JBL at 1969 Woodstock

[Charley Rummel]

Hi, All:

We know JBL was at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. Does anyone know what composed the PA system at Woodstock? I've heard many stories - conflicting - about the setup; what was there?

Regards,
Charley

[JohnK]

I am currently researching this one for a
magazine article I am writing on the subject of historic sound systems. I will suppy details as they are assembled.

[JohnK]

Some information about Woodstock:

Power amplifiers Mcintosh MI350 x10 Tube Amps, underneath the stage.

Mixers Shure AM-16 (imagine that!)
Langevin Graphic Eq

Speakers: JBL 15" D130's Musical Instrument Speakers x 4 per Cabinet (custom cabs). 2 ? per tower.
HF horns Altec 203 2 cell, not sure of driver yet.

Near field stage - in front of towers: Linear Array (columns) of D130's & Altec 203's

Microphones: Shure 545, 556

Mixing "console" was 75' stage left. Within ear/eye shot of stage
because of no rehearsal or sound check.

This was designed to be adequate for 100,000 attendees. However it was reported to be upwards of 500,000. But, as long as you were in the "V" in the bowl, the sound was good and nobody complained!

Hard to believe that this was 35 years ago.

[Oldmics]

I know that LA-2 limiting amplifiers were used.There was an article that was really in depth about the system in one of the trade rags a few years ago.I can"t seem to find it now.I will look for it over the winter when I get some time.

Oldmics

[CONVERGENCE]

There's been new information since this publication.

Starting at the beginning.

It was a 3 way split system.

One split for FOH
ONe split for recording truck
One split for stage monitors

Therefore 3 mixers were
needed

The FOH system was 4 Shure SM67 each one had an EQ Sm 63 .

Each Shure mixer was connected to a modified
Altec 1567A mixer master out . Between the Shures and the Altec 4 LA2A compressors .


The recording truck had a mixer board with sliding FADERS EQ compression on each chanel master out connected to 2 Scully 8 track recorder


The Stage monitors had the same set up as FOH .


Bill designed and built his own speaker cabinets of marine plywood. Two "bass bins" were placed under a pair of high frequency horns, totalling about a thousand pounds and standing roughly 6 feet tall, 4 feet deep, and 7 feet wide.Each of the four upper level bins was loaded with four 15-inch JBL D130 drivers with a loudness maximizer compressing the sound to improve reach. Each of the four lower bins was loaded with four 15-inch JBL D140 drivers for extended bass. The high frequencies were handled by model 1003B, 5x2 Altec multicell horns (300Hz. min freq) and Bill's own custom built 2x2 horns, all with Altec 290 compression drivers".

[Mike Caldwell]

Here's some more info.

https://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,177294.0.html

https://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,177632.0.html (https://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,177294.0.html)

https://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,177294.0.html

[spkrman57]

I wish I was old enough to go!

I was 12 in 1969.

Regards, Ron

[BMWCCA]

I wish I was old enough to go!

I was 12 in 1969.I was 16, and this is all I have to show for my being there:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48427328222_fdd16fa21c_n.jpg

[DerekTheGreat]

I was 16, and this is all I have to show for my being there:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48427328222_fdd16fa21c_n.jpg

Wow, that's amazing you still have your ticket. My dad was 11. What do you remember about the show, the people and the sound?? Did you stay all three days?

[jblguy]

I was 16, and this is all I have to show for my being there:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48427328222_fdd16fa21c_n.jpg
Very cool.

[rusty jefferson]

That's a great memento. Consider putting it in a small frame for family posterity. Your grandkids may not want your JBL collection but one would make room for that on a bookshelf. Only 47 years to the centennial. :) "...yeah, my grandfather went to Woodstock..."