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After years of boutique handwired guitar amps that were clones of vintage Marshall and Fender guitar amps, I ended up getting. . . vintage 60's Marshalls and Fenders.

How about pro audio stuff? Vintage comps, eq's, mics, and pres, or do modern copies/variations (any of your own comparisons would be nice to hear about) I post this after having read at 3daudio.com forum about an opinion that none of the modern pultec copies are 'magic' like a real Pultec eq . . .

I will attempt to try them out side by side myself of course, as there are always a myriad of opinions- but I find it always informative, even if in a little way, to see how other people think.

By the way, this is money issues aside. I would rather save up and get what I really want than settle.

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Kev Sat, 03/12/2005 - 13:02

since I build and repair gear
I lean to new hand built

I find that most of the old gear need love and attention and much is not working as it should

if you have access to an excellent tech that genuinly know about this stuff then there is merrit in the Old Classics.
It will please the studio clients ... you did say money aside.

once equipment is working well enough to be considered excellent .. the rest is subjective.

most importantly people have to learn about interfacing and connectivity ... the Urei manuals had a section about this and often the way you use the screw terminals can greatly effect the end results.

Again a good tech can help you here.
Don't just asume you know as so many people just don't get it.

Increase your knowledge base and the above questions do become easier.

KurtFoster Sat, 03/12/2005 - 13:15

My take is when you are spending as much money as vintage or boutique gear costs, the best thing to do is to look for the best value.

Sometimes that is a vintage piece that has been well maintained or that someone is selling at a rediculous price (I got an LA2a once for $50). Other times it's the boutique piece that will work better / longer without needing service.

It also depends on what you want. I personally like the GR MP2NV better than it's original Neve counterpart ... and much of the work guys like Fletcher is doing in conjunction with the manufacturers like Dan Kennedy advancing older designs (like the MP2NV) are major improvments.

No one is ever going to be able to compare an old vintage Pultec or any other vintage design to a reissue or a knock off clone fairly. Even if it's a perfect copy which most aren't, the reissue / clone has new parts while the vintage Pultec has probably seen better days. Parts like caps, inductors, tubes and resistors age causing the specs to drift from what was originally intended or fail and are replaced somewhwere along the line. You never know what you are getting. It is impossible to say that a vintage piece sounded the same 50 years ago whan it was new as it does today. In the end, what matters is, does it do what you need it to do without breaking the bank?

Kev Sat, 03/12/2005 - 13:24

Kurt Foster wrote: ... well maintained or that someone is selling at a rediculous price (I got an LA2a once for $50).

... I personally like the GR MP2NV ...

$ 50
cool
how can anyone argue with that

I like my Dan K. 1NV and have obviously had the lid off.
well made and am very happy with the value for money.

Kurt,
if you have time
tell the story about interfacing the 8 channel Mic-pre with the Ai3 (AtoD).
Kurt had good service from the maker of the 8 ch Mic-pre.

I hope my memory serves me correctly here ....