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[TotalSonic]

I'm not the seller and have nothing to do with this auction but it definitely might be of interest to other cutting system "train spotters" such as myself.

Apparently it's one of two hybrid Scully and Neumann cutting system (with Capps pitch/depth computer, modded Westrex head, Technics SP-02 motor, and custom Manley pre-amps and cutting amps) that David Manley put together for his ViTaL Record label's own short lived mastering studio.  

From the photos it's a real looker! ->

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=13030 5350786

Bidding's been a little crazy - 3 days to go and it's already above $16k with reserve not met.  I have a feeling the auction will end with it fetching well above general market prices (although a lot of vinyl mastering equipment has been selling recently a good bit above where prices were just a couple years ago).

Some interesting history/factoids on the cutting system are at http://www.gate.net/~vital/p37.htm

Anyone know the history of this lathe since the VTL Mastering Studios closed up shop in the mid 90's???

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[hnewman]

The seller cold called me the other day.  Didn't provide a lot of information, but sent me the same photos.

[TotalSonic]

hnewman wrote on Tue, 12 May 2009 21:48

The seller cold called me the other day.  Didn't provide a lot of information, but sent me the same photos.

Did they at least spill the beans how they ended up with it and why they're giving it up now?

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[hnewman]

Didn't give me any details, but this is who contacted me;
http://wattsmixers.com/
http://www.myspace.com/charliewatts57

(can't see the harm in posting this, he cold called me, and was happy to have me pass on his information to any interested party.)

[tom eaton]

He mastered Rumours.  Yes, that Rumours.

Been around a while.

t

[bigaudioblowhard]

DELETE

(I was gonna say something smart, funny and pertinent, but realized it was neither)

bab

[dcollins]

bigaudioblowhard wrote on Tue, 12 May 2009 20:16

DELETE (I was gonna say something smart, funny and pertinent, but realized it was neither) bab

That you actually mastered Rumors?


DC

[jason goz]

I would not risk it,Even if i was in the US,Getting this baby repaired would be a nightmare Ok Manley are happy to service the amps but how long will this take?.This lathe is for trainspotters only.We use a VMS70 which i have plenty of spares for and if it goes bang at 2am as murphys law dictates,then i or one of my friends who have similar systems will have a spare part or know where to get one from.

[dietrich]

As I posted on another sight with same topic I could see the allure of grabbing the technics motor off this and using on your own neumann while pieced back original scully motor/turntable etc.

[Gold]

Jason Goz wrote on Wed, 13 May 2009 08:17

This lathe is for trainspotters only.

Yes sir. It's possible it sounds better than a stock Neumann of some vintage. I can't imagine that Capps computer packs grooves tighter than a zuma or VMS80. Sure looks nice. No pictures of the amps.

If you were on the west coast and had access to the people who did the mods it might be okay. It looks like there was a lot of custom machining. What's up with the spring in front of the cutterhead? I hope someone knows what that is and can get more. I'm sure that's just the tip of the iceberg.

[TotalSonic]

Going from Charlie Watts' MySpace pages - I think a pic of the Ortofon hi-freq limiter and Manley amps is here:



Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Gold]

Oh. That's an Ortofon transfer console. I had one. It came with the first lathe I had. I sold it as soon as I was able to. I never ran audio through it that wasn't being cut. Me no like. It sounded like a bad early transistor design. I was told that the JS transformers weren't of the highest quality either. It looks like they used the DBX902's as HF limiters. To each his own...

[bigaudioblowhard]

dietrich wrote on Wed, 13 May 2009 20:35

As I posted on another sight with same topic I could see the allure of grabbing the technics motor off this and using on your own neumann while pieced back original scully motor/turntable etc.

that motor is that good?


bab

[TotalSonic]

Gold wrote on Thu, 14 May 2009 18:54

Oh. That's an Ortofon transfer console. I had one.

ok - my bad - I've never seen any of the Ortofon equipment in person so I was guessing what it did based on the auction's description.  Found a nice page with more info on the Ortofon CPS-741 "correction amplifier" at http://www.etec.dk/correction-amplifier.html

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[TotalSonic]

For those curious - ending bid was $20,001.40 - but reserve was not met.  It will be interesting to see if this comes back up for auction.  Personally I think the seller should take the cash and be happy he did as well as he did.

Best regards,
Steve Berson