DIY milestones, thoughts and pics

[matta]

Well today I finally had enough time to complete my own GSSL!

I've built 2 in the past for myself but due to needing to fund other DIY sold them off, but determined to not let this one slip by I've been building it over 6 months bit by bit as money came in.

To celebrate this momentous occasion I took some pics of my DIY achievements over the past few years being inspired by Joel's thread in the Brewery about the tortoise... (read it to understand the context).

I joined this group a little under 3 years ago not knowing a sausage about electronics or electricity (well I knew it could kill!) and have slowly been building and trimming my collection in that time. I let 2 x GSSL's go, my first ever DIY rack, a dual channel Green Pre and single channel Calrec EQ and a 4 channel Green Pre, I abandoned a few projects and sold off the parts like a G9 (which is now Godders, though Steve gave me a new set of PCB's and I WILL build this next year!) and a Pultec (which I sold to Purusha).

I love this place and I really feel like many of you are part of my extended family and I've made some life long friends through this Forum, which I'm forever grateful for and it even led to a career change for me!

I used to be a web designer in a 9-5 I didn't enjoy and over this time I left my job, started teaching gear for local studios, teach a short course called 'Basic Audio Electronics' at a community college and now run my own studio... much of which may have never happened if I didn't discover this place.

So without further ado here are some bits I've pieced together, many of which have made an appearance before.

First up my compressor rack (From top to bottom)

Ashton Audio Stereo Buss Compressor (Basically Jakob's GSSL with a few mods and Roger's LED GR Meter II board)
Ashton Audio 711 FET Compressor (G1176 built from MNATS boards)
Ashton Audio Series Two Leveling Amplifier (Drips Optp Comp Rev1 with DIY T4B from TT)

Next my Mic Pre Rack (From top to bottom)

Ashton Audio N72 (Dual channel Neve 1272 using BA283 cards, JLM Hotrodded with Greg's Boards and Joe's Go Between kits)
Canil Pro Audio Relinqua 312 (Fabio's 312 mic pres in one of his 'official' rack cases)
2 xTelefunken V672's and 2 x Neumann W491A Eq's(Technically this isn't my rack as it was racked by another company but I had to rebuild one of the Telfeunkens, repair the gain on the other and had the faceplates made and installed a power LED)
Ashton Audio Spectratone (Channels 1+2 are Fabio's FETbys, based on the Hampton JFET mic pre design Scott offered up in Tape Op and Channels 3+4 are Spectrasonics 101's)
JLM Audio Animal Pres (2 of Joe's mic pres and DIY's fitted with his 1:4 transformers and 99V opamps)

I hope this provides some kind of inspiration for newcomers and oldcomeers alike.

Thanks again

Matt

 

[steppenwolf]

Hi Matt!

You have done a BEAUTIFUL job!
Are you tracking only with those Mic Pres or do you use a separate console for that?
Would really like to see your studio!!!

Have a great weekend!

Greets from Germany!
Stefan

 

[3nity]

Very nice indeed.

i wish my studio looks like yours.

I wish my front panels looks like yours.

Next year probably will be my year!

Good Luck Matt.

 

[Bluzzi]

Matt - Your babies look great!

The fact that you say yo knew nothing about electronics and are now teaching it is an amazing feat!

Another thing that amazes me here is the "international" co-operation between us all. I wish sometimes politicians did some DIY. It would make our world a better place.

jim

 

[radiance]

Cheers mate :thumb:

 

[matta]

Hi Stefan,

Thanks for the kind words.

In answer to your question, I only track with those pres. I only have 16 ins/out in my current set-up, 12 are covered by the pres above and I have a pair of original Quad 8's to rack and then will tackle to the G9 to have a perfect 16.

I record into Pro Tools and have a Command 8 control surface and selection of outboards comps, eqs and effects that are used in conjunction with, merging the best of both worlds.

Here is small collage of some pics from my studios

Jim, I think a lot of politicians could learn from this Forum...

Cheers

Matt

 

[raysolinski]

Awesome Matt!
My story is nearly the same as yours..now I have 5 312's of various configurations, 2 One Bottle pre's, 2 Yamaha pm1000's, one of Drip's Opto Comps, one G1176..On its way soon: An 1176 British" kit from the electric crayons fella's up in Minnesota, A Night EQ, another g1176, another Drip Opto and I have racked , built or fixed a bunch of stuff for many friends...
Major difference? While I have gotten better and abandoned my "ghetto" approach your stuff is still way better lookin' :green:

Cheers,
Ray

ps..I gotta rerack my Spectrasonics 101's!

 

[gareth.h.rees]

Wow! All that in three years?!

Thats very impressive - I really need to make an effort to really start something and make myself something nice

Even more inspiring is that you had no previous experience.. or knowledge!

Thanks!
Gareth

 

[steppenwolf]

Hi again!

Just for curiosity:

Do you track "live" with compressors and eq or do you feed the pres outs to AD Converter and compress/limit or eq it afterwards, like an Insert Effect on Protools?

Have a nice day!

Stefan

 

[matta]

Hi Stefan,

In answer to your question I do both.

If I'm being forced due to time constrains to just 'get stuff down' I often forgo the compressors/eq's and just try to pick the right mic and pre and record with enough headroom to avoid clipping, though generally I do come compress vox a little as they go down.

I'm learning, or rather finding my niche and honing skills there and I believe that is providing a cost effective commercial project studio catering to artists who want to come in to track with some great gear and then do overdubs at home or in a home studio.... it is rare, at least for me to see a project through from start to finish, I tend to spend 90% of my time tracking and editing.

I've tried to focus on a great front end with some classic mic pres (listed above), staple mics (B52, D112, SM57's, SM58, SM7, a couple Ribbons, LDC and SDC from Violet Designs and my prize, a '62 U67) and a reliable DAW (Pro Tools).

My next acquisition will be a some better converters and right now I'm pretty much sold on the Lynx Aurora's and saving up for those.

Cheers

Matt