The console comes standard with connectors for 12 XLR mic inputs, 12 XLR line inputs (notated on the channel strip as the 'A' input), and 12 more mic and line inputs on 2 38 pin edac connectors. I decided that I would never use the 'B' inputs, so re-soldered the edge connectors to have an insert point before the fader. These would go to a normalled patchbay.
It sure was tight in there!
Power supply time. This whole unit pops right out, but is seriously heavy. See those big grey filter caps? I found a nice replacement which you can see in later pictures.
Console without the power supply section installed.
Here is a shot of some of the cleaning I did on the chassis. When I got the modules out, you could really smell the musty/dusty aroma. My lovely girlfriend helped me bring the frame outside to be blasted with a few cans of compressed air, brushed at with a new soft paintbrush (worked great to get rid of those nooks and crannies), and wiped down.
At this point, I noticed that the channel strip had been marked with a red pencil of some kind (wax?). I spent quite a while with an electric toothbrush on this section, but all of the red marks went away without a trace!! Hooray!
Unfortunately, I was going by hand for a little while before I discovered the wonders of the electric toothbrush... My finger was killing me after a couple of hours of this:
Now begins the process of re-assembling the console. I added a couple of modules and powered up, checking for any power supply failures. I got through the whole thing without a hitch!
Some tests to see if everything is running smoothly... I'm amazed how well this console performs. These guys knew what they were doing! Not sure if that 60hz bump is something I can fix, but it's so low that I can't hear it - so who cares! Rightmark measured the noise floor lower than -91db and I believe that this is way it was meant to run.
Problem solving time.
1) I found a couple of problems with the board as I was assembling it:
I replaced one of the switches in the white front panel switch banks. The cap wouldn't stay on, so I bought a couple of ward-beck switching modules and desoldered/removed one of the switches... operation was an amazing success!! I had to buy 4 modules with 8 switches on each for $50 on ebay, and only ended up using one switch! That's an expensive switch!
2) This one was my fault... I reassembled one of the switchbanks in the wrong spot... Swapped them, and everything was fine. Whew!
3) The Util meter was showing 10db less when monitoring specific sources. The problem ended up being a capacitor with a broken lead on one of the monitor modules. I was quite proud of myself for figuring out this one!
4) A couple of dirty switches can really mess you up. Luckily, a few on/off/on/off 's and everything is fine!
Here's the power supply reinstalled. You can see the big blue cans that I replaced the old grey caps with. You can also see the only evidence of my re-cap there at the top of the picture on the power-supply board. The recap process ended up being pretty easy. About 8 caps per module needed to be replaced and, let me tell you, a good quality de-soldering gun is a a necessity.
Everything installed, working on one of the previously mentioned problems.
Yes, I bought new screws... The old ones were dirty and just made the console look crappy. Finding black 440 flat-head screws wasn't too easy until I found a great website that has an unbelievable amount of hardware for sale. A couple of weeks later, I had my beautiful new screws.
Edac time! My first time working with these and it went pretty well! I bought an 80 foot 12 channel snake and cut it into 4 lengths of 20'. 1 for line in A, 1 for mic in A. Then one each for the insert in and insert out.
and.... TADAA!! Finished!
but it looks the same as when I started to you!
Trust me, though. The difference is excellent! Everything is beautiful and clean. I went top to bottom on this thing and couldn't be happier with the result. Minus a few scratches, the thing looks pretty darn close to new!
So that's it! All finished!
Though this is the first console that I have restored, I have to say, wow! The build quality on this thing is excellent. Apparently these went for somewhere in the 50k range (not sure where I heard that actually) when they were new and you can tell. Everything is very heavy-duty. To think that this thing is older than I am but is still this functional is incredible to me.
Thanks for the read! If you have any questions about my journey, feel free to post or pm me!
Thanks to all of the kind words from my fellow gearslutz in the original thread. More to come!
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