Any UK Members live near Junction 41 of the M1 ?

Hi,

A fellow has a largish 19" mixer that I've been after for years and he's based near the Junction 41 of the M1

The mixer is somewhere around 6-8U, with a meter-bridge that's about 3U.

I live 4 hours away in London - an 8 hour round-trip. The mixer isn't worth a great deal of money - it's a collector's item really.

I need someone to go over to the fellow's lock-up, pack the mixer and despatch it to me via a courier.

I will - of course - pay you for your time. I'm posting this on the off-chance a member here might be near him, which would save me the 8 hours of driving - I really don't fancy it! The seller gives me the impression that I can have it for a knock-down price, but I don't think he's too interested in packing it and generally faffing with it.

Can anyone help?

Many thanks,
Justin

soz mate wrong side of manc im afraid. but if somebody can get it to me i can get it down to you and visit mummy at the same time.

Iain

That's my side of the country - about 30 miles / 45 mins. I could do that for you, so long as it isn't urgent. It would probably be next week.

I could take it to Bolton!

Stewart

Here's a plan.

I will be driving from York to Chester on the w/e of the 12th. I be going by the M1 / M62, which takes me very close to J41, and if I go round the M60 over the top of Manc I'll go right past Bolton.

If Ian is happy to take the mixer South, I could pick up your mixer and drop if off with with him either on the way or way back from Chester. It won't take me far out of my way at all.

OK!

This is really decent of the pair of you - many thanks :guinness:

I will get in touch with the fellow who's got the mixer and see how he's fixed for the 12th

I'm sure I can find some stuff of interest in the spares store to reward both of you for your efforts.

Will post back here when my associate tells me how he's fixed for the 12th.

BTW - Stewart - did you ever get around to trying those East German preamp strips you bought from me on Ebay? Just curious...

Cheers!
Justin

Yes! They work great, although I installed them in an old wooden wine box & powered them with a wallwart for speed so they look too much like junk to convince anyone else of their merits.

I should really put them in a rack or at least a decent box sometime.

If needed, I could pick them up before the 12th, but that would be a good time for the Bolton leg if Ian is available.

Happy to take some spares / junk off your hands in payment.


:thumb:

im ok for the bolton le on the 12th, might be a couple of weeks till i go down to see mum though, how much of a rush are you in?

Hi,

I'm not in a rush at all - the mixer is something I've wanted for posterity really. I'll restore it over time.

Unfortunately, I can't get in touch with the owner now... I suspect that, in giving him information about the mixer, he's become reluctant to let it go... I really ought to keep my mouth shut more often... It's not worth much money, but embodies several 'world firsts' - I suspect he could be confusing this with making it valuable...

I'll keep you guys posted - hopefully, I've got the wrong end of the stick and he's still prepared to let it go...

Justin

Looks like it could be on! I just got an email from the seller saying he'll be around on the 12th and stating how much he wanted for the mixer!

I'm not sure if he prefers a cheque or cash, but I suspect the latter, so - once things are confirmed - I'll arrange to get some dough to you, Stewart.

As far as surplus bits go, I have one or two things that might be of interest:

A big 'ole PSU from a broadcast console. Has several outputs: a couple of +24v, +/-18 etc. It came from the console you got the strips from, Stewart. Has big heatsink and transformer is probably around 160-200 Va.

I have some truly wonderful Telefunken magic eye tubes in the cellophane. I don't plan to sell any, but I think some would make a fitting exchange for either or both of you. If you want info on these, please PM me.

I have several hundred BC184C that are surplus to requirements (I think they're pre-ROHS, so they could be useful for repairing old Neve / Helios pieces - or DIY).

Let me know if the above items are of interest - if not, I'll scratch the head a bit more.

Cheers! :guinness:


Justin

edit - note that the PSU is heavy - will be only suited to collection-in-person - hopefully, when I get the mixer from Ian if that's ok.

i'd find it easier to get down there about the bank holiday weekend if thats ok? and i wouldn't know what to do with half of that stuff, but the tube things got me interested, but not if its sort after type stuff as i dont want to deprive anybody else, i like to have old stuff for the 'one day i will build' pile.

where are you based, i will be going to beaconsfield/high wycombe,

Magic eye sounds good to me! :thumb:

Justin, Ian,

I'll PM you both with may email and phone number. We may need it on the day.

Once you've agreed payment with the guy, give me a call. If you can pay him directly, all the better. If he must have cash then you can transfer some to my account and I'll take cash over. If it's a huge sum then I'll take a bodyguard.

Obviously I'll need directions and a contact phone for the seller.

All good!

Stewart

Stewart - I've sent you an email. The seller wants £110 for this mixer, so I don't think you'll need to take Mister T with you.

Ian - High Wycombe is about an hour from me, but that's not a problem. We can arrange a spot to meet nearer the time.

Thanks again,
Justin

Hi,

I just wanted to post a thank you to Stewart and Ian :guinness:

The mixer is now safely ensconced in my workshop and I'm looking for a window to start a full restoration job. It's in pretty good nick, but after 20+ years on the road, I think it deserves a bit of TLC, not to mention some cosmetic tidying.

It restores your faith in the human race to know that there are some genuinely decent people out there. If anyone reading this gets the chance to meet or speak with Ian or Stewart, I recommend it highly - I suspect we could've probably waffled on for ages!

This is what Stewart and Ian brought down to me: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/DAVESOUNDS/STEREOSUPERNOVA2.jpg

I've wanted one since the late eighties, but could never find one (they were £1200 ex. vat in '88, so I certainly couldn't have afforded one!). It must weigh about 20-odd kilos, and aside from the cost of a courier, I doubt any courier would've got it to me in one piece! I got a specialist service - genuine audio engineers transporting audio gear

The mixer came out around '82 I believe, and had P+G faders - the first nightclub mixer to have them, with no other OEMs in that field fitting them for another 20 years!

Anyway, there are some very decent people at this board - I now know this for a fact!


Cheers!

Justin

:guinness: :sam: Happy to help, as always.

I think you got a wonderful deal there Justin - the flight case alone was worth half the wonga.

OK! :thumb:

[quote author="thermionic"]The mixer came out around '82 I believe, and had P+G faders - the first nightclub mixer to have them, with no other OEMs in that field fitting them for another 20 years![/quote]

So Justin when are you opening the nightclub< & is there a cheap beer night for prodigy pro members ??
&
On a serious note Stewart has helped me re ribbon a B&O mic before, so I can vouch for him being a top geezer too.

Stewart sorry I still haven't got round to rewinding the transformer so haven't heard your work yet

... Well, I think I had the mic for 8 months. Sometimes it's good to go slow!
I'm building a new ribbon cutter and corrugator so next time it should be quicker and easier.

really was a pleasure!! theres not much i can offer this place so its my way of saying thanks - i agree on the 20 odd Kilo bit or at least my back does :grin: :grin:

Damn!

I did a custom design/build of one of those MATAMP Super-Novas back in 1986, at the Ealing Broadway nightclub. -I built two sub mixers, same front panels etc, one for stereo line level stuff, one for mic signals. Same knobs, same faders, same front panel markings etc.

That nightclub was eventually used for the high-tech footage on a national "electricity for life" television advert...

I remember, I never got paid for the gig, but I did instead get threatened with being killed by one of the bouncers, when there were some problems with a couple of days to go before opening...

I wouldn't mind, but I'd inherited the job from a business partner of a friend, who had split and run off to Hong Kong, spending money like water, and having taken the commission money for the job up front...

Everythign worked in the end. -My friend got out with his reputation intact, and I escaped with my life. -His business partner... well, that's a VERY long story, but it involves police, grand scale burglaries, lots of shady international stuff, and a jaw-dropping story that you could make a gripping Hollywood movie out of!

-Tp this day, I'm not really that sorry that I did it... but I still could use the money that I got stiffed for... Well, never mind.

Wow. -That photo brought back some phenomenal memories!

-During the design, I even spoke to Matt Mathias (the "MAT" in "MATAMP") who was possibly behind the "Orange" amplifier brand in the 1960's, I think... -I'm sure that he's no longer with us, but he was a good man to chat to on the phone...

Keith

Keef – you should consider yourself rather privileged to have spoken with Mr Matthias. In guitar amp circles he is regarded as an absolute legend. I read an interview with Tannoy’s head R+D honcho, Alex Gardner, a couple of years back and Gardner reckoned that Matthias designed the finest valve amps full-stop, whether guitar, PA or other.

It’s a lot of soldering to rig up a Supernova! No sockets or casework as standard. You have to install it either into a console or flight-case and then wire everything to the tag strip – not a brief process, and something that’ll test your carpentry skills.

You can read up on Matthias here: http://www.matamp.com/mat-mathias.html

http://www.matamp.co.uk/history2.htm

BTW - After Matthias' passing, his sons wanted to move on, so the firm was taken over by manager Jeff. They have a waiting list for the new range and, from what I can gather, Jeff is doing an admirable job. They invite every player to visit the factory to pick up their amp. When doing so, the player can have the amp optimised to suit their style; they can change rectifiers (I was told they sometimes fit selenium ones, but don't tell anyone in Brussels!) and all manner of tweaks can be performed - a proper old-school company!

Ian – I hope your back’s alright, old chap! As we discussed, we should send out some feelers to see if there’s any interest in a DIY project based on early CADAC modules.


Justin

Yes, all of my submixers ran up to the tag-strip; there's a set of summing bus hookup points IIRC. -My submixers were mare with engraved front panels, and I had the engraver also cut the fader slots, mounting holes etc, and match the MATAMP graphics, etc.

Wow. -Memory deluge.

-The evening when I was threatened with bodily harm by the bouncer, I drove to maidenhead to get some sleep, because my sister was living down there at the time. -I had taken the job on just to help out my friend who'd been dumped on by his business partner, was getting paid nothing, and suddenly wondered what I'd got myself into. -In the end I got it all working (the designs were someone else's and EVERYTHING was oscillating when we hooked it up to the MATAMP... hence the calls with Matt.

-In the end it was the submixer gain stage, EQ and buffer stuff, which had been built with NO supply decoupling caps. -A tear down of both submixers and a thousand ceramic caps later on and everything worked.

I have to say that the Matamp sounded mighty punchy. -It FELT wonderful, too. -the P&Gs were just one part of a no-compromise, top-drawer product. -EVERYTHING was top-notch, no-expense-spared quality about that piece. -It made it VERY hard for my submixers not to look/feel sub-standard next to it... I had to work VERY hard to keep the quality up.

Keith