i make recording studio electronics and provide special sound services with my big fat recording studio
completed . this custom kaimaitron 4 channel mic/instrument amplifier with internal /external source control room or headphone monitor section. built all of beaut fat handmade transistor amps into a 1960s brown leatherete portable case . also features a pretty awesome switchable germanium stage which can be sweet or stinging.
james duncan guitarist creationist-contortionist for dimmer and sjd and punches bort a telefunken V372 module off of ebay and asked me to add a preamping stage to it. so i made a neever preamp with a handmade mic inputting transformer AND a switchable germanium transistor stage as well , the germ amp does a smoothe sweet edge to top end when run at a ‘normal’ kind of level input. and if you boost it’s input to overload it – wow it can really get on fire – a very sustained burnt up kind of distortion. so - a really fat and clean clean sound OR varying degrees of audio assassination badness is available.
after james received the kaimai telefunking amp he quick-as wrote back -
“I hate to speak colloquially but “BRO” I had a crack on it last night and its off the hook. The neever section is just what i was looking for. Thick, warm and big.. I’m so very stoked. The Ger-mania section is crazy and will take a little getting used to, but in all honesty I was a little skeptical at first of the Pultec pre/guitar amp combo. Now its my number one recording guitar amp because of all the tubey tone possibilities. So I’m very much looking forward to finding out how to use it. (ek – not quite sure what james is saying right there – but he’s quite left field so maybe he’s actually fallen off of the field all together) This pre is a total win Greg. Thanks! “
ooh – i get it now. what james was saying was about how he felt a bit skeptical about his pultec MB1 thingy i made for him years ago – and how after getting used to it – that little ex- record player unit has become his go to recording amp. well NOW hes got this new toy and is looking forward to getting to know HIM too. the kaimai telefunken will surprise and amaze just as much only with his different voice which can be like gentle horned diva or mangley bitch with guts hanging loose. blood. yes a buttload of blood.
the cat visconti channel is almost gasp. complete. just waiting now for a final bit of metal worked rear ass covering solution . sounding perfect . it’s made to be a best quality mono recording channel with mic/di/line stages and 4 way eq and filters with processor insertabilty. the output of that can mix (or not) with two stereo line inputs. the listenator function runs either the alone channel or the mixture of the alone channel with the stereo inputs - into one of two selected pairs of speakers. alla fenkner functionality.
a new minifenkner contol room monitor ‘special’ dog. . this little guy has been borned inside a pretty tight upgrade budget so i found a suitable sized hammond industries cut folded & spotwelded chassis .. costs way less than my first ‘built like a hummer’ styling. . this little bugger still has the same super clear and fat transistor electronics as the luxury model of course . and… two. stereo headphone amps . all transistor superbness and very desirable functionality. get a little mini fenk so to hear everything! in your signal and throw it easily around your speaker systems - to test your balances and ease your mind.
all valve amplifiers. the vortex is designed to be used in a control room situation. fed from an aux send and equalizer - either outboard or ITB - so as to tailor the signal that hits the spring . and then the vortex output should feed another eq to feed the reverb back into the mix. with THAT set up u can really get in there and create specific characters for different purposes. you can make a vast and bassey booming atmosphere on a bass guitar or synth or vocal. or you can make a splashey little fat crack under a snare drum. or make a very fantastic-realistic room sound drum and bass section. or add a single magical distortion to a guitar.
the spring tank is mounted out of the chassis. so as to ‘ adjust ‘ it. place bits of soft cloth or sheepskin ontop the springs to damp the reverb time down. then drive the spring a bit harder .. and wow. its pretty much there into lee perry land. some smart tweaking on the send and return eqs . to clean and refine the energies and wow wow its amazing. the kind of depth and delicious fullness of a fat refined reverb can do. yummy experimentation.
the vortex also features a very beaut switched internal speaker. the function is there partly to test the signal that is hitting the spring. check for too much level - distortion - and the signal’s balance. very useful for getting the verb sound clean of noises or too much bottom end. or whatever. the spring is very sensitive to it.
because the speaker and amp is EF86. EL84 A-class hi fi and pretty fat sounding for its size – u can use the vortex as an auxillary mini monitor. it is definitely good enough to be your ‘radio sound’. the speaker has a clear valvey tone that can fill a room. the speaker has a pretty fat bottom end.
price is 1450nz$ . inclusive of gst (in NZ)
there’s an iceypole’s chance in hell - that software emulations can build that organic authentic sound – that feels so alive – like this real electromechanical device.
mind altering breakaway holiday? no freaking way. the wiring is set and a power supply is made and its been running perfectly hot! . after sorting a couple of easy sorted errs. (its kind of difficult thing to photograph cos it lies on it’s side. spooning). really does work well tho. set to try it out in karaoke session with the family over next few days. the mic amp sound is so fat and quiet with mountain ranges of gain. the eq with its new backwards and flipped out order is richer and precise and more equalizer power full. ….. and YEP i have indeed made a most awesome karoke mixer . hooked up my old grampian spring reverb to the cats fx send and return, and wow. so good. theres at least a couple of jammed albums in this rig .