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Tweed Consoles Of The Seventies

Tweed_CoverDownload the original 20pp TWEED AUDIO catalog circa 197*:

DOWNLOAD: Tweed_Audio_Consoles

The_Lady_With_The_Tweed_MixerProducts covered, with text, specs, and photos, include: Tweed M124 console, 12/2-4 mixer, BC82 portable mixer, C513 input module, C515 input module, C507 input, (Tweed calls the ‘Channel Amplifiers’), CL603 limiter, CL604 compressor, CL606 noise gate, SPH-2B stereo phono preamp, Tweed 6-2T and 10-4eb distribution amps.

At left: The Lady With The Tweed Mixer (not a Syd Barrett song). 

Sitting here on a beautiful summer day, spacing out to Syd Barrett and Jake Holmes LPs after a long week on the road…no concept of what day it is.  This will not be a particularly detailed post.  TWEED is a name i’ve seen around, never come across the kit…  here’s a thread from Group DIY that will fill you in.   L-S-S: Scottish-made, broadcast-aimed boards and modules built by former Neve manager.

Tweed_M124_MixerTweed_Custom_film_console Tweed_Custom_Console Tweed_CL604_Compressor Tweed_BC82_mixer Tweed_B164_mixer Tweed_12:2-4_Mixer

11 replies on “Tweed Consoles Of The Seventies”

Great find! I worked on a 32 channel Tweed for about 10 years at a studio in Boston called Camp Street(Fort Apache). I loved it, best board I’ve ever used. It had 24 C507 pre’s and 8 C515 pre’s, all the pre’s sound the same but 2 different flavors of eq. I preferred the 507s over the C515s. It was also loaded with both the compressor and limiters and those sounded amazing, very aggressive and explosive, one into the other was devastating to room mics. I can’t say enough about the greatness of Tweed. Many people are quick to describe it as Neve-like, but that’s selling it short. It has the rare combo of mega bass and clear high end without becoming sludgy or soft. Truly a thing of beauty. Camp Street is done but it’s still in service at another studio in town called Mad Oak. Awesome site, Thanks!

Well originally it was built in 78 for a studio in Worcestershire England called the Old Smithy Recording Studios. He said the most notable sessions done on it were Gerry Rafferty, Roy Wood(my fav) and Black Sabbath, though it’s hard to tell if they were demos or any albums released because Never Say Die was recorded in Canada and Heaven and Hell was Miami…so who knows.

Some albums of note we did on it were:
The Sounds – Dying to say this to you
Portugal The Man- Censored Colors, Satanic Satanist, American Ghetto
The Lemonheads – Varshons
Buffalo Tom – Skins
Cave In – White Silence(mixing)
Dresden Dolls – Yes Virginia
Dear Leader – Stay Epic(very tweed compressor heavy)

For Portugal The Man’s Satantic Satanist I basically used only the tweed pre’s, I used the compressors on the drums, so this album is extremely tweedy.

There is also a studio in Denmark called Delta Lab, they have 2 tweeds. http://www.deltalab.dk/

It has 24 C513’s and 12 C515’s. 36 channels! 30 mix and 6 independent. 6 limiters, 6 comps, 6 noise gates. All Penny and Giles faders, with 2 independent faders on each channel. 4 aux sends, 8 subgroups, and two stereo mixes. Early Marinair input and output transformers on every channel (the same generation as many of the Neve 8068 series boards) It’s currently sitting in my living room undergoing a full restoration. Quite an exceptional and unique board, when compared to Tweed’s broadcast level gear, which is not very special. But this board (m3204) is outstanding and one of kind. Thanks to the guys in Boston at Mad Oak, who have an amazing facility for hooking us up.

Alex I have been searching for that specific Tweed Desk for quite sometime. Would you ever be willing to sell it? Name your price…. Seriously…. If you wanted to sell it…. Realistic one….

Thanks for the positive comments about the Tweed.
I installed and commissioned that desk in Muff Murfins ‘Old Smiddy Studios”…ah memories memories . Hoots Mon ! was it that long ago.

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