Joe Meeks equipment

G

Good Friend

New member
Does anyone know what type of recorder and preamps Joe Meek used on his recordings? I know he had some hand built stuff. Was he using condensers or all ribbon/dynamics? I know people would say that his stuff is lofi but he had some really punchy sounds that i love. Any info would be appreciated.
 
Good Friend said:
Does anyone know what type of recorder and preamps Joe Meek used on his recordings? I know he had some hand built stuff. Was he using condensers or all ribbon/dynamics? I know people would say that his stuff is lofi but he had some really punchy sounds that i love. Any info would be appreciated.
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Joe was using a Lyrec two track. A couple of them in fact. He had a bunch of Neumann mics, old Fairchild compressors, and ha bunch of his own stuff he put together. He was into a lot of compression and that was what made verything punchy. You knew when a Joe Meek tune was on the radio...It was much louder than anything else....
 
oh man

I thought he was doing it low budget style all this time.. turns out he was a spoiled rich bitch just like everyone else! How much are fairchild going for these days? 20 grand for a good one? oh great. I thought he was using all shit mics!! Well screw him then. Thats too funny. I guess the joke is on me!
 
I don't think Joe Meek was paying anything close to $20k for a Fairchild back in the 60's. I would be surprised if they topped $500 at the time.

He wasn't now "rich kid" spending Daddy's money on recording.
 
Another thing, back in the 50's and 60's when he was recording, there really wasn't that much gear available for audio recording! There were VERY few compressors on the market, parametric EQ hadn't even been invented yet! (George Massenburg present his first paper on that in 1972 but the first eq had been incorporated into a one of a kind console built in 1969).

The equipment available, and techniques that we take for granted today were not available in Joe Meeks time. He was indeed ahead of his time, but, mostly, he just innovated very "common" techniques by todays standards. At the time he was recording, some of this "common" technique stuff was VERY radical! Audio Engineers back then wore white lab coats! LOL The techniques were very established, and it was very uncommon for an artist to have ANY input into how the band was recorded! Even "producers" had little input into how the record was recorded during his time.

Do try to learn something about the history of a person before you go giving out labels that don't fit. It is very unbecoming. You could insinuate a LOT of negative things about Joe Meek, but your insinuation of him being a "spoiled rich bitch just like everyone else" is pretty far off that mark! It is doubtful that you will EVER work as hard in audio as he did, nor come even close to being innovative like he was!

The joke isn't "on you", YOU ARE the joke here. ;)
 
Good Friend said:
I thought he was doing it low budget style all this time.. turns out he was a spoiled rich bitch just like everyone else! How much are fairchild going for these days? 20 grand for a good one? oh great. I thought he was using all shit mics!! Well screw him then. Thats too funny. I guess the joke is on me!
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You're kidding, right? :rolleyes:
 
Calm down

Hey listen dumbfuck, im joking around. Ive learned pissloads of joe meeks tunes (well the ones he produced) inside and out on all instruments. Do you know what "inside and out" means when it comes to learning songs? It doesnt mean looking up the tab or visiting guitar centers tab section. It means sitting and listening 300 times and learning not only what chords/melodies are present, but what inversions, voicings, and musical devices are being used. Have you sat and learned even one tune in that manner let alone the tunes Joe meek worked on (produced)? I bet you wouldnt even know what sequential modulation was if i asked you. And yet, you say i am the joke... mind your own business and take that stupid cartoon picture off your profile its cheesy.
 
Good Friend said:
Hey listen dumbfuck, im joking around. Ive learned pissloads of joe meeks tunes (well the ones he produced) inside and out on all instruments. Do you know what "inside and out" means when it comes to learning songs? It doesnt mean looking up the tab or visiting guitar centers tab section. It means sitting and listening 300 times and learning not only what chords/melodies are present, but what inversions, voicings, and musical devices are being used. Have you sat and learned even one tune in that manner let alone the tunes Joe meek worked on (produced)? I bet you wouldnt even know what sequential modulation was if i asked you. And yet, you say i am the joke... mind your own business and take that stupid cartoon picture off your profile its cheesy.
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Haha...yup, you ARE the joke!

Look at the PM this moron sent me!

Good Friend said:
Dude you can barely play so i dont want to hear any shit out of you ok. I went to your site and listened to your garbage and its a bunch of fucking no name no charisma crap that any fucking dad could make in an afternoon. Its people like you that make me sad to be a musician. Because when people see you and hear you they lump me in the same category just because we both play instuments and id almost rather be dead then be considered at all like you. For you music is a stupid way to hang on to some part of your youth or identity and you have zero skill and zero know how of how to make a song work structurally, harmonically, lyrically, or melodically. So dont be so proud of yourself cruising around telling ME about joe meek. I fucking live it every day from down in the dirt. I dont sit around playing van halen tunes that i got laid to during high school. Never comment on my comments ever again until you can play one goddamn inspired note.
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He is so fucking dumb, he has NO idea that I hardly play ANY songs that I have listed on my website. It is OBVIOUS he only listened to a couple of tunes too. LOL

What a dumbazz!

Have you guys ever noticed how it is usually only dumbfucks who DON'T post any links to their work that shout the most about other peoples work? Indeed, we would find that if "Good Friend" ever posted some material, there is about a 95% chance that it is lame!!!
 
Good Friend said:
Hey listen dumbfuck, im joking around. Ive learned pissloads of joe meeks tunes (well the ones he produced) inside and out on all instruments. Do you know what "inside and out" means when it comes to learning songs? It doesnt mean looking up the tab or visiting guitar centers tab section. It means sitting and listening 300 times and learning not only what chords/melodies are present, but what inversions, voicings, and musical devices are being used. Have you sat and learned even one tune in that manner let alone the tunes Joe meek worked on (produced)? I bet you wouldnt even know what sequential modulation was if i asked you. And yet, you say i am the joke... mind your own business and take that stupid cartoon picture off your profile its cheesy.
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Hi there. I've got a question about a song Joe Meek recorded and produced :

Have you worked on Telstar by the Tornadoes as one of the Joe Meek tunes you've learned? The reason I ask is because I've always wondered what the background instrument was, in the melodic guitar solos... it sort of sounds like a harp, or a guitar part that was played at one speed, then sped up twice as fast, so that it's still in the same key, but sounds like it's coming back an octave above normal, sort of like the Les Paul and Mary Ford recordings. Am I close?
 
joe meeks equipment

Good Friend said:
Does anyone know what type of recorder and preamps Joe Meek used on his recordings? I know he had some hand built stuff. Was he using condensers or all ribbon/dynamics? I know people would say that his stuff is lofi but he had some really punchy sounds that i love. Any info would be appreciated.
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hi
joe meek used an emi tr51 full track recorder an emi tr52 full track recorder a couple of vortexion four channel mixers these were all valve i know because i owned them in the 1970s he also used ampex recorders.
 
Something to read for anyone who is interested in Joe Meek: "Joe Meek's Bold Techniques" by Barry Cleveland (more technical stuff) and "The Legendary Joe Meek: The Telstar Man" by John Repsch (more personal stuff). My opinion is that Joe Meek was a genius.
 
The revision of a 6 year old thread, not the record sorry, but at least the revision raised an interesting discussion.

:eatpopcorn:
 
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