Friday Studio artifact quiz!

[Bob Womack]

Okay, I'm going to post a pic of an "artifact" from a piece of studio equipment. Those who have been in a studio may recognize it. Some may get a memory tweak.

I've attached a pic of your artifact, at pretty much full size:

Here are three hints:
1. The device debuted in 1976 (!), making it thirty years old, and this artifact is from the earliest examples of the device.
2. Many modern high-end studios still have an example of the device from which this artifact came.
3. An industry has sprung up reconditioning these devices and creating mods that push their performance to new levels.


I'll give you a little while to scratch your heads and then I'll tell you a little story about it.

Enjoy, I think...

Bob

[spkrman57]

Counter balance for reel to reel decks?

Ron

[Zilch]

A speed-stabilizing flywheel-thingy.

[Bob Womack]

Good tries!

Okay, what have we got?

It is the cueing knob from an Ampex ATR-100 analog tape deck, the most popular tape deck of all time.

Pictured below on the left are a couple of ATRs I worked on. See the cueing knob recessed in the head cover? The other beast is an Ampex MM1200.

The ATR was the first all-servo tape deck, meaning it did away with the heavy AC induction motors on the supply and takeup turntables for the tape reels. As a result of its unique design, it is the most stable tape transport in history. Many studios either still have or recently have purchased ATR-100s. They are highly sought after. After the Ampex company folded, several rebuilding, refurbishing, and improving these machines. As a result, you can now buy refurbed and refitted machines that look and perform better than the day they were built. They are found in the best studios and mastering rooms.

My company bought eleven of these machines, two of them the first year they were out. I spent many hours editing and recording on them in the fifteen years from 1981 to 1996. When we made the jump to digital, I found a refurb house, ATR Services, that wanted to buy all of our decks. We crated them up and they have served other houses ever since. Because I loved these decks so much, I recently got in touch with the outfit that bought all of ours and asked how I could get my hands on one of the cueing knobs for old times sake. They were kind enough to send me a knob from the first two years of production. Who knows? Maybe it was on of the units I sent them.

There's a humorous story about one of the 100s from my history, pictured below, HERE.

You can see a couple of the refurbishing companies HERE and HERE.

Bob

[Ken Pachkowsky]

Can anyone say Ampex ATR

Ken

[Ken Pachkowsky]

Good tries!

Okay, what have we got?

It is the cueing knob from an Ampex ATR-100 analog tape deck, the most popular tape deck of all time.

BOB! Ya beat me to it!!! Ya posted just before I answered it...haha

Patience Bud

Ken

[Ken Pachkowsky]

If you ever get a chance to hear Ron Pailey's album "Boxton" 3 tracks on it were recorded direct to an ATR 100 through a Nieve consol. Glen Axford and Howard Riessen engineered the project. It is still one of the finest recordings I have ever heard. Talk about dynamics.....simply unreal.

PS: Was done at Rhode Studio's (unfortunately long gone).

Ken

[spkrman57]

I enjoyed reading about the tape reel flying around the room at warp speed!

It must have been one hell of a sight to behold!!!!

Ron

[Bob Womack]

If you ever get a chance to hear Ron Pailey's album "Boxton" 3 tracks on it were recorded direct to an ATR 100 through a Nieve consol....

Patience Bud ....

Ken

Now I wish I had held out just a wee longer...
I haven't heard Ron's album, but I must. I had the good fortune to work on that same combination (Neve 8028s and 8024 and ATR 100) for several years and got some really nice results.

Bob

[LowPhreak]

3. An industry has sprung up reconditioning these devices and creating mods that push their performance to new levels.

A whole cottage industry sprung up? Wow, they must have been some popular projectiles!