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Happy new year y’all. Been a good long while since i’ve posted anything besides my radio playlists. One reason for this is that I’m so much busier than I was 12 years ago when I started this blog; between my regular job and my new brewery operation I don’t have two spare minutes to rub together.

The other reason, though, and this is a major factor, is that there is now so much less of a need for what this blog did: displaying technical ephemera related to audio gear and audio production. When I created this blog, almost of all this sort of discussion happened on internet ‘news groups’ and ‘forums’; there were few blogs, or websites, devoted to making this kind of material available on a semi-permanent basis. Now there are 100s, probably 1000s. It was the case 12 years ago that I would, everyday, pull some piece of old paper out of the shop and sure enough: no one had yet made it available free online. That’s just not the case anymore. In the past decade, many many many folks have created resources like Preservation Sound, and nowadays almost every piece of ancient tech lit I find *already* has a home on the web.

Well, that wasn’t the case with these two things. Above is a pair of GATES M6244 broadcast phono preamps. Tried as I might, I could not find schematics for these things; nor could I find an answer to the mystery of why there are two *different* circuits with the same apparent model number.

The two identical units here that I found and partially recapped are, unfortunately for me, the early M6244 which are designed to work the GE “VRII” variable-reluctance cartridge. Now, this cartridge *is* fairly common, but only as a mono cartridge (there is apparently a Stereo version of the cart, but its very rare, i’ve never found one, and its pricey online). Almost every good-quality phono cartridge sold since the 1960s has a 47,000 ohm impedance – a significant difference.

According the manual, in fact, this preamp derives its RIAA high-frequency roll-off spec from the relationship b/w the 6200 ohm cartridge impedance and R3, the load resistor. The low-frequency characteristic is derived from a feedback network between the two transistors.

The M6244B, which I was not fortunate enough to find, is designed to work with a now-standard 47K ohm cartridge. If you look at the schematic, you will see that the feedback network between the two transistors is a bit more complex; this is because in THIS design, both the low-frequency AND the high-frequency compensation occur via this network:

Alright. So here’s a question for all you more-knowledgeable types out there. I’m no engineer. Is there a relatively EZ way that I can modify this pair of m6244 to behave properly with a 47K ohm cart? If these things were point-to-point wired (IE., not a pcb), I would simple re-build them following the m6244B schematic. But that would be too much work with the PCB -style construction -they are too different in design. Any other ideas? For what its worth, before I was aware of this impedance ‘issue,’ I tested the two units with a deck loaded with a garden-variety vintage SHURE cart (spec’d at 47K ohms), and it sounded absolutely fine to me. Any thoughts?

The December 2021 Preservation Sound Radio show has aired, but you can stream it from the WPKN FM archives at this link until January 5th (firefox seems to work best for this streaming player). This show is part 2 of my exploration of Soviet sounds, all taken from the original LP records. The artists featured hailed from Russia, Poland, Czech, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, East Germany, former Yugoslavia, and possibly other nations of the Soviet empire from the period of Soviet rule.

Here’s the setlist. Please keep in mind that I had to use GoogleTranslate (camera mode) to translate many of these artist&track names, so incorrect translations and misspellings are certainly present here.

1. Alla Pugacheva “Come”
2. Breakout “We have told all”
3. No To Co “Sunday”
4. The Nautiks “Sing of Peace”
5. Little Flower “Glittering Dawn”
6. Combo ABC “Hey Jude” (SET BREAK)
7. David Tukhmanov “From Sappho”
8. The Young Seven “Letter Father”
9. Breakout “Modlitwa”
10. Alexander Gradsky “Nothing in the pole”
11. Aquarium “Sky Becoming Closer”
12. Ruja “To Mr Lennon”
13. Pudhys “sometimes in sleep” (SET BREAK)
14. Alla Pugacheva “Sometimes in Summer”
15. Omega “Night on the Road”
16. Songs (Pensary) “oops its early Ivana”
17. No To cp “This side of the lake”
18. Czelaw Nieman “Flowers of my country”
19. SSB “Departure” (SET BREAK)
20. Velnio Nuotaka “Devils Bride (c1)”
21. Skaldowie “Krywan Krywan”
22. SSB “Call for glass bronze”
23. Zodiac “Silver Dream”
24. Vaclav Bacily “Planetarium”
25. SSB “New Horizon”
26. Bayon “Put you in the middle of the rain” (SET BREAK)
27. Alice “Come to me “
28. Progres 2 “The son of stars”
29. Marek Bilinski “The King of Dawn”
30. SSB “Memory in rising stone”
31. Neiman Arolit “The Pilgrim”
32. Michael Urbaniak “Silence”
33. Gunnar Graps “Meeting”
34. Alexander Gradsky “You left me, Female”
35. Alexander Gradsky (from ‘Romance for Lovers’ OST) “Lullaby”
36. Sven Grunberg “Hingus”

tonite:

a world premiere

an opera in Three Acts:

8-Tracks & Schwag Weed

–a custom-van odyssey-

to be broadcast on 89.5 FM WPKN Bridgeport and online at WPKN.org

8PM-11PM EST Wed Jan 13

‘do-not-miss’

1. Fluff “The Only Reason You Never Did It Before…” from their S/T LP SR3011 1972

2. The Shocking Blue “Send Me A Postcard” from their S/T LP CS-1000 1970

3. Joe McDonald “Playing with Fire” from ‘Hold On Its Coming’ VSD 79314 1970 

4. Tommy James And The Shondells “Moses and Me” from ‘Travellin’’ SR42044 1970

5. Blue Cheer “Peace of mind” from ’New! Improved!’ PHS 600-305 1969

6. Frijid Pink “I’m Moving” from ‘Defrosted’ PAS 71041 1970

7. Elephants Memory “She’s Just Naturally Bad” from ‘Take it to the Streets’ MD1035 1970 

8. MC5 “Looking At You” from ‘Back In The USA’ K50346 1970

9. The Easybeats “Come In You’ll Get Pneumonia” from ‘Vigil’ UAS 9026 1968

10. Thin Lizzy “The Rocker” from ‘Vagabonds of the Western World” XPS 636

11. Mars Bonfire “Born To Be Wild” from ‘Faster Than The speed of Life” CS9834 1969

12. Quicksilver Messenger Service “Cobra” from ‘Just for Love’ SMAS-498 1970 

13. The Chris Moon Group “Give It To Me” from his S/T LP Z30228 1970

14. Hearts and Flowers “Secondhand Sundown Queen” from ‘Of Horses-Kids-and Forgotten Women’ ST2868 1968

15. The Blues Magoos “Yellow Rose” from ‘Basic Blues Magoos’ SR 61167 1968 

16. Shanti “We Want To Be Free” from their S/T LP SD8302 1971 

17. The Peanut Butter Conspiracy “The Market Place” from ‘…Is Spreading’ CL 2654 1967

18. J.C. “You Can’t Tell A Man By The Song He Sings” from ‘Life’ PLP-1 1970

19. The Rationals “Handbags and Gladrags” from their S/T LP CR-1334 

20. Everyday People “Girls” from their S/T LP Paramount 9233-1002 1970

21. Kevin John Agosti “The Reason” from his S/T LP GMS1067 1978

22. Mecki Mark Men “Being Is More than Life” from ‘Running in the Summer Night’ LS 86068 1969

23. Spirit “Life Has Just Begun” from ‘Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus’ E 30267 1969

24. Traffic “Dear Mr Fantasy” from the LP of that title UAS 6651 1968

25. The Electric Prunes “So Many People To Tell ” from ‘Just good old rock and roll” RS6342 1969

26. Fat Mattress “Naturally” from ‘Fat Matress II’ SD 33-347 1970

27. Terry Reid “Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace” from his S/T LP BN26477 1969

28. JJ Cale “Cherry” from ‘Troubador’ SRL-52002 1976

29. Pelican “Golden Promises” from ‘Uppteknir’ AA018A 1974

30. The Raspberries “I Can Hardly Believe You’re Mine” from ‘Starting Over’ ST-11329 1974 

31. The Small Faces “Afterglow” from ‘Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake’ Z12 52 008 1968

32. Black Pearl “Endless Journey” from their S/T LP SD8220 1969

33. JK and Co “Nobody” from ‘Suddenly One Summer” BR126 (RI) orig rel 1968

34. Tommy Brown “I didn’t have the time to say goodbye” from his S/T LP Pathe C066-13045 1975

35. Captain Beefheart “Observatory Crest” from ‘Bluejeans and Moonbeams’ SRM 1-1018 1974

36. Linn County “Suspended” from ‘Fever Shot’ SR61218 1967

37. Crystal Mansion “Let Me Get Straight Again” from their S/T LP R540L 1972

38. Country Joe and The Fish “Who am I” from ‘I-feel-like-I’m-fixin-to-die’ VSD-79266 1967

39. John Roman Jackson “Sometime” from his S/T LP OR-2001 1971

40. Jethro Tull “Cats Squirrel” from ‘This Was’ CHR 10411968

41. Stealers Wheel “Everything Will Turn Out Fine” from ‘Ferguslie Park ’SP-4419 1973

42. Man “O, child, in time” from their S/T LP CS9803 1968

production notes: assembled entirely from the original 33RPM vinyl LPs, transcription via Technics 1200, Shure 44-7, Teac PA-4 preamplifier

Now available: the EP ‘BETTER IS GOLD’ from Enid Ze. 

You can hear it via the platform of your choice at this link.

Enid Ze is a musical vision conceived and directed by Zimbabwean-born singer/songwriter Nyasha Chiundiza, produced and mixed by yours truly, with invaluable aid+participation from so many of my most dear musical collaborators.  It is not lightly that I tell you: Nyasha is a visionary and an iconoclast.  Here’s some words about the project from the man himself, but please don’t take his (or my) words for it.  Check out the tracks.  This is something else, and something wonderful. From NC:

enid ze is a continuation  and reimagining of the Southern African tradition of Zamrock—W.I.T.C.H. Keith Mlevhu, Wells Fargo—where global pop and rock come to cohere in specific existential experiences of living many worlds at once. Listen to the panting on the title track “Better is Gold” and remember Letta Mbulu. When you hear “Marechera” recall modernist African writer Dambudzo Marechera’s poem, Punkpoem:

In the song

Are waterfruits;

In the plush and flow

Firestars eternally fixed.

Guitar strings lash

My back, draw blood –

The out of control voice

Skids shrieking across

Tarmac audiences.

When you hear “Shuwa” hear the word “sure” but also the  waves on the beaches of Maputo, Mozambique. Or the beer gardens of downtown Harare.  Also listen to how far home and how close it is, how unrest and rest lie together like a lion and lamb.

“Better is Gold” is about the condition of seeking more than you see—not in the future but in the things that you find along the way. “Better” is better than gold.

Download my new track “Derniers Préparatifs” here:

Eight days ago I found an ancient Italian polysynth at a local pawn shop. Called the Crumar Orchestrator, it’s an odd combination of string synth, ‘electronic piano,’ and monosynth all in one rather heavy package. The sound is effortlessly evocative of circa 1980 Euro cinema, and this track came to me instantly. You can see pics of the Crumar, hear my original live performance of the piece, and even see the drumkit mic’ing for this track at my Instagram page.

As with the rest of my Camerro project, this track was recorded entirely on a four-track cassette recorder: in this case, a Tascam 134. Here’s how it went down:

Track 1: Ace Tone ‘Rhythm Ace’ drum machine w/heavy Yamaha E1010 16th note echo; Track 2: Crumar orchestrator (this is the bulk of what you’re hearing). Track 3: Bass guitar. Track 4: add elec guitar while submixing with tracks 1, 2, 3.

After the bounce, I added live drumkit to track one (overwriting drum machine), and add two passes of Roland Alpha Juno synth + Hohner Pianet electric piano to tracks 2+3 (overwriting bass+ Crumar). The kit was recorded with two mics, submixed thru a basic mic preamp and heavily compressed to tape.

SONG TO WELCOME THE SPRING /// the first track I’m releasing from my solo recording project CAMERRO. 

‘control-click’ on the player below to download the MP3.

This song is inspired by my trip last yr visiting ancient pagan churches in Estonia.  Everything you hear is played live by me and the track was entirely recorded on a cassette 4-track.  For me this music is as raw and personal as it gets.  The 4-track cassette process requires that everything be performed carefully and with great intent as ‘fixes’ are not possible. For yall techy-types here’s how it went down:

Tascam 134 4-track cassette deck with Maxell XLII-S tape. Click to track three, elec gtr (finger picked rh+melody) to track one, drums to track two, bass to track four;

Submix gtr, drums, bass while playing congas all to track two (erasing click);

add electric organ on track two (overwriting drums), add sitar and cello (in sections) to track one (overwriting gtr), add percussion to track to 4 (overwriting bass). Two microphones were used: Bang&Olufsen ribbon for drums and perc, Neumann TLM170 for congas and cello, gtr bass sitar organ were direct. FX are Yamaha PROR3 reverb and Yamaha E1010 delay.

UTC’s “CG” ‘commercial grade’ line of transformers were high-quality sealed units made in the 50s and 60s and possibly later. The later ‘red paint’ iterations often have pinout data printed on the cases, but the earlier ‘metal-badge’ versions sometimes do not. Despite the wealth of vintage UTC transformer data already available online, I could not find this particular document on the internet so I have scanned it for y’all. This particular document has a March 1956 date code so i assume that it covers the line at-that-point.

CNTRL-CLICK TO DOWNLOAD 4PP PDF:

Units covered include output transformers CG-2L6, 4L6, 15, 16, 19, 710; power transformers CG-422, 428, 429, 431; bias units CG-315, 316; low-level audio units CG-131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 1347, 140, 141, 233, 235, 333, 433; and power transformers CG33, CG120, CG122, CH124, CG125, CG126, CG300, CG301, CG302, CG303, CG34.