Restoring and old Neve desk - DONE!!!!

[tommypiper]

Of course i had to do a fancy nameplate for these extra inputs....

Awesome thread.  How do you make those nameplates?  Are they plastic or metal?  Do you have a machine for them?

 

[EEMO1]

this is glorious.

 

[mjrippe]

API, your work on this project is truly inspiring.  The ONLY thing I would add is channel numbers above or below the VU meters.  It makes life easier on the engineer to know at a glance which channel is peaking or not passing signal. 

 

[API]

Thank you all for the nice words, they realy makes me happy!  ;D

Tommypiper,  the engraved panels are plastic and were made by a small shop here in town that mainlu do nametags etc.
I have been looking for the old and correct material which is usually called Traffolyte and actually i was just tipped of on a vintage amp forum yesterday about somone in the UK that still have this material.
Check this link:
http://www.traffolytelabels.co.uk/Category-279/What-is-Traffolyte.htm

mjrippe, i totally hear you and agree.
I have been thinking alot about this as well but have not yet figured out a way to add the numbers in a nice and pleasant way yet.
I actually thought about engraving the new VU covers with numbers, just like how the old ones were engraved.
Since i added the peaklead in the center under each VU it will not look good there and above the VU´s would look strange to my eyes as well.
But i agree, they would be handy.

 

[ruffrecords]

Traffolyte - that is a blast from the past! I remember we used a lot of it at Neve in the 70s. Good to know it is still available.I found three engravers in the UK that still supply it.

Cheers

Ian

 

[radardoug]

mjrippe, i totally hear you and agree.
I have been thinking alot about this as well but have not yet figured out a way to add the numbers in a nice and pleasant way yet.
I actually thought about engraving the new VU covers with numbers, just like how the old ones were engraved.
Since i added the peaklead in the center under each VU it will not look good there and above the VU´s would look strange to my eyes as well.
But i agree, they would be handy.

When I started doing electronics you could buy lots of typefaces from Letraset, and make your own labels.
They still exist, but not many products.
http://www.letraset.com/products/90-Letraset-Transfers/
Maybe you could use this on your meters?

 

[API]

Yes, i will find a way to get the meters numbered.
Just got to figure out the best way which also will look good, estethics are very important to me.

So, next thing i did was to look into the master section to do some mods there.
Its actually very crude how everything is wired together behind there, true point-to-point!

The original monitor and studio playback volume controls were both gone so i wanted to do something there.
For the studio playback, which will not be used much, i put in a simple quality stereo 10k potentiometer, there were not many options since it "needed" to have a switch in it as well for switching on/off the control lamp above the pot that indicated that its in use.
But i did find one that worked .

Then for the monitor playback i wanted to put in the best i could since this will get alot more use.
I decided on a Elma A47 dual deck switch which i calculated a custom 1k taper for.
Or actually, its closer to 1.6k which was what an original Neve wired switch measured which i had on hand.

Here is the original Painton Winkler playback switches which have 28 steps (with lots of grime!).

Here is my new Elma A47 under different phases of construction.
I put out the question here before about how to wire it, but decided in the end to do it the same way as per the original which is semi balanced with negative tied to ground.
I measured and matched every resistor for the switch so i would get perfect stereo balance.

 

[pvision]

I have been looking for the old and correct material which is usually called Traffolyte

I didn't know the name of this material till now. It's a laminate with a black upper layer and a white lower. The lettering is engraved deep enough to cut away the black layer to expose the white lettering

It's a really neat way of doing it - very old-school -  and with an appropriate font it looks wonderful

I like your scribble strip construction

The whole restoration is fantastic. The new owner is going to get a wonderfully hand-crafted, restored console

Nick Froome

 

[API]

Thanks for the nice words Nick, its a labour of love for sure.

I think Traffolyte is a specific brand and its different from the type of plastic that were used for guitar pickguards etc.
Traffolyte consists mostly of paper that is molded together somehow, i think the webpage i linked to explais it better.
So its quite fiberous which i like alot, more alive than totally dead, pale plastic.
I think Formica is another brandname which is similar product and was used alot in furniture production

 

[Gene Pink]

The new owner is going to get a wonderfully hand-crafted, restored console

New owner???

I'll bet good money that by the time he is done, he can't bear to part with it. :'(

Gene

 

[API]

Gene, sorry to say that the desk indeed is sold already.
Need the money to move on with my other projects, i have something realy cool coming up after this...

But now over to the restoration again.

Since the frame and 1272´s are all done now its time to look at the 1883 modules.
As i wrote earlier i did find eight complete 1883´s early on in the project.
They were complete and lookd good except for the changed knobs.
Luckily i had some originals in my parts box.

Pretty clean on the inside as well.

After a quick cleanup and recap these first eight was ready, or so i thought...

Next i went on a hunt for another set of eight 1883 modules but i always hit a dead end wherever i looked.
I call it the "curse of 1883" since every time i got a lead on one or a few either the owner changed his mind or never got back to me again after an intitial positive response.
At one point i considered redoing them from scratch myself, something that feels kind of insane looking back.
I even got as far as drawing up a wiring schematic for them with all cable lenghts etc.

But then i got a "lucky" break.
Someone was selling some on Ebay for a pretty high price, they were complete but had the wrong input transformer.
Sadly they were priced way to high for the way they looked, but i struck a deal with the seller where he kept all the cards, transformers and knobs and i got the rest.
I should have looked a little closer at the pictures becuase when they showed up they did not look to nice.
But, and a big but (!), they were the original thing, the real deal, and i knew i could make them and me happy again.

To be continued....

 

[API]

So, back to work on the 1883 modules again.
This will be a picture heavy post, so please bear with me....

First i decided to not use the original Marinair LO1166 output transformers since it would be to expensive and to hard to source another eight of them.
So i was lucky enough to buy some specially winded Carnhills that originates from the old Groupbuy here.
I have not made a direct test with this batch to an original, but the ones i bought back then were quite close to the original transformer.

I also had to manufacture the aluminium mountingplate the is used to secure the transformer in the module.

All eight of them prepped and ready to go!

Then i did some serious cleaning and put some new caps in.

I did some basic testing but switches and pots were not realy up to scratch (pun intended!).

So i decided to replace everything in the frontpanel!
Here all parts are removed and i am testing some new pots.

New led lamps prepped up.

Decided to use ALPS pots for PAN duties.

Most replacement parts prepped up and sorted.

Prepping the PAN and CUT switches.

Green led for PAN and red ones for CUT.
Switches fully prepped with all connecting cabling and passive parts.

The full transformation in four different views....
All new parts added and ready to be wired in to the module.

Of course i had to do the same thing to the first eight modules so all sixteen of them would have exactly the same parts and so they all will last another 20-30 years hopefully without any major problems.
This part was a major undertaking and took me alot of time, but i would like to believe that this was money well spent for the future....

 

[remsouille]

That's pretty intense, Dennis....

 

[r2d2]

have something like an amazing "flashback" 

 

[API]

So its time for the final chapeter of this now very looooooong story!

All 1883 modules are done and like new again and should hopefully work for many, many years from now.
I had all modules out of the desk and took a few pics...and yes, that is a vintage Fairport Convention poster under the table 

Other side..

The completed desk in all its glory!

After i took these pics i also added a vintage Sennheiser talkback mic in the unused 1272 slot in the upper left corner.

DONE!!!!!!!

 

[radardoug]

Nice job! Time for a beer for you I think!

 

[Gene Pink]

So its time for the final chapeter of this now very looooooong story!

And a great story it was. I, for one, thank you for it.

But I gotta ask, are you really still gonna sell it?

Gene

 

[API]

Thank you for taking the time to read it all through.

The desk is already sold and have been for a while and its going to a very good home.
I am not realy recording anymore and have moved over more to the tech side so it will get better and more use with its new owner.

Also, i want to get on with the next project which will be to build a small mixer for myself.
But more on that in another thread.

 

[musika]

Thanks for taking the time to post all your progress on this console restoration. 

It really provided everyone with a somewhat rare look inside the structure of a vintage Neve desk. 

 

[fazer]

Stellar work API.  Inspirational in you pain staking detail.