Author Topic: The 1986 'coat hanger' mod - what and why  (Read 7525 times)

jimlfixit

  • Global Moderator
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 356
  • Karma: +44/-0
    • Maidenhead, Bucks, UK
Re: The 1986 'coat hanger' mod - what and why
« Reply #15 on: June 13, 2018, 12:35:11 AM »
Hi Andy
Lovely informative post about SWF and I remember it well and those early days of course. I was at SSL from 1980 (1 console every 6 weeks then) until 1987).
I forgot about you and probably vice versa. I am the wiring moderator on here and I will send you a message directly. Lovely to read your comments and have those memories. I am still in contact with John East and others from SSL.
Regards from Jim Lassen

xmax

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 284
  • Karma: +10/-3
Re: The 1986 'coat hanger' mod - what and why
« Reply #16 on: August 12, 2018, 05:17:38 PM »
Hey amillar, such a great post I had to read it again!
Were you involved in the 9K PSU development?

amillar

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 181
  • Karma: +15/-0
    • United Kingdom
Re: The 1986 'coat hanger' mod - what and why
« Reply #17 on: October 14, 2018, 10:01:10 PM »
Hello - back again at last! (New job, should give me evenings and weekends off  :) )

Ah the 9k PSU...no I kept well away from that. There had been HUGE (and I mean huge) rows about the ARC power supply which Dave Mate had insisted must be linear - because the whole point was to make the desk the highest possible quality. (That PSU ended up - ahem - rather large.) So when it came to redesigning the ARC into the 9k I let Dave have that battle himself. He designed the PSU and centre section, I designed the channel strip.

Glad you liked the post :)
co-designer and project manager G series analogue 1987
channel strip designer J series 1992-93
design "caretaker" 4000/6000 1985-93
analogue team leader ARC/Bertha 1988-92

amillar

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 181
  • Karma: +15/-0
    • United Kingdom
Re: The 1986 'coat hanger' mod - what and why
« Reply #18 on: October 14, 2018, 10:09:07 PM »
Hi Jim,

Great to hear from you! Really glad you're still in touch with John E, I'm sad I've lost touch with him, great (and modest) bloke and was really encouraging when I joined the design team.

I guess you never moved to Begbroke then?

Cheers,

Andy
co-designer and project manager G series analogue 1987
channel strip designer J series 1992-93
design "caretaker" 4000/6000 1985-93
analogue team leader ARC/Bertha 1988-92

jimlfixit

  • Global Moderator
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 356
  • Karma: +44/-0
    • Maidenhead, Bucks, UK
John East (SSL)
« Reply #19 on: November 23, 2018, 04:49:28 AM »
Hi Andy

Just seen your reply so sorry for the delay in replying.

John East (ex SSL and Oxford Digital etc) is now making high end bass pre-amp retrofits for some famous name musicians and still lives in Oxfordshire, UK.

Check out his Facebook site (East Tone UK) and get in contact with him from there. I speak to him every few weeks and we are good friends since I first met him at SSL in 1980.

I left SSL in 1987 when they were in Witney although Colin Sanders asked me back a few times to do some work and I constructed a custom 5K console at Begbroke once which was a big challenge, considering I had never been involved with that console before apart from the modules.

Hope you are busy and keeping well and regards from Jim Lassen.

amillar

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 181
  • Karma: +15/-0
    • United Kingdom
Re: The 1986 'coat hanger' mod - what and why
« Reply #20 on: November 25, 2018, 10:03:36 PM »
Yes, I've seen John's bass electronics, look very nice - oddly I first found out about them through a friend of mine who (occasionally) makes basses who had no idea of the connection. I was half tempted to go for a set when I built my son a 5 string fretless a couple of years ago - but in the end decided I really ought to design and build my own :)

Building 5ks was a challenge even for those who built them all the time - even when the desks weren't melting! (The sad story of the first prototype...)

Definitely busy, although sadly not in the music industry for a very long time now  :'( I do miss it. So it's nice to keep in touch on here at least. Of course I keep fiddling with music tech for my own enjoyment, and for my (adult) kids who are MUCH better musicians than I am! And being able to work from home in Cornwall is brilliant.

My one unfulfilled ambition is still to actually see an operational 9k - although I'd completed the channel strip design before I left SSL we'd not got quite as far as building a complete prototype desk. (It's been a very long time since I last even actually saw a 4k - but on my office mantelpiece I still have displayed the pair of "module pullers" I made in Witney just in case I do suddenly need them :) )

Hope all's well with you, of course we're all getting older...

Cheers,

Andy
co-designer and project manager G series analogue 1987
channel strip designer J series 1992-93
design "caretaker" 4000/6000 1985-93
analogue team leader ARC/Bertha 1988-92