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Author Topic: 1970 suit case powered mixer  (Read 32805 times)

Jeff Bankston

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2014, 03:42:34 PM »

If you had a Tapco 6 channel mixer with ALtec A7s-you had hit the big time.

Add in a Crown DC300 and WOW-you were cool. 

Oh how times have changed.

Now any idiot with a couple of bucks can buy a system that makes a lot of noise-but that is about it-noise.  Not quality sound.

While the gear had gotten much better-I don't feel that the "average" sound quality is any better-in fact I think it is worse-since it is so easy for people to get into the business.  At least years ago it took a decent amount of money to get a sound system. 

That weeded out some of the people
most of the time we used my Dynaco mono blocks. we used cabinets i built and also rented altec vot speakers from Sound Communications in Jackson Missippi. the bass players daddy was a laywer and his dad bought him 2 new altec vot speakers that he still has. they need the woofers reconed. he set them out in a shed and a hole heard of bees set up house inside one. in the late 70's i got in a band with a keyboard player that had a Peavey pa and iirc the board had 12 mic inputs. we were styling then. in 1984 i hit the big time when i started buying QSC series 3 amps.
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Ivan Beaver

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2014, 04:37:55 PM »

most of the time we used my Dynaco mono blocks. we used cabinets i built and also rented altec vot speakers from Sound Communications in Jackson Missippi. the bass players daddy was a laywer and his dad bought him 2 new altec vot speakers that he still has. they need the woofers reconed. he set them out in a shed and a hole heard of bees set up house inside one. in the late 70's i got in a band with a keyboard player that had a Peavey pa and iirc the board had 12 mic inputs. we were styling then. in 1984 i hit the big time when i started buying QSC series 3 amps.
I thought I had hit the big time twice.  The first was when I got my first CS800.  I thought NOW I have all the power I will ever need for bass cabinets.  Boy was I wrong.

My next "step" was 16 channel biamp 1621.  I loved that board-VERY easy to get a mix on.  No frills but did the job well.
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Ivan Beaver
Danley Sound Labs

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Mike Caldwell

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2014, 11:15:56 AM »

in the early 70's we thought we had hit the big time with an early 1970's rack mount Tapco mixer.

I still used one of those in the early 80's, it was a silver one with black lettering. For a while I use it as a reverb / twanging effects unit.   

Tim McCulloch

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #13 on: August 14, 2014, 09:05:04 PM »

I thought I had hit the big time twice.  The first was when I got my first CS800.  I thought NOW I have all the power I will ever need for bass cabinets.  Boy was I wrong.

My next "step" was 16 channel biamp 1621.  I loved that board-VERY easy to get a mix on.  No frills but did the job well.

I owned a 1621 and concur with your opinion.  Our PAC has a 1221 in the Exhibition Hall control booth. 
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duane massey

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #14 on: August 16, 2014, 01:14:11 AM »

We could never afford equipment, so we built our own, first for our band, then for sale and rental. First amps that we "built" were Dynaco kits that we built into cases. Later designed our own mono amps (massive 85 watts/8 ohms) and started building mixers. Made a lot of mistakes, but also built a lot of cool (especially for the time period) stuff.
Those days are long gone, but there was a lot to be said for the wide-open experimenting that a lot of us did back then, even if we were just ignorant and foolish.
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Duane Massey
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Ivan Beaver

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #15 on: August 16, 2014, 09:39:54 AM »

We could never afford equipment, so we built our own, first for our band, then for sale and rental. First amps that we "built" were Dynaco kits that we built into cases. Later designed our own mono amps (massive 85 watts/8 ohms) and started building mixers. Made a lot of mistakes, but also built a lot of cool (especially for the time period) stuff.
Those days are long gone, but there was a lot to be said for the wide-open experimenting that a lot of us did back then, even if we were just ignorant and foolish.
That is what got me into this business.  A also did not have any money to buy real gear.

My first mixer used the chassis from my Kay 770 guitar amp (I blew it up due to driver 20 some speakers with it-I did not know-------)

It was 4 channels with a volume/bass/treble and a master level on it.

The next mixer I built had 6 channels-volume/bass/middle/treble and 1 aux.

The largest mixer I built that was completed and working (I started some larger ones but never finished) was a 12 channel with 3 auxes.

These are all totally built by hand-from the ground up.  Including drawing out each trace on the circuit boards-etching the boards in the bath tub and drilling every hole with a hand drill and of course stuffing the parts and wiring etc.

Of course I also hand built my own amps/crossovers/eqs/cabinets etc.

You learn a lot when you go this route.

Now things are A LOT cheaper and this is probably not a good path to go-except for the learning aspect.
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Ivan Beaver
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #16 on: August 16, 2014, 10:55:12 AM »

Those days are long gone, but there was a lot to be said for the wide-open experimenting that a lot of us did back then, even if we were just ignorant and foolish.

That, my friend, was the tuition at the Skool of Ye Olde Hard Knocks.  Our diplomas serve us well to this day.

And it illustrates why I continue to advocate that "today's kids" go out an build some circuits, blow up some speakers and amps and actually LEARN something besides taking dubious candy from strangers on the intertubes. ;)
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"If you're passing on your way, from Palm Springs to L.A., Give a wave to good ol' Dave, Say hello to progress and goodbye to the Moonlight Motor Inn." - Steve Spurgin, Moonlight Motor Inn

John Roberts {JR}

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #17 on: August 16, 2014, 11:07:44 AM »

We are all born ignorant. Life is a grim teacher, she gives the tests first and then the lesson, but lessons learned in that school tend to stick.

When we were young, building stuff ourselves was a viable way to save money. Over the years I built many Heath kit products to save money and even had my own kit company back in the '70s-80s selling hifi kits.  At their peak Heathkit was probably a $100M business. But that entire business model was mooted by modern manufacturing technology. A large company could buy and assemble parts into a finished product for less cost than the small company could buy the raw parts (I experienced this painfully in the '80s).

The modern equivalent of DIY skills is probably to learn how to program computers or whatever computing device kids end up with these days. Making stuff is no longer a good use of our time, for anything we can find to buy off the shelf. I find myself still making thing that I can not buy.

JR
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Ivan Beaver

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2014, 11:33:18 AM »

We are all born ignorant. Life is a grim teacher, she gives the tests first and then the lesson, but lessons learned in that school tend to stick.

vice kids end up with these days. Making stuff is no longer a good use of our time, for anything we can find to buy off the shelf. I find myself still making thing that I can not buy.

JR

How true.

I still build small stuff and odd things that simply are not available.  Various control circuits and so forth.

I feel that this is a "lost art".  Which is a real shame-because it was such a large part of up upbringing.

HOWEVER the skill learned I use to this day in various aspects :)

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A complex question is easily answered by a simple-easy to understand WRONG answer!

Ivan Beaver
Danley Sound Labs

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Ivan Beaver

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Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #19 on: August 16, 2014, 01:06:55 PM »

I have been cleaning out my basement-and starting to throw away the old stuff I build decades ago.

I took a few photos before it went in the dumpster-but these were pulled out and went to the metal scrapyard.  Maybe some of it will end up in an amp in YOUR future :)

NO LAUGHING JR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  All I had was simple tools and only my own experience to go on.
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A complex question is easily answered by a simple-easy to understand WRONG answer!

Ivan Beaver
Danley Sound Labs

PHYSICS- NOT FADS!

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: 1970 suit case powered mixer
« Reply #19 on: August 16, 2014, 01:06:55 PM »


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