Author Topic: SSL 4k or 6k split in two?  (Read 1790 times)

georgerarnold

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SSL 4k or 6k split in two?
« on: February 23, 2021, 08:20:02 PM »
Hello,

Thank you for letting me join the forum.

I hope to be building a new studio this year and I’m hoping I’d be able to fulfill a dream and get an SSL 4K or 6k for the new studio.

I’m sure I will have plenty of questions for this community of knowledgeable people before I buy one but I’d like to start with quite a far fetched one which might be ridiculous but I can’t help wondering about. I admit my knowledge about these consoles is very limited.

Ideally I would like to split an SSL console down the middle and have half on one side of the centre of my studio and the other half on the other side. Much in the same way Silvia Massy has done with her new rnd console. (I’ll try to attach photos, hopefully it'll work).

I’m sure it’s no easy task but is it beyond the realms of possibility?
I would want the master section on the edge of one of the halves close to the gap.

Thanks in advance  for any info.

Cheers.

amillar

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Re: SSL 4k or 6k split in two?
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2021, 09:40:48 PM »
Hi,
Sounds fun. Yes, you can certainly do it, but two things to beware of:
  • You must use a post-1986 donor desk with the "coathanger" mod on the 611's - anything older and it MIGHT work but will probably pick up loads of hum and other junk
  • You need to be very careful if you are going to mount any equipment in the gap between two sections, if it emits any electrical noise (which most digital kit does) the ribbon cables between the two sections are likely to pick it up
If I was doing this (and I was heavily involved in de-noising L shaped 4000 designs when we made them at SSL) I would fit some sort of metal channel with a lid between the two sections to carry the cables, and electrically attach it solidly to the frames of the two console halves.

Hope this goes ahead, I'm sure lots of us here will be happy to advise!

Where are you?

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

georgerarnold

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Re: SSL 4k or 6k split in two?
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2021, 10:02:15 PM »
Hi,
Sounds fun. Yes, you can certainly do it, but two things to beware of:
  • You must use a post-1986 donor desk with the "coathanger" mod on the 611's - anything older and it MIGHT work but will probably pick up loads of hum and other junk
  • You need to be very careful if you are going to mount any equipment in the gap between two sections, if it emits any electrical noise (which most digital kit does) the ribbon cables between the two sections are likely to pick it up
If I was doing this (and I was heavily involved in de-noising L shaped 4000 designs when we made them at SSL) I would fit some sort of metal channel with a lid between the two sections to carry the cables, and electrically attach it solidly to the frames of the two console halves.

Hope this goes ahead, I'm sure lots of us here will be happy to advise!

Where are you?

Cheers,

Andy


Thank you for replying.
Just having a quick look to see what the coathanger mod is. Seems to be about making the buses balanced.
It would be quite a job to modify every 611!
Discouraging, but I'm glad to hear that it might not be impossible.

A metal channel doesn't sound too difficult to manage!

Thanks again.

amillar

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Re: SSL 4k or 6k split in two?
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2021, 10:21:55 PM »
Hi,

Apologies I might not have been clear - you don't need to do the coathanger mod yourself, what I meant was that if you use a post-1986 desk it will have the coathanger mod, pre-1986 it won't!

Hope that's more encouraging!

Cheers,

Andy (designer of the coathanger mod  ;) )
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

georgerarnold

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Re: SSL 4k or 6k split in two?
« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2021, 10:31:54 PM »
Hi,

Apologies I might not have been clear - you don't need to do the coathanger mod yourself, what I meant was that if you use a post-1986 desk it will have the coathanger mod, pre-1986 it won't!

Hope that's more encouraging!

Cheers,

Andy (designer of the coathanger mod  ;) )

That is encouraging!

Thank you for this nugget of information. I'll bear it in mind when I search for a desk.
Thank you for designing the mod too! I gather you might have had a stressful time in Baden baden once!

Cheers.

jimlfixit

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Re: SSL 4k or 6k split in two?
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2021, 02:02:31 AM »
Hi. Good luck with your SSL studio project and it would be helpful if everyone entered details of where they are located (Country, State, County etc) so local people could possibly help out.
I am based in Bucks, UK so, maybe many miles away from you but I don't know?
I am also the wiring Moderator on this forum if that is of use to you and others. Hardly any questions on SSL wiring recently but I keep checking every now and then!