New stuff, only 60 years late

[cardboard]

hello all,

I've been lurking for a while but did not yet introduce myself. So here we go:

I've built a small tube PA a few years ago (below), and for the Main stereo Amp (the one with 'Confused' on it) you can see that I did not design the exterior much, just took the looks of an existing amp I liked and varied a bit to my taste:



The only thing not self-made was the mixer. For that, I decided to follow the same path as with the Main Amp, and allow me tro be inspired by great-looking examples. Within minutes on the web, one inevitably ends up with a picture of one the EMI REDD desks. That became my inspiration, and I started collecting info in them, and design a very, very small interpretation/look-alike. I make a mock-up:



I never finished it, because in my web search, I stumbled upon the .37 drawings for sale. I bought them. It is 2.7 kg of paper, and very, very complete. Sad thing is that I cannot share them here.



Someone wrote about old studio gear like the .37: 'Dude, these machines are so old, you cannot even connect them to something else. Only to your ears and to your heart.' Lovely.

Around the same time, a friend of mine gave me a beaten and battered STUDER B37 Tape machine:



And then I had an idea:

What if I build a desk like the .37, convert that STUDER to 4 tracks, build a few compressors and a record cutter, make it all as portable as possible, and call it a Mobile 7" Record Cutting Plant (Note: I will make only ONE cutter, not the FOUR shown):



It is a slow but deeply satisfying journey. The STUDER top plate has been sand-blasted, frame repainted, parts cleaned and the transport is 80% rebuilt:



The REDD drawings took long to understand, but eventually, I was able to design my own version: the .27 it is called. In complexity and possibilities, it lies between the REDD.37 and REDD.17. Nice: the REDD.17 was designed by the German EMI-engineer Peter Burkowitz (as was the .37, to be complete), RIGHT HERE in Cologne. So 'the REDD story comes full circle'.

The following pictures show the top and back of the new .27 desk.





It has the 3-unit architecture of the .17 (using the transport cases as bottom elements), but very much the 8-2-4 track lay-out and signal routing of the .37 mixer. I simplified quite a bit in the Monitor and Check circuits. And drastically reduced the number of amplifier slots to only 28.
The re-engineering and re-drawing of quite a large portion of the .37 drawings is coming to an end, and I very proud of the results.

Sourcing parts is extremely time-consuming, and I'm glad I'm almost done (see below), and also glad I tried very much to cut down on controls and amps.



The Cutter is behind on schedule, but I became a member of the Secret Society of the Lathe Trolls, and that helps a lot.

So, if you stumble upon a question I post here and think: 'what on earth does he need that for..??!' - the answer is: 'for this'.

This will probably take quite a few years to complete. I see it as my last project, because after I finished, I intend to use it. People can call me, ask if I can show up with a Beatle board and then cut a 7" record of a live venue.

mart

 

[PermO]

I love your system overview drawing, really good drawing skills !

Welcome, you have some cool stuff !

 

[cardboard]

ah, forgot picture 10:

 

[TimG]

After my own heart design wise!
Welcome!

(so many quadrant faders! Sigh)

 

[PermO]

Love the drawings, did you make those on paper ?

 

[ruffrecords]

I am impressed.

Cheers

Ian

 

[cardboard]

About the drawings: I was trained as a product designer in the nineties (pretty much all of them, now I come to think of it), when hand drawing was still part of the educational program.
Because I start them in pencel, in 3D, I can immediately distinguish between known (can draw line) and unknown (can't draw line) lines. It forces me to invent & engineer, it helps me decide, and the pencil lines are very forgiving. Once I'm satisfied, the 3 minutes of almost autistic 'inking' functions as a reward

 

[cardboard]

After my own heart design wise!
Welcome!

(so many quadrant faders! Sigh)

I take that as a compliment. Thank you.

You have NO IDEA how many versions of that Top and Back I've done. On paper, in the computer, back to paper, then all over again because 10 seemed to the maximum Paintons available, back into the PC, print it out, greatly reduce the number of Siemens Funky U-link connectors on the back because they cost a fortune, etc, etc. Ah, and then remembering that it is, indeed, going to be a MASTERING DESK. New paper, inventing mastering controls, etc,

mart

 

[Helios67]

Hello, great news. Fingers crossed for your project especially when you decide to make 12" cutter too. 99% of today's vinyls are being cut from digital sources. Some places -even when cutting from the tape -use digital tool in their signal path, so the sound is going through digital anyway. Others like Masterlabs from Dublin are not reliable anymore, so there is a need, especially here in Europe, for more fully analog facilities to get fully analog cutting. I would be a potential customer of your Mobile Cutting place and I am sure not only one.

 

[cardboard]

Dear Helios,
For this project, the cutter is going to be 7" and 45 rpm only. That fits the idea behind it: come to a venue, record and have the single ready before the bandmembers have reached the bar for a drink
But who knows, once I'm done, I'll try a 12".

 

[thomasdf]

Holy guacamole ! What an awesome project ! Following with MUCH interest ! You are crazy, this is beautiful !

 

[Disco Volante]

That refinished tape machine is so hot...

 

[Dan Mills]

Are you planning to use the tape to do the preview delay for the lathe?

Regards, Dan.

 

[Shroomystic]

ah, forgot picture 10:

That lead to an open mouth !
Really gorgeous drawings !

What is your drawing tool of choice ?

I use a Rotring Rapidograph with a 0.13 tip for my illustrations, which is quite a different approach on how "quick" you can work.
But the lines are just so god damn black and opaque, and the ink just flows !

-

This project is really interesting !
Hope to hear from it in action

 

[cardboard]

When I start them with a pencil and a ruler, I pay extra attention to a dramatic drooling corner 'helicopter on the rooftop of a skscraper'-kind of perspective. That's trick one
And then, when I ink them, I do NOT use the ruler, and then a certain liveliness emerges from my unsteady hand. That's trick 2.

Favorite drawing tool is a 4B pencil.

This week is Compressor week, so there's some stuff added here soon.

I thought about continuing this project under 'Drawing Board', but maybe I leave it just here.

mart

ps: Shroomystic wrote: "Hope to hear from it in action" - yeah, me too. But, as said, this is going to take YEARS...

 

[cardboard]

Are you planning to use the tape to do the preview delay for the lathe?

Regards, Dan.

I assume you mean the nifty listen-ahead found on Neumann VSM 70 or so lathes, with the "16 Memories", to get more song on disc?
If so, it is still to be decided. The lathe doesn't exist yet.
If I want to be really up there with the Pro's and have some sensible playing time, I probably should, but this a hobby project with more 'under contruction' areas than I dare to realise. So maybe later

Does it require an extra head? Or can it be done by using the Rec head?

mart

 

[warpie]

I hate to be that guy, but have you ever tried to cut directly to vinyl? It is not an easy task.

 

[Dan Mills]

IIRC it was the 66 that first had that feature, and ordinarily it requires a second replay head and signal chain, however in this specific case where you are recording to the tape at the same time as you are cutting the disk, you can cheat.

Make a fixture that diverts the tape between the record and replay heads such that there is something like 1/2 a turn at 45RPM of delay. The replay chain then feeds the lathe modulation input while the tape machine input feeds the lathe automation.
By far the easiest way to skin the lathe automation side today is with a small computer, but the audio doesn't have to go anywhere near it.

A goniometer on the transfer console would probably be a good idea if doing stereo cutting, but I would suggest that having someone mixing and someone running the cutting is the way, it is too much for one operator.

 

[cardboard]

I hate to be that guy, but have you ever tried to cut directly to vinyl? It is not an easy task.

Hello Warpie,

I like the way you break the news with 'I hate to be that guy', and several replies jump to my mind:
1. Oh dear, ow sad, I never expected that, OK I sell all my Tuchel, Paintons and EF86's
2. My sister used to date a guy who owned a record player, so it really must be supereasy

But the actual answer is:

Dear Warpie, I have no clue whatsoever. I have never been closer than 5 km to a blank disc. But this is the nice stuff in life. Dare to dream.
And luckily, it is only one of 2 corners of my project where uncertainty kicks in (the other being the HF-section of the tape machine).
And if I look at how I came to understand the REDD.37, the B37 and the LA2A compressor, then maybe not all hope is lost for an acceptable cutter.

good night!

mart

 

[cardboard]

As announced, this week is Compressor week.

I have designed a Quad version of the well-known LA2A, of which I have built one before. I wanted a very open architecture, which I think went well, and I particularly paid attention to manufacturability. When bending sheet on a simple machine, reaching acceptable tolerances can be very troublesome.

I proudly present...