Jump to content

Old desk and amp


c.cam108

Recommended Posts

Those sockets drilled for the multis in that MM mixer certainly are an addition. I had, a long, long time ago, the 12/4 version of that desk. All unbalanced inputs and outputs. All individual PCBs per channel inside that mixer, have to spend a lot of dosh to get that luxury these days, especially noteworthy as MM kit was (back in the day) "cheap" stuff. The connector on the multi is still available from RS, but they come as a series of sub-assemblies; the plastic bit (green, not black like in your photo) with the pins or holes in it, a hood for cable ends, and a clip thing like you can see in your photo to stop the mated connector from falling out. Optional!

 

As for the Millbank, a venue I used to use had this exact same animal in it for a PA. Stranger, I picked up the slave version just last year for my stage relay rack, off the local equivalent of fleabay (TradeMe). It was new old stock, sitting in some warehouse for 20 years! Heavy as hell, but is a solid reliable 100V line amp. Millbank has now been absorbed into a larger organisation, but still do some paging stuff.

 

Edited to add: when you run unbalanced signals in a multi, and particularly where one signal is an amplified version of another, you need to sue separate multicores, otherwise the whole thing goes into ultrasonic oscillation, and then your horns depart the planet with unbelievable urgency. You learn those sorts of things the hard way when you are young...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, the guys are right, added on top due to no room on back. Still usable if only for training young people in the basics.

The Millbanks were used by us, GEC Reliance back then, in hotel room call and factory PA systems etc. solid, reliable, low maintenance gear. Why does everything today last a gnats lifetime?

 

I would keep looking if I were you Colin, Lord Lucan is probably in there ... playing a plastic bodied Hagstrom!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nah trust me this is the last of it. I've personally been in every inch of the church and haven't spotted anything else.

 

Building was built mid-70s so I'm guessing this is all the first PA system. The Millbank was still in service feeding a speaker in the foyer up until about 4 years ago.

 

If I've got my timeline right, that multicore was replaced with 8 ways of starquad cable wired to a stage box and separate points in parallel, along with a small-format desk of some sort that I can almost remember. Then added in the early 90s was 16 ways of Canford FST to a custom stage box and our Behringer 32ch desk that we still use.

 

All ripped out in around 2006 and replaced with a single 24:8 multi and a new rack for the amplifiers.

 

Just need to figure out when the Celestion SR1s were installed and that's me got the whole history I think.

 

Colin C

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was great lover of the MM kit. I had a really nice flight cased guitar amp. Must have been old because I remember it fitting in the back of a Vauxhall HB Viva estate! So that's mid-late 70s I guess? Original Carlsbro Fuzz box and Fender Strat. 100W. That mixer was in the same catalogue. I sold the combo to a student who plagued me about it in 2000 and it still worked really well. Back in the 70s, a combo in a flightcase was really unusual. One here!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had one of those MM desks on loan for a while when I started out. I then bought the slightly later MP180 and I'm still using it for the odd live gig. While they are noisier than most modern desks, they sound great and I'll bet that MM desk will still be working (or at least fixable) long after the Behringer dies.

 

James.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.