A very primitive wooden case project for fancy old VU meters

[Golgoth]

I've bought a pair of beautiful 1965 Simpson's VU meters a while ago, and needed a case for them..





I wanted to share how I primitively made a custom wooden case for them in my tiny 20sqm parisian appartment, during a heatwave.

I used a hand saw on my "living room" table, drilled holes on (and unfortunately in) the floor with questionable bits, sanded the boards in the shower and painted inside a trash bag to avoid any accident.

It was a messy and painful job in that context and with the tools I had, but I think a little sweat goes a long way when you wish to obtain something exactly how you picture it in your mind.







Mistakes included using a glue that set too fast (enjoy a couple hours of sanding then!), trying to nail into hard beech boards, not wearing a mask when sanding etc..







But in the end, the case is 98% as I wanted it to be, it's robust, heavy, looks luxurious (to me). It's the perfect house for these beautiful meters and most importantly that wooden case is 100% mine.

It is calibrated for 0VU = -14dB in my DAW, gives me plenty of headroom and makes you feel "GOOD" when you record between 0 and +3!





Thanks for reading,
G.

 

[totoxraymond]

Good job!

Makes me remember my first self etched boards, made in my tiny apartment (in Paris at that time). Fortunately, the carpet was already very old so i wasn't too worry about spilling FeCl3 on the ground... Then trying to make some front panels with a Dremel...

I'm pretty happy to have moved in the suburbs now.

And by the way, i'm still using those Bo Hansen DIs i made at that time.

Cheers!

Thomas

 

[Golgoth]

Good job!

Makes me remember my first self etched boards, made in my tiny apartment (in Paris at that time). Fortunately, the carpet was already very old so i wasn't too worry about spilling FeCl3 on the ground... Then trying to make some front panels with a Dremel...

I'm pretty happy to have moved in the suburbs now.

And by the way, i'm still using those Bo Hansen DIs i made at that time.

Cheers!

Thomas

Can't wait to get a countryside house with a proper shop!

 

[RuudNL]

I imagine it can bear the weight of an elephant!

 

[Golgoth]

I imagine it can bear the weight of an elephant!

Haha yes, a couple of them for sure!

 

[thomasdf]

Good job ! A kool upgrade might be to drive them with proper VU drivers, so they'd be floating and able to be set very precisely. These old Simpsons allows for that, the build quality is outstanding. JML has a premium design PCB, DIY tube a cheaper one, or you can etch your own and even veroboard it ... and then you could hook it up to you monitor controller and be able to monitor all sorts of levels from various sources etc. You'll see the balistics will be much more realistic and usable, too. And it will free up a pair of your DA outputs.
Then second update (that where I am right now) is to add presets switches to be able to switch between various calibrations at the turn of a button, allowing me to monitor my mixes, but also some masters without pegging the meters etc.
I realised VU meter calibration interaction with the digital world is really a matter of taste and very setup dependent, for sure.

My monitor controller (Sound Skulptor MC624 for the win !!!!!) has VU outputs, but you could add that to any controller by taping into it before volume attenuation. Since the vu driver is buffered, it won't mess with your audio the way old school diode rectified meters does.

 

[Golgoth]

Good job ! A kool upgrade might be to drive them with proper VU drivers, so they'd be floating and able to be set very precisely. These old Simpsons allows for that, the build quality is outstanding. JML has a premium design PCB, DIY tube a cheaper one, or you can etch your own and even veroboard it ... and then you could hook it up to you monitor controller and be able to monitor all sorts of levels from various sources etc. You'll see the balistics will be much more realistic and usable, too. And it will free up a pair of your DA outputs.
Then second update (that where I am right now) is to add presets switches to be able to switch between various calibrations at the turn of a button, allowing me to monitor my mixes, but also some masters without pegging the meters etc.
I realised VU meter calibration interaction with the digital world is really a matter of taste and very setup dependent, for sure.

My monitor controller (Sound Skulptor MC624 for the win !!!!!) has VU outputs, but you could add that to any controller by taping into it before volume attenuation. Since the vu driver is buffered, it won't mess with your audio the way old school diode rectified meters does.

Thanks Thomas!

Very very interesting insights! All of the mentioned points are definitely improvements I will realize when my setup/needs evolve.

For now my needs are very basic and a pair of AUX outputs from my mixer on the way in does it just fine, using the meters passively, calibrated for my converters with their integrated trimmer. I mostly record here! Very different sources and knowing where I stand on the way in without having to check my converters or the DAW is mostly what I was after.

They are indeed wonderful units, hence the need for me to build a nice case for them.

Did you assemble the MC624 yourself? I’ve been looking at it for the better part of 10 years now..

 

[thomasdf]

Did you assemble the MC624 yourself? I’ve been looking at it for the better part of 10 years now..

Yes, back in 2016. It never let me down and has been a staple in my workflow ever since !