Marvel

I don't know really. I could ask him sometime when I am in there... which isn't too often. I'm still using an ADAT [*-)]

MOTU = Mark of the Unicorn Started out as equipment dedicated to Mac users. They have have had windows drivers for the interfaces, but the support for them was almost nonexistent. The A/D convertors are really pretty sweet sounding. I know a dealer who refuses to sell MOTU gear to folks who have Windows systems becasue he knows he will probably get the gear back or get complaints about it. Attatched is pic of one of their firewire interfaces.

It's keeping me in stitches... One of the reasons I built my DHA2 crossovers was their ability to work well with my 2A3 amps.

Cubase rocks! I've been a big fan for a long time (the full version). Pro Tools has always be so tied to theier own hardware, you really had to buy into the whole system. MOTU stuff has beeen quirky to get to work on some Windows based systems... but when it woks right, it is great stuff.

Bill, I picked up a Tascam US-122L last Spring. Two mic pres and line inputs, and Cubase LE. It works ok. I think the M-Audio stuff is pretty good, too. I have an older M-Audio card in one of my desktops and it is very sweet. No hash from the computer, even though it is an internal card. I haven't been looking lately or keeping up with it. We have a small Lexicon at school, that one of the music profs uses (Cubase LE with it as well). A lot of people like the M-box stuff. I just haven't spent the time I wanted on recording. Bruce

Mark, I have two of the Alesis amps, and use one in my rack of recording gear. Yeah, the amps have a ridiculously low input impedance. I originally tried it when I first got the LaScalas, and had the Merlin back in the living room. Just didn't work well, for the above stated reasons. I was using the Merlin with the Moondogs, and it a a beautiful match. I bought Cullison's BBX back in the summer, but had trouble with the 6922 being noisy and oscillating. Finally got around to getting some EH 6922s and the don't cause near the problem. A little noisy (hiss), but I can't hear it from my chair. So I have the BBX in the mix and decided to try it again with the Alesis amp. I didn't even try it straight into the Alesis, but first used the Tascam deck and then the Alesis compressor (again, I will point out that it was in bypass so I am not compressing the signal any). It works great. Bruce

I certainly don't want to steal any thunder, but... A bunch of you folk know that my wife died of melanoma in 2005. Folks on this forum (you know who you are), chipped in and bought me a Merlin tube preamp from Mark, and sent it to me and Barbara. I had it set up in the bedroom, with a modded Dynaco ST-70 and Heresy IIS. Through all of the treatments she went though, being in bed, fading away until she was gone... we had a beautiful system in place, with music to comfort, sooth and take her wherever she wanted to be. God knows we wanted a different outcome, but everyone here was super, and the best support you could want. It is what keeps me coming back, a family that is beyond compare. Any word of thanks just seems shallow, but it is sincere and from the deepest part of me. Thanksgiving of 2005 was just about the last coherent time we had together, as we moved on to Christmas. Thanks to all...you are awesome. Thanks Christy. Bruce ps Bob's tweeters ARE wonderful!

I know we have talked about this before, and thought I would bring it up again to hear what others have done to solve the problem. I had tried using my Merlin with a SS amp, but found almost NO bass. Even the LaScalas have more bass than what I was hearing.The SS amp I was using (Alesis RA-100) only has a 7k input impedance. Mark Deneen pointed out that the higher output impedance of the Merlin tube pre was causing the two to make a filter that was rolling off the bass. I had the tube amps here, so just put them back in the system. So what solution is there? Some have used the little impedance matching buffer boxes that are available. I think ART has one (the names are escaping me at the moment). ROLLS has a quad direct box with a 100k input impedance that might work. But that means spending more money. I checked out some transformers from Jensen, which would also do the trick, and add no more electronic noise to the mix. But the Jensens aren't cheap either. So... for a while I have had the BBX in the system (nice to be able to listen to the old vinyl again). I started thinking about the SS amp once more. Still have the same problem though. I am trying to think of what I could use to match the impedance without buying something new. Well, most of the other SS equipment I have has a higher input impedance than the Alesis. I grabbed my Tascam cassette deck (50k input), put it in between and lo and behold, I still have bass with the SS amp. But it is big and I need to leave a tape in it to pass the signal through. So I grabbed my 1U high compressor out of the rack and put it in. Made sure it was in bypass mode, and it is working great. Now I also have meters that I can watch from across the room, too. With the Alesis working at 75 wpc into the LS, it doesn't even begin to warm up. Maybe with winter coming I should put the tubes back in place! It's a nice switch, at least for a while. I will stick the Moondogs back in the bedroom on the Heresies for now. Bruce

Well, it could be a holyday, since there are many Holydays celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church. We have mostly secularized it here by changing it to holiday, although the celebration that we call Easter would be called a holyday here by Catholic/Orthodox/Episcopal/Lutheran and many other denominations. Some things in the culture just don't change, or aren't as recognizable when you are dealing cross culturally. Kinda cracks me up too. Beautiful work on the horns. Bruce

I guess we all like our own poison. I Have heard both the originals and the HIIs. I own the HIIs (they were a gift from my son) and like them much more than the ones with the K55 mid driver. To me, and it is just my personal opinion, they are much more tonally balanced. I have thought that the K55 in the original Heresy brought the midrange a bit too forward. Since they weren't mine, I couldn't lower the mid output to see if I could get a more even sound.

A very amazing performer! I've seen him live, also, in a small venue here in Chattanooga. The guy is incredible...

In reality, you can switch between fretting and slide, doing amazing things on a regular guitar. But a lap steel can be pretty darn cool, too. David Lindley plays pretty mean lap steel. I am way out of practice, and my own playing would be a poor example, but I love the instrument, as well as its acoustic cousin the dobro.

Why not, Jeff Healey plays a regular guitar like a lap steel. For one, most lap steels don't have actual frets, only fret markers. Second, the strings on a lap steel are 3/8 to 1/2 inch off the fret board. It is far different playing slide on a regular guitar. A pic of mine is attached (a 1940s Kalamazoo, a Gibson Co.).

Weird album cover, as he is holding a doubleneck lap steel like a regular guitar. Bruce

Nicely done. The K-77s were originally mounted from the back of the cabinet. My tweeters are still mounted that way, although I have swapped them for some of Bob's tweeters. To mount the K-77s on the front, one has to take the assembly apart and feed the back of the horn through the hole and reassemble. A small bit of work on the hole is also required so that the back of the horn flange will fit. Although many have moved them, you risk damaging the driver (not getting the diaphragm back in correctly or damaging it). Bruce

Oh yeah, OB. The newish album by Steve Stills is great too. Love it.

"How Long" has been released to country stations and is in regular rotation here, and played at a station that just despises the Dixie Chicks and refuses to play them. Great song, and I've read it is the most country song on the album. Still looking forward to getting the CDs myself. I'm certainly not tired of the Eagles, but I really don't listen to music on the radio that much except oldies (like Bach, Mozart, Hayden, etc.). Bruce

If they don't need Pro Tools, I would get a small Mackie interface and Tracktion. It is inexpensive comes with certain Mackie products, and is a breeze to use, while still having a very, very good mix engine. Everything stays on one screen. You can download it and try it, too. Bruce

That's a good one... Seriously though, when I bought his replacement tweeters, it didn't take ten minutes to swap them out of both of my LaScalas. It may take you a little longer than five minutes, but it is still an easy task. Bob can sell you the diaphragms, but you need to email him or send a PM. Bruce

I feel your pain. I still have my Teac 4311 that I bought new in 1972 (1/4 track stereo, 4 track record/playback). It is all pushbutton and solenoid operated, The grease in one of the solenoids dried out and it would not operate correctly. I used some solvent on it and re-lubed it, and it works fine. Haven't gotten the pinch roller replaced, but it is hard as a rock. Amazingly, it still works pretty well. Some of the switches for source/tape, etc. are a bit dirty and could use celaning, but I usually just flips them back and forth a couple of times and I'm good to go. I also got a Pioneer RT 707, which only takes the 7 inch reels. It was given to me a couple of years ago. Built like a tank, too. Bruce

ditto what speakerfritz said... [Y] Most of the XLRs I have seen have the numbers on the plastic insert, but they are sometimes hard to see. I used to wire up microphone cables all the time, and made a little jig to hold the connector in place while I did my soldering. Even if you only do a few, it saves a lot of headaches.

Richard, You want to cut the one on pin 3, NOT the sheath or screen on pin 1. Pin 1 is the ground. It shouldn't matter leaving the extra wire in the cable and snipping at the xlr end. Will it act like an antenna? Maybe, maybe not. Look under two channel at my recent post on connector pinouts. The 6th item down is what you are showing. I thought this document might be a good reference for folks. Bruce

The Taylors are nice. I personally like the older ones where the neck doesn't have the finger joint between the peghead and neck. This is a shot of me and my '91 812C. Sweet guitar. Bruce

Craig, Totally computer generated... purty cool! Where ya been? Bruce

Just as a point of clarification, phono and rca connectors are the same. The 1/4 inch are phone plugs, and a slightly differrent version of what was once used in telephone patch bays, when operators would manually connect you to the correct circuit. [:#]