a refund after owning it for almost a year, shorty after that, I replaced it with the Arp Quadra and a Jackson USA.
I used two amps (stereo) on stage. It opened my career.
http://www.vintagesynth.com/arp/avatar.php
I have an [="http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/rca_1yb_11iyb_iiyb_1.h
I have an [="http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/rca_1yb_11iyb_iiyb_1.html?language_id=2"]RCA Victor 1YB-11[/]="http://www.radiomus…"]RCA Victor 1YB-11[/], which has little value other than art-deco / conversation piece.
[photo from a [[url=http://="
"]YouTube[/]="
"]YouTube[/] video by [="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuWZ234UcVF1q_bYSoL1XMA?spfreload=10"]wurly1100[/]="https://www.youtube…"]wurly1100[/] - their machine, not mine. - clearly an enthusiast in vintage A/V technology]
The predecessors to the cassette tape machines of the 60's & 70's, these machines used a similar concept - except with ¼" tape housed in a comparatively large (almost comical) cartridge running at 3 ¾ ips. If you pick up [[url=http://="https://archive.org…"]this 1958 RCA Promotional video[/]="https://archive.org…"]this 1958 RCA Promotional video[/] at about the 7:40 mark you can get a sense of how bulky the cartridges were, [or [[url=http://[/URL]="
&spfreload=10"]THIS video[/]="
&spfreload=10"]THIS video[/]] but compared to the average consumer wrestling with an open reel machine, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Audiophiles still preferred reel to reel, pre-recorded tapes were slow to the market, the compact cassette we all remember (lo-fidelity ⅛" tape at 1 ⅞" ips) was introduced in the early 60's, and this format was a commercial flop.
(The first half of that RCA video announces the miracle of RCA's new stereophonic victrolas, also worth a look if you're into nostalgia-tech).
The most interesting part of the acquisition of the RCA tape recorder was the content of the home-recorded tapes by the, then pre-teen, owner. In addition to some pretty good play-by-play of a ballgame, he made a recording from the TV of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.
Dr_Willie_OBGYN, post: 424437, member: 25832 wrote: pcrecord, Go
Dr_Willie_OBGYN, post: 424437, member: 25832 wrote: pcrecord, Good Lord! A piece of Peavey gear! Reminds me of the Carvin mixer I used to own. All I can remember was that the pots inevitably would get all scratchy. Useless!
I was 14yo at the time, it wasn't a choice.. but even tho it sounded far from clean, it made me learn what was an EQ, fader et such ;)
That old Grundig taught me a lot - and obviously not enough beca
That old Grundig taught me a lot - and obviously not enough because I failed the BBC sound interview, because my understanding of bias current was feeble. Thinking back though - they was one excellent feature. The green magic eye record level meter. For the younger ones, a small tube (valve) coated with green phosphor, that was a 1960s version of a bar type meter. Uncalibrated but similar ballistics to modern meters - as in too keen to bee at the top, or the bottom, and not a lot in the middle! I recorded, using the supplied mic, the BBC top 20 every sunday with Tony Blackburn (British cult DJ of the time) - plus the audio from tv programmes. I seem to remember being quite happy with the results!
Okay... I have to recant my post regarding the 57 being the olde
Okay... I have to recant my post regarding the 57 being the oldest piece of gear that I own.
I remembered last night, that I have a wire recorder, circa 1952, that belonged to my grandfather. He had a radio show on Saturdays in the 50's, called "My America", where he would do "plays" on local radio (WAVL, Vandergrift, PA).... kind of like Walter Cronkite used to do with his program You Are There, where he took historical events and recreated them. I remember my dad telling me how he helped my grandfather do an episode on the Johnstown Flood, and how my dad was swirling water around in a bucket while y grandfather recorded the sound...
I wish it still worked... there's a reel of wire on it that is labeled "Chris, 1953". Chris was my dad (R.I.P.) and I'd love to hear what's on that reel. He'd have been around 20 years old...
57 Strat that I bought off of a merchant marine in 1972 for $50.
57 Strat that I bought off of a merchant marine in 1972 for $50. Traded it too soon :)
Ampex AG440 2-track recorder .Bought it in 1975 and it looked it had been through the Korean War, and spilled tape if you looked at it wrong (which I apparently did frquently...LOL) .
My first recorder was a Voice of Music reel-to-reel with the "magic eye" meter in 1963...A real workhorse that was!
And...I STILL have the Baldwin Custom Reverb amplifier with the colored pushbutton tone selectors, designed to be used with Jeffguy's electric harpsichord!
HAHAHA!!! I was gonna say that but I've owned stuff older than
HAHAHA!!! I was gonna say that but I've owned stuff older than me by a lot. 1920's Golden Oak Cabinet upright grand. Hardman I believe....The one I have now is probably 30's vintage.
Lets see....long list...These are just some high-lights.....
1953 Gibson Les Paul Amp. two-tone fake leatherette tonal goodness
1956 Magnatone Vibra-amp...sold it to a harp player who promptly left it in his car parked on a street outside his apartment. Guess what happened.... I had it for three years....he made it three days.
1948 (or so) Rickenbacher steel amp. 8" speaker...3 or 4 watts...criminally excellent
1959 Rex amp. Good luck finding one. Another single-ended 8" tone-of-the-gods amp. This one, I know where it still lives.
1960 Fender Tweed Tremolux Almost perfect. Went to a collector I'm sure.
1961 Tremolux. Just like the one on the cover of Blind Faith's record. Had to have it when I got that record. Amazingly, its the amp they recorded with no doubt. I had a 1963 also...different grill cloth and some changes in the circuit
1964 Pro-Reverb...heavy as a twin...not as obnoxiously loud
1965 Baldwin Professional Deluxe. Mine smelled like Willie's too.....
1959 Tele ( I weep)
1961 Tele...we lived in hotels, tear out the walls...for a while. Clean and almost micro-phonic...sold it because you couldn't play any pedals with it (see microphonic statement) and thats what we did in the 80's
FOUR...count them 4 'L' series Strats. Investments for my travels. Could buy a nice house with them now.....who knew? I made 400% on them in the late 70's....now=silly prices for a 2X4 plank. Of course the Burgandy Mist 63 played itself....should'a kept that one...it smelled like old barrooms..
1958 P-Bass investment
1959 P-Bass investment
1961 Jazz Bass stack knob...stolen from my car in Colorado and I know who did it. If you're reading this, (the perp) know that my memory is long, I still have the serial number and I own a Glock.
1962 P-Bass a stripped beautiful and graceful Bass Lady. The P/U went gunny-sack so it lived with a Duncan for years. Truss rod went gunny and it lived with a 76 fretless neck for a while. Parted out.
1965 P-Bass...I know where this one lives too. Thanks goodness its preserved. Respray with original color....V.O.G pickup..Stock. Plug it into the console. INSTANT James Jamerson. This one we realllllllyyyy Love
Is that enough? Currently the oldest thing would be the piano and the 1962 Hammond M3. I have the first two mics I ever bought which, because for years, my gear revolved at a never ending pace, its a wonder I kept them. 2 1969 SM57's . Shure Brothers-made in America-Unidyne III . I have another from the mid 70's I just bought. Ya can't have TOO MANY SM57's lying about.
LOL... I remember those. Emu had it going on there for awhile,
LOL... I remember those.
Emu had it going on there for awhile, they were making some cool stuff at that time, not the least of which was the E-mu EMax. I thought the grand piano sounded great in that synth... in all of its stellar-sounding 12 bit glory. LOL. Hey, you have to remember what we had to compare it to at that time. It was pretty awesome for 1984.
The oldest piece of gear I have right now is probably a Heil Talk Box. I think I bought it around '79 or so. It still works, too.
No... ya know what? Strike that. I know for sure what my oldest piece is... it's a 1977 Shure SM57.
Considering that back around 1987, it spent a winter in my front yard, under the snow, and was then hit by a lawn mower that following spring, and still worked - and it still works to this day... LOL, I'd also have to rank it as the most solid piece of equipment I've ever owned.
;)