Category Archives: Custom Fabrication

EMI Redd 47 Mic Preamp build

Posted on 04/11/2013 by chris

So I was flipping through Recording The Beatles recently and I was reminded that I had yet to make one of those famous EMI console preamps.  As luck would have it, we were hit with a pretty major blizzard and … Continue reading →

Posted in Custom Fabrication, Technical | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Black Box

Posted on 01/31/2013 by chris

Let’s just say hypothetically that you had to write+ record a tremendous amount of guitar-based music very quickly.  And even though you work at a recording studio filled with numerous custom and vintage-modified tube amps and great microphones, this music … Continue reading →

Posted in Custom Fabrication | Tagged , | 3 Comments

King-Vibe Amplifier

Posted on 01/04/2013 by chris

As I mentioned on my Tumblr last year, I used the idle time during our annual Open Studios event to construct yet another Fender Champ-based guitar amplifier.  I had purchased a pair of unused circa 1955 suitcase-PA speakers cabinets, along … Continue reading →

Posted in Custom Fabrication, Guitar Equipment, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Marantz 7 Phono Pre/ Passive Line Preamp

Posted on 11/14/2012 by chris

Above: a recent build to leave the bench.  Yet another Marantz 7 stereo phono stage built for stand-alone use.  See this link for an earlier build of this same circuit, along with an explanation of exactly wtf a phono preamp … Continue reading →

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Olmsted Quad Direct Input Amplifier (Quad DI)

Posted on 05/30/2012 by chris

Download the specs/user-guide for the Olmsted Quad DI: DOWNLOAD: Olmsted Quad Direct Inject A recording-studio located in Brooklyn NY commissioned me to build them a device that would allow for the direct input of any and all manner of vintage … Continue reading →

Posted in Custom Fabrication | 3 Comments

Vacuum-Tube Output Stage for Shure Level Loc

Posted on 03/01/2012 by chris

Many of my regular readers will be familiar with the Shure Level-Loc.  For those unfamiliar, the basics:  the Level-Loc is a brickwall limiter made by the Shure microphone company for public-address-system use (podium mics, specifically) in the 1960s.   It uses … Continue reading →

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Audio Transformer As Signal Processor

Posted on 02/03/2012 by chris

Sometime in the past couple of years, Tape Op ran a short piece by Allen Farmelo titled “Using Transformers to Transform Audio.”  You can read the piece in its entirety here.   My reaction at the time was ‘it’s about … Continue reading →

Posted in Custom Fabrication, Technical | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Stereo Audio Power Amplifier (Home Use)

Posted on 01/31/2012 by chris

Above, a recently completed piece.  Built on commission for KJ.  K. selected the well-tarnished steel case from my stock; it is one of two identical NOS cabinets that I pulled from a Milford CT basement some years ago.  “Are you … Continue reading →

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The BRDCSTR

Posted on 12/15/2011 by chris

Above: The BRDCSTR, a two-stage vacuum-tube microphone preamp inspired by classic 1940s broadcast audio preamps.  Single-ended design with a 6SJ7 and 6J7 tubes, massive output transformer, and only one capacitor in the signal path.  I have built more of these … Continue reading →

Posted in Custom Fabrication, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Power Supply/Audio Interface for Antique Carbon Microphones

Posted on 12/07/2011 by chris

One of the most widely-read articles on Preservation Sound dot com is this piece on double-button carbon mics. You know, those big old mics with all the springs that are a fixture of music-videos and recording-artist-photo-shoots but conspicuously absent from … Continue reading →

Posted in Custom Fabrication | Tagged , , | 2 Comments