A newbie who is just looking for a lot of advice

M

me51ome

New member
Good morning all,

I have joined this forum to get advice on testing a lot of old audio equipment my kids have inherited.

If possible i would like to sell it, although this may prove unmanageable. I have potential options to test it all somehow, sell it as a job lot or donate it to some "charitable" cause...
The type of equipment I know is here are many Celestion speaker cabs, a mixing desk, a selection of citric mixing decks (?) and various slot in deck type things which i would have to investigate further.

Could anyone help me out with a few tips to get going? I am literally a complete newbie to any of this type of equipment, though I did once do a project on musical effects of digital signal processors in my uni days, so theoretically I could build up some of that none knowledge. The truth is I dont really have much time to do any of this and there is a whole house clearance needs to go on around it too, so it may take me a long time, or I may just opt for the bulk passing it on somehow.

So, basically over to you all to see if anyone can point me in any direction... send me to another section of the forum to post on... etc. I can provide more details of stuff if I decide to test stuff..

Thanking everyone in advance for their time, looking over forums like this.

Thanks, L
 
Bird Garden Audio said:
As you are not planning on keeping/using anything, the first thing I would do is separate the equipment based on it's potential value.
To do this you need to identify exactly what you have. Top manufacturer names like Neve, API, SSL, URIE are all highly desired and will have a premium value on the used market (if they are in working order). Chinese made products have much less value.
If you need help identifying anything, upload pictures here and we can help out. Or you can internet search the names and models online using a site like reveb.com who specialize in used and new audio equipment. It could give you an idea of price.

If you don't know what you are doing it may not be practical to test some of the equipment.
Obvious pieces like speakers can be tested by plugging in a playback device like a CD player or even from your soundcard in your computer. Testing if the compression circuit and gain reduction meter is working correctly in an outboard piece of hardware may be beyond your level.
The same goes for the mixing desks. You would need to check every channel, fader, pot, preamp, input/output, meters, onboard effects and power supply is behaving how they should. Make sure you are careful when working with electrical equipment and don't use anything with corroded/damaged cables or connections!

There is a market for used audio equipment, especially vintage American or European made. You could have one or two items that may be of high value but then again you could have a load of stuff no one wants. Start with the ID of each piece and go from there.
Click to expand...
thanks for that. it should get me started ok. I would love to spend more time on it as I did electronics way back in distant past but I know time is a premium for me with this now, so it's not really that practical. I will take your advice and work through what is here and the suggestion you have made, and come back for more advice if I need it. That was very useful. thank-you very much for your time,

Lizzie
 
Hi Lizzie, the very first thing to be done with any mains powered equipment is to get it checked on a PAT rig. If there is a lot of it and you intend to sell the gear the only economic solution would be to buy a PAT set. The other option would be to find a 'partner' who can do the testing and you both comer to some arrangement about the proceeds.

First job however is to list the stuff by make and model number. Post that here and you might well get offers from people willing to take a chance? Say you have a really desirable compressor? So long as the case, meters, and power supply are intact, refurbing the electronics is not too onerous a job for a well equipped technician. You on the other hand could spend hours and quite a bit of money just finding a service manual!

Dave.
 
Lots of gear of vintage age varies so much on desirability and wow factor.

If you list what you have, we can go - landfil, ebay, specialist auction and maybe even suggest what we would be willing to pay. Your 'citric' could be citronic, who made disco type products in the 70s - and if the mixers are disco style, they fare differently to if they are recording mixers. I suspect what you have might be old disco gear. Slot in could be CDs, Mini Disc, or even NAB cartridge players. The latter make good money from collectors. CD is less attractive and MD even less so simply because their lifespan was never great when new, and the discs are expensive and not that easy to get.

There are collectors of old disco gear, if that's what is is, but the gear is also large and heavy meaning shipping crazily expensive now. If you sell locally, you'll get very little. The important thing is making noise come out.

Tell us exactly what you have an we can advise further.

I'm involved with a heritage collection of old stage lighting gear, and every donation goes on the tester. About half immediately fail. Of the half that pass, about half of those go bang when you plug them in. Age and storage conditions really. We now have containers full of lovely vintage gear that needs repair, and frankly, the cost of repair is more than their real worth. We gave on lovely bit of kit away to a restorer - he replaced all the aged parts, he cleaned it up and it now works, and it cost him around two hundred quid in parts. It now lights up and looks lovely, and that's it. He thinks it good value, but if he tried to sell it, nothing at all I suspect. To realise any funds from your gear, you need to find a willing buyer and that will be difficult.
 
+1 to what these chaps are saying.
If you can get together a list of names and numbers and/or some photographs, there's a lot of good honest people around here
who can help steer you with regard to potential value and interest,
and probably with some basic testing advice.


You might want to disclose your (rough) location too, although that's up to you, in case some members here may be interested in taking some stuff off your hands.
 
One option is to hire someone (Like Me) to analyze and Test the gear - you may lose $200 or so - but you may make way more than that - so it all works out.
 
Easiest way is to just post a few pictures here, and see what we get excited about.
It could all be worn out junk, or there coud be sought after gems.
 
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