mixers – Preservation Sound

Gately IPM-8 Schematics

chris — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 01:24:23 +0000

Years ago I bought the super-sweet Gately mixer system pictured above; it has long been sold-on (to a studio in TX IIRC) but wow really great kit. All UTC transformers, all discrete, modular, ETC.

You can learn more about Gately at these two earlier articles:

Gately Gear Overview

The system that I acquired and restored

Anyhow, reader M.Nathan has been so kind to scan some schematics of some of their later Series 8 kit. Nathan: “Here are three pics of the imp8 series 8 input module schematics. This section has the mic pre which, in isolation, is a pretty simple little thing.”

Fairchild Pro Audio Equipment of 1972

chris — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 11:28:53 +0000

Above: The Fairchild Integrated Console of 1972

How y’all doing out there. Today at PS dot com: some interesting bits from the archive: a collection of Fairchild data sheets from 1972. Download all 12 pages here:

Fairchild_1972_prods

Products covered, with texts, specs, and photos, include: Fairchild ‘integrated’ console, Reverbertron 659A, the FPC series of ‘portable mixing consoles,’ 610 and 870 power amps, plus a whole slew of distribution amps and power supplies that i just ain’t got time to list. Enjoy!

Russco Broadcast and Mobile Mixers Circa 1980

chris — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 11:29:55 +0000

DISCO 421: Capturing the feeling that you get exactly one minute after four-twenty, all my dank-bros. Yes this is an image intended to sell audio mixers. Download the original sales-fliers for the RUSSCO Disco 421, Studio Master 505 and Studio Master 505S:

DOWNLOAD: Russco_Mixers_1981

No further comment.

Tweed Consoles Of The Seventies

chris — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:53:07 +0000

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

DOWNLOAD: Tweed_Audio_Consoles

Products 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.

The Sound Workshop 1280 12 input/8 buss mixer c. 1980

chris — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:13:20 +0000

Download the original 6-page catalog/brochure for the Sound Workshop 1280 12×8 mixer:

DOWNLOAD: SoundWRkShp_1280

I own+regularly use the Sound Workshop 242 reverb system, but I’ve never used this mixer nor any of the other Sound Workshop offerings. The 242 is OK for certain applications, and it certainly rates high on ergonomics; the 1280 also seems notable in terms of its extreme specificity for 8-track recording. The buss, 2-mix, and and monitor matrices are actually located above the input channel strips, unlike most mixing boards, which tend to feature these controls to the right of the inputs and left of a master section. Also unusual: the master 2-mix is a duplicate of the 7/8 buss, with a few extra controls added. Unusual, but seems like it would work out just fine 95% of the time.

The 1280b ranks fairly high on my list of ‘useless shit that I have always wanted’; maybe someday it will join the legion of other small mixers that people my basement. These things were (supposedly?) designed by former API employees; the mic input transformers are those lil’ Beyers that are found in so much 70s gear.

The most (perhaps) crucial things to glean from this original document: the 1280 came in two different EQ configurations: 3-band fixed frequency, or three-band quasi-parametric (5 frequencies per band). The latter is designated 1280-BEQ. Also: there was a meter bridge option. Also: the 1280A seems to be transformerless, while the 1280B has the input transformers, thereby providing 2db more gain per channel; the document is a little vague on this point, tho, so PLEASE correct me if you know better.

eBay Alert

chris — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:19:00 +0000

This is pretty rad. 10×3 (plus echo send) console circa 1955 built for one Jimmy Carroll, who we apparently have to thank for the 10,000,000,0000 sing-along-with-mitch LPs that clog every Salvation Army record-bin from here to Timbuktu. ANYways… check it out here… Dude seems a tad optimistic with the price, considering what the legendary Kearney Barton console went for. (also see here). Cool to check out, nontheless. Here’s one of the preamp modules:

1977

chris — Sat, 11 May 2013 20:46:59 +0000

Today: a random display of offbeat bits from 1977 that caught my eye: a tiny homage to the wonder that is The Internet K Hole. IE., draw your own connections/conclusions.

RCA BCM-1A Auxiliary Console c.1953

chris — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:43:07 +0000

Earlier this year we ran a piece regarding the c. 1952 RCA BC-2 broadcast console. T.F. has also provided us with a subsequent scan from AE mag, 1953, which highlights the companion BCM-1A “extender” console, designed to add an additional 12 microphone inputs (4 accessible at once) to the 2B.

Click below to DL the article by one George Singer.

DOWNLOAD: RCA-Mixer-AE-April53

Early Solid-State Gates Audio Mixers

chris — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 11:31:06 +0000

Above: GATES Attache 70, Dynamote 70, Courier 70, and Unimote 70 solid-state remote amplifiers circa 1965. I somehow ended up with a box of those side-reading VU meters; how the hell do you cut panel holes for those things? Useless.

Gates SolidStatemen studio broadcast boards circa 1964. The Executive, Diplomat, President, and Ambassador. Has anyone had any luck parting these out and re-purposing the mic preamps? Anything worth exploring there? There’s one of these things available locally for a song and I feel bad about just hacking it up; is it even worth the time? Seems like there are an awful lot of these things out there and nobody wants ’em. WHICH IS precisely the sentiment that people had towards all that ‘vintage tube stuff’ when i was a kid… hence my hesitation…

Harris-Intertype Gates. Keeping America On-Air. (I just made that up). OK folks, besides the Sta-Level… what else is still worth using in the world o’Gates? Drop us a line….

Electrodyne circa 1969

chris — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:59:04 +0000

Some random bits of Electrodyne kit that I came across… Above, their ACC-1204… looks pretty neat… anyone?