Custom Tube Preamps from Ampex 601 electronics sections
I worked primarily on small signal tube electronics:
original designs, clones, mods, and repairs. I have worked on Ampex,
Altec, Bogen, Gates, Heathkit, Dynaco, Telefunken, RCA, Klangfilm, and
more.
For the 600 series transports, professional help is too expensive for
what they are (IMHO.) Click for DIY info on
the Ampex 600 series.
I
am retired and no longer doing electronics work.
I still offer the Rack
ear kits for the Ampex 600, 601, and 602
These pages are intended to be part display and part owner's manual for the the buyers of these units and others which are similar. I have chosen a few units to represent the 3 basic models I made from the Ampex 601 electronics: (1) Single channel microphone preamp, (2) Dual Mono microphone preamp, and (3) The LAmpex. The features and design of these units represent years of experimenting and refinement.
Ampex 601 single channel
with Altec 15095 and custom enclosure
Single channel with Ha-100x and dual OPT (high
end)
Rack mount Ampex 601 Dual Mono
w/ Altec 15095s and all controls and I/O on the front
The legendary producer Jack
Douglas bought several units from me. He was kind enough to
write this review for me.
Jack's units can be seen in the August
2012 Mix magazine article on Aerosmith. They are barely visible in his
personal racks.
Even though I am no longer in business, gratitude and pride prevent me from omitting Mr. Douglas' comments
|
. I recently added two pieces of gear to the racks in my studio. They are both based around the Ampex 601 electronics from the 1950's. The first is a dual mic pre and the other a single mic pre with an internal LA2A. They were both created, rebuilt and modified by Jim Miller at his shop in Texas. I have had a chance to use them now long enough to rate them. The mic pre LA2A combo or "LAMPEX", as Jim has coined it, is very sweet. The pre is fat and smooth with just the right kind of color you would expect from these tubes and transformers and the LA2A sounds as close as anything has come to the original "Tele". This unit has become my "go to " on vocals and
is great on whatever I plug on the front end, whether it's an
old ribbon, a 251, an 87, 47 or SM7. The dual mic pre's, that
have so many features I can't get into them all, live on the
67's I use for drum overheads and I have never had a better
sound. They would work wonders for any source but during
tracking I can't think of anything bigger sounding on drums.
While these beauties can never be commercially available (the
hardware just doesn't exist) if you can find an old 601 out
there I strongly suggest you grab it, pull the electronics out
and send them to Jim to work his magic on. |
DIY info for the Ampex 600 series
Guide to using Ampex electronics
as microphone / line preamps
