The new WA73 Mic Pre!

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.

Pedal Build: Clean Drive Clone

I had just watched some videos about the Steel String Clean Drive pedal made by Vertex. It sounded killer! I was curious to learn about its design. To my surprise PedalPCB.com makes their version of the pedal. I purchased the PCB and went through the parts list. I ordered what I needed through Mammoth Electronics. In total I spent under $40. The last of the parts showed up last Friday. I woke up early on Saturday and got to work. I was done by 2 p.m.

The pedal has a great texture to it. I’ve never put together pedals with JFETs. I guess there are a lot of pedals that finely tune JFETs to get “amp like” tones.

I’m excited to plug this one into my 5150 half stack. I forgot to buy knobs for this build. I pulled these off a pedal I’m not using right now.

Akai 3000D Reel to Reel

Well… instead of saving his money and focusing on recording, yours truly invested in a 40+ year old tape machine.

I never put too much thought into old reel to reels. I had completely overlooked their abilities to make some great sounding effects.

I stumbled across a video where someone demonstrated how to wire up a reel to reel to use as a classic tape delay. It was so simple!

So I began scouring through eBay and craigslist for a functional AND affordable reel to reel.

Like many other vintage electronics the listings divide into two price points.

The first was the people who were asking three times the amount you would go for. These machines were in beautiful condition.

The other was people somehow unable to test the machines with vague descriptions. They always put As-Is. This means both parties know it’s a rip off, but the as is means you can complain about it. The prices for these were on the much more affordable side, but many appeared to be missing parts.

Then last thursday night I found the “one”. It was pickup only from Garden Grove. Anny and I happened to have plans out in Anaheim friday night, so it worked out.

There is definitely a learning curve involved with these things. After an hour of using it i managed to break the stop switch. The stop/play switch is a “Cam” lever. The metal used , in this model, to forge this switch disintegrates over time. Thankfully there is a pause lever.

I’m hoping that using the pause as the stop won’t damage the unit. From what I’ve read these old machines always run while turned on. The stop and pause only move away the pinch roller.

I was also a little disappointed that it only seemed to run on one speed. After a few nights of research. I discovered that the tape driving motor had a sleeve on it. Once you remove the sleeve the tape plays a 3.75/ips instead of 7.5/ips.

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’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.

A post shared by Johnny Nichols (@johnny__nichols) on Jan 30, 2018 at 12:02pm PST

Digidesign Command 8

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.

A post shared by Johnny Nichols (@johnny__nichols) on Jan 22, 2018 at 1:40pm PST

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.

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday I got up early and went to church with the folks. It was fun.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody!

Expired Disposable Cameras – pt.2

So these photos are from the Kodak Fun Saver 35. Some of this roll is from a trip to Vegas with my mom as a kid. We went a few times so roll was shot between 1999 and 2003.

This is from the pools at the Mandalay Bay.

I guess this is me at some restaurant in Vegas, shot by my mom.

And this last frame is just a shot at home. I just really like the glowing effect it has.

Expired Disposable Cameras – pt.1

While doing some spring-cleaning this summer I found a few disposable cameras. I guess the film had expired in them, around 2003. I knew you could still get them developed; they’ll just come out crazy looking. So I sent them down to The Darkroom.