webster-chicago – Preservation Sound

Webster-Chicago: Because Shouting Is Outmoded (1939)

Download the 24pp 1939 Webster-Chicago Sound Systems catalog (in two parts due to size)

DOWNLOAD PART 1: WebsterChic_1939_1

DOWNLOAD PART 2: WebsterChic_1939_2

Products covered, with text, specs, and photos, include: Wesbter-Chicago Super-Fidelity Mixer W-4004, amplifiers W-4030, W-4070, W-4030; remote mixer controls W-903 and W-902; W-975, W-945, W-930 .W-920, W-830, W-814, W-808W-929, W-820 mixer/ amplifers; W-200 microphone matching transformer, W-1260 record changer, plus a host of speakers, intercom equipment, and microphones (appear to be re-branded Bruno, Turner, and EV units: W-1224, W-1245, W-1236, W-1242 and W-1243).

Above: from page 2 of the catalog. The year is 1939. “Why Buy Sound Equipment? Because shouting is outmoded.” The ‘sound of tomorrow’ is electrically amplified sound. Shouting is a thing of the past. The sound of one human’s voice can now easily reach many tens of thousands of assembled individuals. The first recorded use of sound reinforcement (i.e., a PA system) was the inauguration of Warren G. Harding in 1922 (Bushnell, Ferree 2011). This was incredible technology at the time, technology that has given musicians infinite new possibilities for performnce. Technology that would also be used to devastating effect in Germany in the 1930s when one bitter man would be able to stir the passions of thousand of assembled individuals in ways that would have been impossible a mere decade early. Before the PA system: before electrically amplified sound: there were real physical limits to the dissemination of a vocal performance. That limit is no longer.

Above, Webster’s ‘super-fidelity’ high-power system intended for multi-speaker distribution in arenas ETC: no low-impedance voice-coil output is even offered on this unit. It does, however, offer two-band EQ and dynamic expansion/compression.

Above, Webster-Chicago’s most modest PA system, the 8-watt W-808. This was the first piece of antique audio equipment that I ever purchased: $75 at a multi-dealer antique shop on Wickenden st in Providence RI. My system came with an American D-4 dynamic mic, which I still own and which still works fine after all these decades. The amplifier and speaker worked too, although I could never figure out why there was a strong slightly off Bb bass-note that went along with everything that I played. This was several years before I had any awareness of filter caps, of course.

Out-of-print-book report: Magnetic Recording (1948)

Not sure where I came across this obscure volume. Written by one S.J. Begun, then VP and chief engineer of recording-tech pioneer Brush Development Corp, ‘Magnetic Recording’ (h.f. ‘MR’) was completed in June 1948 and published the following year by Murray Hill Books.

There is a lot of information in this 235pp volume; the best feature by far, though, is that it contains diagrams and schematics for a great number of the recording devices discussed.

Here’s a quick survey of the machines covered in MR. Most are wire recorders. Remember that tape recording was still incredibly new in 1948; wire was still the dominant format. If you have any of these machines and need to service it, seek out this book. You might find what you need. Names are beneath each image.

The original circa 1948 Ampex tape recorder, which promised an unheralded 30-15k (+/- 1db) frequency response.

The WW11-era German Magnetophone, from which the Ampex was largely derived. The Magnetophone ran at 30 ips in order to achieve its (then) excellent performance.