For the last 10 years I’ve been using my 5150 head with a broken ground plug. It wasn’t until recently, that I learned how potentially dangerous that was. I found this video that shows how simple it is to replace the plug. I ran over to home depot and grabbed a new plug for $3. The amp is much less noisey now!
Well I sold the TB12 by Warm Audio. I used the money towards the WA73! This thing is awesome. The last time I used a real neve was back in 2008. So I don’t have a solid reference in my mind, but this preamp is killer.
One of my biggest complaints about the TB12 was the aesthetics. The bright orange with a bunch of different mismatched fonts. It looked weird, but sounded good. The WA73 is so much sleeker.
The reason why I dove into buying this preamp was for the custom transformers. They worked with Carnhill to re-create the original spec transformers from the original 1073’s. No other 1073 clones have these parts. I wanted a more “dirty” or “musical” mic pre for different sounds. Everything I’ve tracked through it so far, has sounded thick and warm. I even dig the distortion you can get out of it, by slamming a guitar direct in.
I’m excited to try some bare bones tracking. I’d like to try singing and playing acoustic guitar direct to tape. I’m going to order some blank tape off eBay soon!
In this video I’m sending a few guitar leads into the tape machine at 3.75/ips. I’m then recording the delay back into the computer.
I always wanted one of these things. They were always way too expensive. I’m guessing they aren’t compatible with the new versions of Pro Tools? So you can find them on eBay for under $300.
I got extra lucky and won this one for $150. I wasn’t sure it was going to be in the best condition. It got here yesterday. I plugged it in and got it working! This thing is clean. It’s virtually brand new.
This Command 8 is going to help a lot. I don’t even have to look at the computer screen to edit plug-ins and sends etc. I haven’t even started working with all the automation options.
I’ve had some extra rack units that I’ve wanted to setup. I started looking online for another rack case. Anything close to what I was looking for cost over $100. I didn’t need anything nice. So I looked up instructions for a DIY option. There were tons of ideas. I even found people using IKEA side tables for their rack gear.
Last Sunday, Anny and I went over to Lowe’s to pick up some wood. I just went with all the cheapest stuff, but it still ended up costing over $40. I used a power conditioner to measure the width.
I made some lines and used a handsaw to cut it up. Then yesterday after work, I picked up some nails and screws. I used the nails to line everything up. Then came back over the joints with a power drill and wood screws.
When it was time to mount the rack gear, I found these mini screws to drive in. The only issue is that I broke 6 trying to screw them in. I guess the wood is too hard.
It’s not pretty, but it works! All I got to do now is wire up everything to my patch bay.
I was so stoked to set it all up… I forgot how impractical a patch bay would be right in the middle of the rack. So I had to undo all the wiring.
Now it’s setup correctly!
It wasn’t until last year, that I finally purchased a mic-pre. I was always too stingy. I figured the preamps on my interfaces sounded good enough. Then I heard about the JHS Colour Box. I was stoked. It was a NEVE clone that didn’t cost over a $1000 dollars. I bought one at the beginning of 2016 as a late Christmas present to myself.
I thought I would use it more for microphones, but it added too much of a fuzz. I did enjoy the grit it adds, but the box became a one trick pony. I always ended up just using it for guitar and bass. I did get some great sounds for vocals out of it, when I re-amped takes I had already tracked. I was hesitant to let it go, but I didn’t use it enough. I knew I could get at least $300 for it.
After I heard some samples of Warm Audio’s TB12, I listed my Colour Box on eBay.
The day my Colour Box sold, I bit the $600 bullet and ordered the TB12. It showed up yesterday. I wired it all up last night after work. I love it! I haven’t yet tested it as a preamp. I have it routed as a plug in. You can really push tracks through it. It gives everything a little “oomph”. You can even slam the gain and get some fuzzed out grit.
My only gripes with the TB12 are its aesthetics:
Now it’s time for me to get a patch bay. I need to be able to switch around my compressor in the signal chain. I worried that I would miss my Colour Box. That great fuzz and those gain stages it gives you, but the Tone Beast can do all that and more.
From 2008 to 2010, I worked at a Sam Ash Music Megastore. While they didn’t treat their employees too well, I look back at my time there as a positive experience. I met some amazing people, I learned so much about guitar and recording gear, and I had a lot of fun. The majority of my time there was working in the warehouse. I was the store receiver. My sole responsibility was to receive and organize all inventory brought into the store. Every day I’d open 50-200 boxes of product, scan them into our system, and then organize them into storage. Depending on the products, some would go straight out to the sales floor.
ME – playing on Sam Ash’s iMac. 2008
I worked in the warehouse with two other dudes. John V. was in charge of all outgoing product, and our Operations Manager, Bomba. Stock transfers, outgoing repairs, and recalled equipment were John’s responsibility. Bomba’s job was to make sure we handled our stuff, and keeping the available inventory and repair inventory as accurate as possible. They were some of my favorite coworkers I’ve ever gotten to know.
ME – goofing off in the warehouse. 2009
That was just the warehouse department. There were several other departments: Customer Service, Brass and Winds, Pro Audio, Drums, and the Guitar department. Adam was the Pro Audio dept manager. He had actually got me the job at Sam Ash. He had recognized me from our time at Los Angeles Recording School.
One day Adam was throwing out a DBX 160X compressor. I asked what was wrong with it. He said he wasn’t sure because the TRS jacks were broken. He explained I would have to wire up leads to the back terminal to figure out the issue. I figured one day I would get into fixing it, so I took it.
Cut to 7+ years later I finally grabbed it out of storage. I dusted it off and plugged it in!
I wired it up into my system and it sounded like it was working. The TRS jacks worked fine, but the gain reduction meter was blank. So I thought perhaps the LEDS were blown. I googled the issue. I couldn’t find any info on blown led meters for the DBX. Instead I found that there are supposed to be two jumpers on the back terminal. I looked back there and there were missing. So I took some small stranded wire and screwed them in.
I plugged it back in… DONE! It’s works and looks beautifully!
I’m not even sure you could call this a repair, but I turned someone’s trash into a $200 dollar piece of pro audio gear.