Neve Board Ever Used Live?

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I would think it would be great, of course, if the music was also great...
 
Scodiddly said:
Like the mics and speaker systems of the day?
More likely dominated by what passed for live SR speaker systems.  Only the grateful dead invested massively in PA, and their results were variable (reportedly they used an allen and heath mixer  back then, but John Curl may have tweaked it).

During the several live concerts I attended in the 70s I was never anywhere near FOH, and the sound was adequate but not memorable. Neve was more popular in studios AFAIK. Sound reinforcement back then was almost an afterthought.

JR

PS: I do recall one hang with Steve Dove back in the early 80s when he was traveling with an AC/DC tour as boffin to keep their PA in good shape.  Once again I was no where near FOH, but they were more than adequately loud (for the record I was backstage and left the venue when they started playing because it was too F'n loud). . Their drum monitor cave was probably louder than many early 70's entire PAs.
 
Grand Ole Opry had a 40 channel installed in the auditorium in the 1970's. 
 
pucho812 said:
The closest I have seen of a neve used for live sound was in a remote truck.

Neve built a remote truck for ABC in the 70s. It had a 40? input desk, a pair of JBL one metre cube speakers and a pair of 24 track Studers. We demonstrated it at the APRS exhibition that year. George Martin lent us a 24 track copy of McCartney's "Live and Let Die" to play on it. I was the lucky guy who spend two days in that truck pretending to be George.

Cheers

Ian
 
ruffrecords said:
Neve built a remote truck for ABC in the 70s. It had a 40? input desk, a pair of JBL one metre cube speakers and a pair of 24 track Studers. We demonstrated it at the APRS exhibition that year. George Martin lent us a 24 track copy of McCartney's "Live and Let Die" to play on it. I was the lucky guy who spend two days in that truck pretending to be George.

Cheers

Ian

that is awesome.  I would have loved to been a fly on the wall and listen.  While he is not gerorge  martin, I have spent time with Danial lanois and he has done a lot with neve consoles over the years.  It's amazing what. we get to do at times all related  to work.
 
I tech supported Robin Williams once!? He was having computer problems. We chatted for about 20 minutes...hilarious!
 
CJ said:
anybody go to a concert in the 70's where they used a Neve for FOH?

I just heard back form a guy that worked from '73 to '85 for a metal band that everyone remembers, they played every major venue everywhere, I asked him if he ever ran into one.

His simple response:

"Never, absolutely not roadable."

He didn't elaborate. Then again, I doubt this band would play the Grand Ol' Opry. Maybe these days they might. ;D

Gene
 
Yeah, I'd think the weight and structural integrity might be ok in a truck, but not a FOH rig. 
 
I ‘ve always broadly thought of Neve for studio consoles, Cadac for touring and theater, and Calrec for broadcast. For BBC spec consoles.
 
wow, awesome!  thanks for all the responses!

was just thinkin that an 8 band DIY Neve might  be cool to use at clubs,  maybe use it to power a pair of Williamson amps with four 6550's each, with the Altec/peerless output transformers of course, run that into some old JBL's fora  full retro club mix, maybe a Pultec and LA2a thrown in the rack for kicks,
 
Also need a forklift to add to the package . Elliot Mazer had a Neve 80 series on large casters to roll on a lift gate for moving to places he would record and produce bands at. It would be able to do live sound and would be high to stand while working. If you added some mic pres to the monitor section , it would have a large amount of inputs. Give me woodstock . How many inputs did they use?
 
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I was reading an interesting article/interview today and remembered this thread.

It describes the Led Zeppelin touring gear in the early 70s,
the mixers were two WEM Audiomaster mixers with only 5 channels each.

The Live Sound and Touring was far and far away from a Neve Console

56970857_2220744414649057_1843313192218918912_n.jpg

"
PM: When you joined the tour, already in progress, what was the PA system like?


PD: “When I arrived, mid-tour, at Montreaux to join the Led Zeppelin crew, I found a fairly standard rig for that level of band, similar to those owned by The Who and Pink Floyd, which I had seen at various gigs. The speakers were mostly 4 x 12-inch columns (10 per side), plus two stacks of two 2 x 15s with a small horn on top per side, all driven by 12 100W power amps. And just two WEM five-channel Audiomaster mixers "

Check the article here:
https://soundgirls.org/phil-dudderidge-on-the-road-with-led-zeppelin-the-first-time-around/
Of course this was early 70s and Led Zeppelin was still not the biggest band in the World,
but I doubt that even when they got Gigantic that they had anything similar in size or weight to a Neve console in their Live shows.

I would guess in the mid 70s if you had something like a Soundcraft Series One in a Live show that would be a Luxury, would be the top of the game.

Also some interesting article on classic Live sound board that changed the industry:

https://www.gearnews.com/7-live-mixing-consoles-that-changed-the-industry-forever/
 
Also interesting and article about Woodstock 69,
the mixers were what looks to be those small Shure M67's

bill_hanleyjpg.jpg


m67.jpg


Article:
https://www.mixonline.com/live-sound/it-was-only-40-years-ago-368168
 
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It’s a tribute to how good the bands were when the blend is a mic pre and no other options. Folded horn cabinets setting on the stage with 2” horns and crown dc300 amps. (Or tube Macintosh) As well as the balance the engineer created.

also Eddie Kramer recording 7 tracks with a 1” 8track with a synctone for film. Amazing! No excuses. It’s about what you can do with what you got. Some people were great at it.
 

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