I think a lot of us would like to use that gear, if we could afford to buy into that game. A rack full of V72 or V76 preamps or an EAB 8 x 2 tube console are certainly on my "want list," they just haven't made it into my budget yet. In the meantime, I make due with my Ampex 351 and the few cool outboard pieces that I have been able to acquire (mostly API and Altec stuff). But I don't think that you are alone in your appreciation for older recording equipment.

steve
sjp@soca.com

Originally posted by miketholen:
Any other exotic gear freaks out there?
I'm heavily into using my H.Gieling EAB re-85 8 ch. tube console with a Studer J-37 tube 4 track with a compliment of PYE, WSW, Telefunken, TAB, and finally a 16 ch. Helios console along with a Pro Tools rig.

Well, you're either a great tech with the parts supply from hell and a whole shitload of extra time on your hands for maintenance...or you're flogging some really mediocre sounding old shit. Most of that stuff is in a piss poor state of repair at best...not to mention a bitch to work on, but no where near as much of a bitch as finding spares for the damn things. How would I know that? Well, my shop did that stuff for a little over 5 years. Met some great (and not so great) people in the process...we closed it down because it was just too difficult and expensive to continue to keep the level of quality we demanded.

I see alot of people resorting to these "designer" pieces of equipment ie: Avalon, Manley, Focusrite, ect. this stuff just doesn't sound good to me. I would like to talk with more people who are into "real" sounds (remember The Beatles?).

I was up to my ass in 'Beatles' as well as Zeppelin sounds for a couple years. Been there, done that, have several T-shirts from the experience. Much like repeating Junior High School, not something I would really look forward too doing, damn glad I don't do that anymore.

The sounds are great but they've been done before. "Cover engineering" much like a "cover band" bores the shit out of me [then again, I was well paid to dredge up old crap to attain those tones for people for a couple years...once you know how it's done, it's no where near as exciting.

A lot, a whole lot of the newer pieces were concieved because the other 'newer' stuff sucked out loud. You gave some examples of 'new stuff', and for the most part, with a bit of exception here and there, I agree with you.

However, you have entirely missed a massive segment of the 'new/boutique' gear market. There is stuff that *kills* the 'vintage' crap at it's own game. Bro, I've had, owned more Fairchild 670's than you ever wanna know about. I once brought 3 to a session that I happened to own all at the same time!! Our firm refurbished [OK, half refurbished, but that's another story for another day] the EMI REDD 37 desk from Abbey Rd. We refurbished one of the J-37 4 tracks from Abbey Rd., along with 3M 23's, 56's, etc.

The stuff sounded great. It was the inspiration for Michael Beinhorn's 2" 8-track systems...and the other 2" 8-track systems that followed. Another of the 'modern/boutique' inventions not often covered by the 'mainstream press'.

Now, my question for you would be what kind of converters are you using to get into Pro-sTools? And why are you not investing in better converter technology to get all you can out of your "rare & old shit"?

A lot, a whole lot of the newer pieces were concieved because the other 'newer' stuff sucked out loud. .......
However, you have entirely missed a massive segment of the 'new/boutique' gear market. There is stuff that *kills* the 'vintage' crap at it's own game. .........

Agreed, the Really Nice Compressor, Hafler amps, Royer mics, Speck EQ, etc. are all great performers at the cheap end of the scale, and there are countless big buck products that are unequaled by "classic" gear. (Brauner VM1 to name just one)

But many of us just enjoy workig with 40 year old tube gear that fills four rack spaces and weighs 60 lbs. And while any decent Fairchild or Neve has long since been snapped up, you can still find dozens of less well known models of studio, broadcast and PA gear, all of which can be utilized in various ways in a studio.
If someone is struggling to support a family on the income from a small studio, vintage gear will rarely pencil out as the smartest choice when evaluating an equipment purchase. But that doesn't mean that buying and using vintage gear is no longer a viable option. As soon as I learned to accept that I wasn't able to afford a 670 compressor (and that I wouldn't find one at a yard sale), I started learning about all of these lesser known models that still turn up at reasonable prices. The hardest part was finding any information about what models to look for. Nobody's written the "Vintage Studio Equipment Bible" and many of these companies have been out of business for 2 or 3 decades. What little has been written tends to concentrate on the same dozen "classic" models that everyone always mentions. That's why a forum like this could be so valuable - a place to learn about old gear that was built to last, sounds good, looks really cool, but wasn't made by one of the handful of "name" manufacturers.

steve
sjp@soca.com

Rage on!

Interesting, this is the second time I see someone mentioning WSW stuff. You also have a J37.

I stumbled upon a swedish(?) studio website some time ago with similar equipment list and philosophy. The guy also had some WSW's and a J37.

I currently have six WSW Dynamikbegrenzer compressor/limiters. They are all being refurbished and after my tech does the job I'll be selling/trading two or four of them.

What WSW units do you have? I haven't been able to find much info on the Dynamikbegrenzer, apart from obtaining the original manual with schematics. I only found out that WSW stands for Wiener Schwachstroem Werke, Vienna, Austria and that the company bacame a part of the Siemens empire sometime in the seventies.

Oh yeah, do I have a J37, too? Of course I do.

Predrag

I have two Dynamikbegrenzer's (lol,. what a cool name). they were missing input transformers when I got them but my kick ass teck wound some new ones to original spec! he also found a way to link them. very cool kompressors indeed.
I also have a WSW console, I had dreamed of reworking it but the thing was just so fuckin' huge that I just couldn't see doing it, so as usual I ripped it apart into modules. my tech is getting a few input modules up right now.
I'll be making 2/4 channel "consoles" out of them (28 modules). I also have alot of meters and also the oldest but fastest pk meter ever (those funky light meters). that I'll incorporate into the consoles. ;)