BB's... are Burst Bucker's..Gibson PU's on the CS Historic line. The other PU's are ones I am having custom wound by a PU builder.
Cheers,
Eric
Eddie Kramer presented Royer R-121 S/N 500...
Moderators: VelvetGeorge, BUG
-
Myopic Void
- Senior Member
- Posts: 430
- Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:47 am
- Just the numbers in order: 7
-
Myopic Void
- Senior Member
- Posts: 430
- Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:47 am
- Just the numbers in order: 7
...-
NitroLiq
- Senior Member
- Posts: 1566
- Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 11:58 am
- Location: NYC
The 414XL II is my fav 414...and probably fav midline-priced mic. I used to be an assistant for a successful pop producer/writer and he used to leave me keys when he was away so I could use his penthouse/project studio while he was away. I recorded a rough adat demo of a tune I had written with a friend...she has kind of natalie merchant voice and man, the mic was perfect for her. It can tend to be a bit bright if you have a harsh voice but I like it. I'm always on the search for something that works with my own voice, which always tends to come out really thin, mid-rangey, and nasally...maybe that's just my voice...hahaha...but it sounds very present and clear through the 414. Best set up I've ever recorded myself with is Neumann M49 > neve 1073 module > LA2A > 2" tape. We calibrated the studer so that we'd get more tape saturation/compression. I forget how that works now as I haven't calibrated a tape deck since the early 90s...it's either we used ampex 456 and calibrated the deck to +9...or we used 499 tape and calibrated to +6....one of those will saturate the tape with an extra 3db. I just can'remember which direction is correct....we used to do this with +6 differences as well.Myopic Void wrote:Nitro...The 414's are highly regarded and I have never used them for 4x12's cabs. ...Are you suggesting to mic with the U87 off to the side of a 4x12 cab or do mean an open back type of cab?
Sorry, I'm reminiscing..heh. With the 87, just mean on a closed-back 4 x 12" you could aim it towards the back of the cabinet, say on the upper right side, 6-12" for a bit of extra "oomph." It's one of those things you have to play with...sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't.
I've always wanted to try m/s miking my fender blues deluxe...I bet it would be a huge clean tone. I don't have a mic that can do figure 8 though and my crappy apt isn't really ideal for it...heh.
-
Myopic Void
- Senior Member
- Posts: 430
- Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:47 am
- Just the numbers in order: 7
-
Myopic Void
- Senior Member
- Posts: 430
- Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:47 am
- Just the numbers in order: 7
Nitro,
Yes Sir, that is a hard tape path to beat (Neumann/1073/2"). You had a very kind and understanding employer to allow you to use that gear.
The Royer would be great for your figure 8 needs. You know the Royer really rejects on it's sides as much as a hyper-dynamic ie beta 57 etc. More than I thought it would. I positioned it pretty close to the drummer on my 4x12 and I had minimal bleed. The back of it picks up some of the room. I guess more or less depending on the reflections going on.
I actually calibrate the Ampex decks to +1. I can still hit them pretty hard. I try and use settings and even tape stock that is closer to the 70's standards ie Ampex 406/407/456 tape formulations. The 60-70's records sound the best to me so I try and use what worked for them as far recording gear.
I bought a Ampex MM1100 2" machine once and then sold it. Too many problems, and at the time I did not have the exp needed to work on it. I since cut my teeth on Ampex 440's 1/4" through 1" 8 trk decks and I love them. Parts are available and you can work on them alot better than say 3M's or MCI or later ATR Ampex's. The electronics are exactly the same as the Ampex MM1000-1200 series and therefore sound about the same. Live at Leeds was done on a Ampex 440 1" 8trk. Black Sabbaths debut and Led Zeppelin 1 were done on 1" 8trk decks at 15ips. That is my favorite format and tape speed. Just as fat as 2" 16 trk without the added tape cost and transport issues. However I do miss the Ampex MM series search to cue functions. What were the Ampex engineers thinking on the 440's??
you know with the Royer and Neves tracking to my Ampex 440 decks it is so big sounding for guitar that if I used the Royer for everything the tracks are going to fight with each other for space. Perhaps the Royer solves some problems and creates others?
I am waiting on pictures of a used Neumann U87 to arrive from a dealer. They really want to much for it but it has been serviced. I see them on ebay go for 1300.00-1600.00 on average. Ebay makes me nervous for such purchases but I may have to pony up and do it the ebay way. What do you think Nitro?
Cheers,
Eric
Yes Sir, that is a hard tape path to beat (Neumann/1073/2"). You had a very kind and understanding employer to allow you to use that gear.
The Royer would be great for your figure 8 needs. You know the Royer really rejects on it's sides as much as a hyper-dynamic ie beta 57 etc. More than I thought it would. I positioned it pretty close to the drummer on my 4x12 and I had minimal bleed. The back of it picks up some of the room. I guess more or less depending on the reflections going on.
I actually calibrate the Ampex decks to +1. I can still hit them pretty hard. I try and use settings and even tape stock that is closer to the 70's standards ie Ampex 406/407/456 tape formulations. The 60-70's records sound the best to me so I try and use what worked for them as far recording gear.
I bought a Ampex MM1100 2" machine once and then sold it. Too many problems, and at the time I did not have the exp needed to work on it. I since cut my teeth on Ampex 440's 1/4" through 1" 8 trk decks and I love them. Parts are available and you can work on them alot better than say 3M's or MCI or later ATR Ampex's. The electronics are exactly the same as the Ampex MM1000-1200 series and therefore sound about the same. Live at Leeds was done on a Ampex 440 1" 8trk. Black Sabbaths debut and Led Zeppelin 1 were done on 1" 8trk decks at 15ips. That is my favorite format and tape speed. Just as fat as 2" 16 trk without the added tape cost and transport issues. However I do miss the Ampex MM series search to cue functions. What were the Ampex engineers thinking on the 440's??
you know with the Royer and Neves tracking to my Ampex 440 decks it is so big sounding for guitar that if I used the Royer for everything the tracks are going to fight with each other for space. Perhaps the Royer solves some problems and creates others?
I am waiting on pictures of a used Neumann U87 to arrive from a dealer. They really want to much for it but it has been serviced. I see them on ebay go for 1300.00-1600.00 on average. Ebay makes me nervous for such purchases but I may have to pony up and do it the ebay way. What do you think Nitro?
Cheers,
Eric
-
NitroLiq
- Senior Member
- Posts: 1566
- Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2005 11:58 am
- Location: NYC
Yes, he was a good boss....it was my last gig before I left the recording industry for a web development/design career....I was pretty burned out but the experience with him was probably the most fun because the studio was in his penthouse apt. Got to work with some interesting people...I remember noodling an an acoustic after recording vocals for (pop reggae artist) Maxi Priest and he started ad-libbing lyrics to it. My boss was like "See? How cool is that? You can come to work and write a song with Maxi Priest!" It was interesting also because whenever an artist or engineer got disgruntled with my boss, I would end up being the friend to talk to...heh. I could've had lots of opportunities but I didn't really go at it like I should've.
The recording setup I mentioned earlier was when I worked for the now defunkt Platinum Island studios (they had a neve room, ssl 4000g room, and a midi room with an old harrison console...that's really where I worked my way up from intern to Gen'l Asst. to 2nd Engineer. The MIDI room had an 8-ch rack of old 1073 modules. We used to use studer 800s and 827s so I spent a lot of time using my tweaker on the 800 and calibrating via the buttons on the 827.
Then I left and kind of bounced around different places in NYC...spent a bit of time at Baby Monster Studios...man, they had a seriously old vintage neve console...huge 1/4" patchbay...a bunch of API pres...loads of vintage gear and amps. I worked on a few things there...real confusing setup....I don't even know if they're around anymore. After that, I worked with the producer for a year, then got tired of not having any money...not to mention I was better at visual troubleshooting than keeping cool during a session where things started going downhill. I love the gear and recording...I just wasn't to keen on not having a life or any income and dealing with more assholes than I can count.
The royer would be interesting to checkout but it's alittle (actually alot) too steep for my home noodling. I know what you mean about ebay...my first auction was last year for an '05 LPS lightburst...gorgeous guitar...final price ended up being $1950 (incl. shipping)...I was on pins and needles for a few days but the guy was reputable. You just have to make sure they have good ratings and hopefully are a powerseller. I was looking at Rode NTKs, NT1000s, and 414s on ebay...I'd pick one up if I needed to get a bit more serious...trouble is...I've got too many expensive hobbies and I'm married so gotta balance it all out...hehehe.
The recording setup I mentioned earlier was when I worked for the now defunkt Platinum Island studios (they had a neve room, ssl 4000g room, and a midi room with an old harrison console...that's really where I worked my way up from intern to Gen'l Asst. to 2nd Engineer. The MIDI room had an 8-ch rack of old 1073 modules. We used to use studer 800s and 827s so I spent a lot of time using my tweaker on the 800 and calibrating via the buttons on the 827.
Then I left and kind of bounced around different places in NYC...spent a bit of time at Baby Monster Studios...man, they had a seriously old vintage neve console...huge 1/4" patchbay...a bunch of API pres...loads of vintage gear and amps. I worked on a few things there...real confusing setup....I don't even know if they're around anymore. After that, I worked with the producer for a year, then got tired of not having any money...not to mention I was better at visual troubleshooting than keeping cool during a session where things started going downhill. I love the gear and recording...I just wasn't to keen on not having a life or any income and dealing with more assholes than I can count.
The royer would be interesting to checkout but it's alittle (actually alot) too steep for my home noodling. I know what you mean about ebay...my first auction was last year for an '05 LPS lightburst...gorgeous guitar...final price ended up being $1950 (incl. shipping)...I was on pins and needles for a few days but the guy was reputable. You just have to make sure they have good ratings and hopefully are a powerseller. I was looking at Rode NTKs, NT1000s, and 414s on ebay...I'd pick one up if I needed to get a bit more serious...trouble is...I've got too many expensive hobbies and I'm married so gotta balance it all out...hehehe.
-
BashCoder
Yeah, I love that 8 track 1" format too, though I never got enough time with it. It was the first machine I ever used, so my inexperience kept me from digging it like I should. Later I got to use one and understood what it could really do.
My favorite sound, however, came from a modified MCI. My old mentor used to be chief design engineer at Sheffield Labs, and he has some awesome mods for older JH24's that open them way up.
I helped him rebuild one about 15 years ago that had been through hell in the Chicago jingle scene. We put it into the back of his pickup truck and he took me to the car wash. I was in total shock as he hosed the thing down to get all the years' crap out of it!! Then we spent the next two weeks modding each card and swapping out parts. But frankly the hardest part was just cleaning it. When we were done, it was a pretty amazing machine. It always had a few quirky mechanical issues, as you can relate to. But it sounded incredible.
My favorite sound, however, came from a modified MCI. My old mentor used to be chief design engineer at Sheffield Labs, and he has some awesome mods for older JH24's that open them way up.
I helped him rebuild one about 15 years ago that had been through hell in the Chicago jingle scene. We put it into the back of his pickup truck and he took me to the car wash. I was in total shock as he hosed the thing down to get all the years' crap out of it!! Then we spent the next two weeks modding each card and swapping out parts. But frankly the hardest part was just cleaning it. When we were done, it was a pretty amazing machine. It always had a few quirky mechanical issues, as you can relate to. But it sounded incredible.
-
Myopic Void
- Senior Member
- Posts: 430
- Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:47 am
- Just the numbers in order: 7
Nitro/Bashcoder...
Tell me about it..I worked for one commercial studio for about a year. I started out as the general odd job guy sweeping dusting the consoles etc etc and then assisted on some smaller sessions. I have never met so many angry folks in my life. Band drama comes in second to the general hysteria that goes on in studio's. After working for the one studio I tried to start my own in Athens Ga but it did not take off at all. 1" 8trk was not the rage and digital was rearing it's ugly head with the advent of home DAW's. Now it is a small side biz for me. The lions share of the equipment get's used for my personal projects. My bandmates don't complain as they get to record with real world class gear for free! I think I may start charging them. LOL..
To tell the truth most bands I encounter cannot understand the cost for tape etc. When I tell them $75.00 bucks for 1" 456 with 30min of recorded music per reel they say..such and such has a studio that can record us on his DAW for alot less I say splendid.. give them a call. LOL!
There are alot of Tape users out there but it is like islands in the stream. The Ampex forum is very strong. Howard Sanner runs it and the group is really helpful. It's full of old Ampex engineers and well known engineers from the golden era. They have helped me through many a problem with my three Ampex decks.
One of the most interesting things I saw during my short lived job at the commercial studio I mentioned was Lenny Kravits 3M 16 trk decks and 8 racked Helios type 69 modules coming in for repair, and later on the old Rolling Stones mobile with the original silver Helios console still intact inside ( the studio I worked at also was home to a very well known tech who's list of clients was amazing).
The Helios console was the same console used for the "Tens years after" live record and Deep Purple's Machine Heads album. There were only a few Helios consoles ever made so it was an honor to see and sit down in the truck and have a smoke and think about the music that had run through it's circuitry. The late Dick Sweetenham built them for Olympic Studios in England which I visited last May. A wonderful studio and village in Richmond west of London (I will post some pictures of the studio).
Back to the Rolling Stones mobile, it had been bought by a new company and it still had the Stones logo on the side of it. The truck was old as hell. I wish I had taken some pictures of it. In the end I am glad I bought my Ampex 440C 1" 8trk from the studio. It is one of my trophy's from that time.
Lenny Kravitz's Helios modules I got to look at very closely, the cards had "Olympic 69" engraved on the PCB. I swooned when I saw the engraving... Lenny had bought them from Mercenary audio but there was a problem with the power supply so our tech was fixing them. An interesting thing about the Helios mic pre's was that they were not balanced +4. They operated a diffferent level altogether. They are prone to overloading but they are one of the most, if not the most, coveted mic-pre I can think of. I am hoping SCA makes a clone soon. The OT was a lustraphone model.
Nitro, I may go with the ebay U87's if I can find a good seller. I have Paypal and I believe they will cover you if you get burned? I will check and see.
Cheers,
Eric
Tell me about it..I worked for one commercial studio for about a year. I started out as the general odd job guy sweeping dusting the consoles etc etc and then assisted on some smaller sessions. I have never met so many angry folks in my life. Band drama comes in second to the general hysteria that goes on in studio's. After working for the one studio I tried to start my own in Athens Ga but it did not take off at all. 1" 8trk was not the rage and digital was rearing it's ugly head with the advent of home DAW's. Now it is a small side biz for me. The lions share of the equipment get's used for my personal projects. My bandmates don't complain as they get to record with real world class gear for free! I think I may start charging them. LOL..
To tell the truth most bands I encounter cannot understand the cost for tape etc. When I tell them $75.00 bucks for 1" 456 with 30min of recorded music per reel they say..such and such has a studio that can record us on his DAW for alot less I say splendid.. give them a call. LOL!
There are alot of Tape users out there but it is like islands in the stream. The Ampex forum is very strong. Howard Sanner runs it and the group is really helpful. It's full of old Ampex engineers and well known engineers from the golden era. They have helped me through many a problem with my three Ampex decks.
One of the most interesting things I saw during my short lived job at the commercial studio I mentioned was Lenny Kravits 3M 16 trk decks and 8 racked Helios type 69 modules coming in for repair, and later on the old Rolling Stones mobile with the original silver Helios console still intact inside ( the studio I worked at also was home to a very well known tech who's list of clients was amazing).
The Helios console was the same console used for the "Tens years after" live record and Deep Purple's Machine Heads album. There were only a few Helios consoles ever made so it was an honor to see and sit down in the truck and have a smoke and think about the music that had run through it's circuitry. The late Dick Sweetenham built them for Olympic Studios in England which I visited last May. A wonderful studio and village in Richmond west of London (I will post some pictures of the studio).
Back to the Rolling Stones mobile, it had been bought by a new company and it still had the Stones logo on the side of it. The truck was old as hell. I wish I had taken some pictures of it. In the end I am glad I bought my Ampex 440C 1" 8trk from the studio. It is one of my trophy's from that time.
Lenny Kravitz's Helios modules I got to look at very closely, the cards had "Olympic 69" engraved on the PCB. I swooned when I saw the engraving... Lenny had bought them from Mercenary audio but there was a problem with the power supply so our tech was fixing them. An interesting thing about the Helios mic pre's was that they were not balanced +4. They operated a diffferent level altogether. They are prone to overloading but they are one of the most, if not the most, coveted mic-pre I can think of. I am hoping SCA makes a clone soon. The OT was a lustraphone model.
Nitro, I may go with the ebay U87's if I can find a good seller. I have Paypal and I believe they will cover you if you get burned? I will check and see.
Cheers,
Eric
-
Myopic Void
- Senior Member
- Posts: 430
- Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:47 am
- Just the numbers in order: 7
Bashcoder...
MCI decks used to be really popular in Nashville. I have been around a JH16 trk and a MCI console. Oddly enough there was a guy here in town Sweetbay Studio's (Burt Norton who passed away years ago) who had one in his home studio that he bought both new in 1975. The studio like all analog ones in this area failed to make it but he kept the gear. I remember he had a AKG spring reverb. I was just a kid but he let me borrow some stuff. I was learning how to record on this old 4 channel Panasonic quater track 1/4" at 7&1/2ips. I got some good recordings of that old machine. I remember it had pitch control so I would run it all the way up for more "fidelity" LOL!
I had two SM57's a Sennheiser ME40 SDC and a Peavey 12 channel powered mixer with built in spring reverb
Man I was big time....hehe!
Cheers,
Eric
I met a guy recently in town who said he had a MCI 8trk 1/2"
I told him I had never heard of a 1/2" MCI 8trk but a MCI 1" 8trk. He still claimed it was a MCI 1/2" 8trk. I think he was full of it. I told him I wanted to see it. I bet what he really has is a Tascam 1/2" 8trk TSR8 or some such pro-sumer animal.
MCI decks used to be really popular in Nashville. I have been around a JH16 trk and a MCI console. Oddly enough there was a guy here in town Sweetbay Studio's (Burt Norton who passed away years ago) who had one in his home studio that he bought both new in 1975. The studio like all analog ones in this area failed to make it but he kept the gear. I remember he had a AKG spring reverb. I was just a kid but he let me borrow some stuff. I was learning how to record on this old 4 channel Panasonic quater track 1/4" at 7&1/2ips. I got some good recordings of that old machine. I remember it had pitch control so I would run it all the way up for more "fidelity" LOL!
I had two SM57's a Sennheiser ME40 SDC and a Peavey 12 channel powered mixer with built in spring reverb
Man I was big time....hehe!Cheers,
Eric
I met a guy recently in town who said he had a MCI 8trk 1/2"
I told him I had never heard of a 1/2" MCI 8trk but a MCI 1" 8trk. He still claimed it was a MCI 1/2" 8trk. I think he was full of it. I told him I wanted to see it. I bet what he really has is a Tascam 1/2" 8trk TSR8 or some such pro-sumer animal.-
BashCoder
The 1/2" 8 track sounds fishy to me too, lol. Yeah, MCI JH24's and 16's were popular here, more so than Studer and others. Luckily, by the time I started making records, most of the MCI consoles had been replaced. I really never liked them at all. But there are some cool old Neve's around, and some interesting consoles like Spheres.
I was lucky to get a lot of time in on a Trident A-Range that came from Cherokee originally. It had their mods and was another beast to maintain, but that thing was awesome. I think it's still at a studio in town. That is, of course, if there still are studios in town anymore! They are closing left and right, as you can imagine.
I was lucky to get a lot of time in on a Trident A-Range that came from Cherokee originally. It had their mods and was another beast to maintain, but that thing was awesome. I think it's still at a studio in town. That is, of course, if there still are studios in town anymore! They are closing left and right, as you can imagine.