First there was Jack White pushing record companies to build vinyl record pressing plants to address the shortages.
Now Western Electric in the US is working to bring vacuum tube production back to the US to address the guitar tube amp shortage caused by the situation in Russia.
Now I just need some good news about tape.
I realize it’s probably just because I’m getting old and nostalgic, but man the survival of this tech makes me happy.
I’ve said it here on numerous occasions but I like the idea of a world that doesn’t scrap old technology to make way for the new. I want a Syd Mead-like retrofuture.
Japan is actually pretty great about keeping old tech around, perhaps one of the reasons I like living here. In fact, I just met a local guitar tech that is doing some work for me, and he was encouraging me to do regular maintenance on my old Fender Vibrochamp from the 70s saying that a lot of people like him here in Japan really want to keep these old instruments from dying out. He said he thinks that if properly maintained that amp could last 100 years, unlike new electronics that are made to last only a few years.
I’ve thought about this a lot and it strikes me that the difference between old tech and new tech is frequently that we’re not comparing like for like.
It’s easy to say that old gear will outlast new gear because it’s a higher quality, but the old gear that is affordable now was lightyears beyond the reach of most musicians at the time of launch. Something like my Akai CD3000XL is circa £200 secondhand but at the time of release it was thousands. Something new costing several hundred now isn’t going to be of the same build quality but if we’re not careful we fall into the trap of comparing professional equipment with consumer-level gear
Yeah, I’m entirely in agreement. Buying older, higher quality gear is definitely preferable to newer, lesser pieces IMO. Not all situations allow for it (70s pad controllers are scarce ) but I have a Roland PA-120 desk that is the most incredibly beautiful object, both literally and in audio terms. I would never wish to be parted from it and I can’t begin to imagine how much it would cost to get something anything like it new these days.
One other thing I’ve been thinking lately. There’s a huge push toward carbon neutrality now, with a shift away from petrochemicals and plastics.
I hope this leads to more products made from glass, wood, and metal. I realize weightsaving benefits are critical for a lot of stuff, but drinks in glass bottles are nice.
A lot of older tech was built to last, and to be repaired, I’d like to see a return to that. Most stuff built today is built to a price and with a short lifespan, a real shame.
I have gear that is from the 70’s and 80’s which is still useful today, still reliable and built to be fixed if needed. It is true that it was more expensive when new, but as mentioned a lot of older gear can still be found cheaply.
My System100m cost me less (allowing for inflation) than it would have cost new, as did my MS10, some tape machines and a few other bits and pieces I have.
The retro computer scene is also something which interests me, it is nice to see people using, restoring and maintaining older tech.
Good point. I think the most important thing is things that last. Soma’s approach to building things by hand in intense enclosures with rigorous testing, so that they outlive you, is super refreshing in 2022.
You can see what from the 80’s and 90’s (or earlier) is still reparable and operable today, and you can read it through to today’s products to guess what will last.
In many ways we are at the mercy of big tech for the macro trends I suppose.
I saw a funny bit on one of the US comedy programs this week where they were laying into the tech industry for unilaterally deciding that the future that they should invest in and develop is one where we all live in the metaverse. There was a great line that was something like “Sorry grandma, but you’re going to have to live in the computer now”. Made me chuckle.
Good skills in the EU for blocking that mega data center project. Maybe we won’t have to live in the computer.
I saw a story recently that “dumbphones” are becoming popular again, with young people.
It is difficult to not appear like a nostalgic old fart luddite when talking about stuff like this, but I think there is far more to it than that. Technology can be great, Technopoly though can SMD
As far as reel to reel, the technology is easy enough, and modern technology makes it doable as a boutique sort of thing. There will probably always be one or two people / small companies making new equipment.
And then you have something like the new SSL Big Six, costing thousands, which on release proved to be made like something costing hundreds (crap switching PSU, noise issues etc).
Modern tech is complete shite and it’s due to manufacturing having been moved to cheaper and cheaper locations to boost profits for the boys at the top.
I open everything in my studio to see what’s inside and whether it needs attention. Quality has dropped dramatically in the last 20 years. I can compare two Soundcraft mixers i’ve had recently. The one from the 90s was far better constructed than the one from the 2010s and i would wager could easily last decades beyond the more recent one.
It’s fuelled by two things which are interrelated IMO: first being conglomeration and diminution of separate competing companies into single umbrella corps, and secondly a race to the bottom on price, lead by the bean counters who just want to trade off the reputation of the company they bought but without maintaining the standards. This leads to the idea that you just have to sell more, cheaper, to more people to increase profit, allowing throw-away replaceability of things which are not easily decomposed. Thus you end up with this:
Also surface mount is the devil’s own format, may it burn in hellfire for eternity.
This. Whilst affordable gear is important, a lot of emphasis is placed on buying new rather than used, it somewhat saddens me that many young people are so conditioned to buying new stuff, that the old find something cheap and build a new scene around that is a thing of the past. Probably (AFAIK) the last example of that was the chiptune scene, around the early 2000’s, I hope I am wrong but it seems young people now are too beholden to corporate tech and social media.
Everyone who knows Soundgas is well aware of their penchant for expensive, rare gear so it was great to see him talking with so much enthusiasm about random, cheap old things that are great & great fun.
In most dystopian movies, no matter how badly things turn out for the earth, technological advances seem to continue, unabated. Hollywood is better at selling CGI brain-candy than telling realistic stories. And there is the capitalist propaganda that technology will always improve, always find a solution to our problems. All we need to do is acquiesce to the plans of a few rich guys.
) but I have a Roland PA-120 desk that is the most incredibly beautiful object, both literally and in audio terms. I would never wish to be parted from it and I can’t begin to imagine how much it would cost to get something anything like it new these days.
