Harvey..

  • Thread starter Thread starter tubedude
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What Randy said goes double for me. To those who don't know the source of Mr. Paul's well-earned bitterness, I submit it would be worth your while to research him. He is an artisan, a relic from a time when craftsmanship mattered. As such, he took some hard lessons in today's world for trusting people and not being a "smart businessman". Had he done so from the start, he could probably well afford the medical treatment he so desperately needs.

While I acknowledge that his tone here was harsh, I ask for some understanding, if not for how badly he's been ripped off (and can never hope for financial recovery from the crooks), then for the imponderable physical suffering he endures almost daily. If this sounds like a smooch-fest, it is. Luv ya, SP, even if you don't come back.
-kent
 
s_paul said:
Number two, there will never be a 'list' of what we do to Harvey's mike. It's strictly a favor, not cost-effective, and we sure as hell are not in the business of giving our knowledge away.

My work has already given you about ten million cheap mikes to choose from , how much do ou guys expect me to give away free to the damned industry?! And now you'd like a list too? Please.

Harvey's components will be potted and that's that.

Finally, there will be no other Marshall mods. And I might as well be honest about it.

By the time we do what needs to be done to make those worthy of our shop you'd never want to pay the price.
Click to expand...

So, you aren't willing to help us and you won't offer your paid services....hmmm. :rolleyes:

I am reminded of those backyard football games when I was 9 that inevitably ended with the neighbor kid pouting like a baby, and the phrase, "I'm taking my ball and going home!"

Protecting your livelihood is one thing, and being an ass is quite another. Yes, we all know who you are...Grand Wizard of the modern microphone and victim of reality, blah, blah, blah...to me that means nothing in the light of your lovely attitude.

Grow up and learn to relate to people and maybe you wouldn't be such a bitter, selfish person.
 
I'm sorry, and I must apologize for the misunderstanding, both to Stephen, and to the group. This is strictly my fault for not being clear. When I said, I'd print a list of changes, I forgot to mention that it would/could never be a detailed list, as some of you may have been expecting.

Many years ago, Stephen took pity on me and modified my Fairchild microphones. I sat in his little house and watched him do the mods. He replaced one of the transistors with one of his. There were no markings on the transistor to identify it in any way, and I didn't ask. And I never would ask.

I know Stephen has a lot of this stuff made specially for him, or it's an esoteric piece that was designed specially for something else and Stephen is probably the only person that even knows about them or how to get them. That's why people pay Stephen big bucks to make their great microphones even better.

My list was going to be " Stephen changed these things", but as to what he changed them to, or why, I wouldn't have a clue, and that's as it should be.

Stephen has truly changed the mic industry and every manufacturer owes him a large debt of thank, if for nothing else, proving that what they said couldn't be done COULD BE DONE, opening the door to new techniques and saving themselves years of costly research.

He's still pushing the envelope, even after years of moving the industry forward, working out a little house in Hollywood, modifying mics into magical instruments for every major record label and every major studio.

I would kill for a 0.6 micron modified diaphragm for a Neumann U67 (and a U67 to go with it). That just ain't never gonna happen, in my lifetime anyway, but what some of you dismiss as ego is just plain fact; Stephen is the best there is at what he does - and there ain't nobody in second place. There is no second place. Stephen is the only one on the planet that can do this stuff, period.

So please people, just back off, especially if you don't really know Stephen, and where he's coming from. If you can't do it for yourself, then please do it for me, if you feel my contributions here have been of some value to you. I don't ask for much in return around here, but the thought of people in this group taking potshots at Stephen Paul is really more than I can handle.

Please everybody, just let it drop and end here.

And again, I apologize for the confusion I've created.
 
Im sure SP is a nice guy, but for a minute there he seemed like a big arrogant d*ck. Most of the people in this board are just people like me, homewreckers doing this as a hobby with very little money involved in our gear and no commercial interests (I have to save for months just to be able to afford two mxl 603s, I could never ever afford getting the good stuff). We were just hoping for some tips on how to improve our gear (and recordings in general) without breaking the bank (which I btw do all the time anyways). It seems like this is a very delicate subject for SP, but geez.. he didnt have to be so damn harsh. I mean, how the hell should we have known that? We tend to be as helpful here as we can be (i really like this forum btw!) so its not very strange that the question came up, we just wanted some help in the true spirit of this forum. But if we would have known that SP would get so upset im sure we would have refrained from asking for details. I hope you catch my drift, im from sweden so english is not my native language. Either way, It´s not like we were asking for his innermost secrets of the trade, just some basic pointers on how to make a half decent el cheapo mic sound just a little bit better. I wouldnt even dream of being able to make the mics sound really really great, that area Ill leave to SP. But man, please: Don´t be so hard on us, were not trying to rip you off, seriously...
/jonas
 
Dont worry Steven Paul I think we all still consider you to be cool and we deem It a privilege to be able to communicate with you in this forum. I hope some of us didnt offend you. I dont think it was tubedudes Intention to offend you in any way, as a matter of fact I think he respects you.

Wayne
 
FWIW, I've had the opportunity of meeting several people who have similar
personalities (very artistic) who also happen to be among the best in the
world at what they do. One was my last voice coach who ended up working
with me on classical technique who was and is a terrific opera singer.
Anyway...
On my first lesson he was so sure that many of the things I was taught
were incorrect and was so sure of himself he seemed to be either an
arrogant aXXhole, or a genius!
Well guess what- EVERYTHING he either taught or told me was true.
There's a certain corellation between brillance and getting to the point
rather than engaging in a PR session for people like Stephen and my
vocal coach. It takes some time, however, to understand that it's not
because they're ego-maniacs, it's because they're VERY passionate
about what they do so well, and have well justified pride in their expertise.
And sometimes they say things that can be taken out of context,
unless you know them pretty well (not that WE have ever done that!).
Also keep in mind from the humblest novice to Stephen Paul ,we all share
a love for music, otherwise none of this is worth it!
Off my soapbox for now...
 
Harvey, Mr. Paul, and everyone esle,

I know who Stehpen Paul is, I dont need the education. I respect his work, he is a true pioneer in the world of microphones and audio in general. I was not expecting a detailed list of what he did, nor should anyone ecpect it. I was truly excited this morning when I saw that Mr. Paul responded to the thread about the v67, I really was. I was looking forward to that glimpse into his world of microphones. I was looking forward to seeing Mr. Paul say "it's a decent mic and with a few mods it can be pretty cool", but instead we got the rantings of how if it wern't for him, we would not have the mics we have today.

No one called him greedy because he charges alot for his mic mods. He brought it up like someone was calling him a money grubber. Everyone can see that it wasn't the case. No one here is trying to rip him off, all we wanted was a tidbit of information that 99% of use would or could never use anyway.

I feel bad for Mr. Paul and what has happened to him, I would feel bad for anybody who has gone through what he has. But if he's gonna come in here guns blazing like an ass, he's gonna get treated that way. Being a genius and artistic, passionate, whatever blah blah blah etc...is not an excuse to jump to conclusions and be an asshole, I dont care who you are.


This is my last post in this thread.
 
that was my point aswell, well summed up ametth!
enough now, im going to bed
/jonas
 
i have a few questions....
1.) is there a site where a clueless person could go to learn about what exactly "SP" does and/or where his forum is?
2.) although it's none of my business, i am curious about what exactly his physical ailment is and also how exactly he's been ripped off.
 
Ridiculous.
I always thought his secret was in the diaphragm, and that he wasnt doing much more to the marshall mic than a simple component upgrade similar to Dorseys mod. I wasnt asking for secrets at all, just at what parts he was going to upgrade, and I didnt realize that I was asking so much and I'm sorry to everyone. And I certainly didnt call him greedy. He is pricey, for me and most of us, not everyone. He got offended and jumped my ass, and I apologized to him elsewhere and asked him for an apology in return, a handshake and we can shrug it off. I highly respect this character, but he certainly lost a little today. I'm just going to say he took shit the wrong way, though, and everyone maybe should just back off each other and let this pass. He reallly is a good guy, and I'll keep that mindset until he attacks me further.
I'll take the blame for this mess, I'm big enough.
Lets drop it now.
Please.
Anyone that wants to find out about his extensive background, hunt around for his forum.
 
ametth said:
Harvey, Mr. Paul, and everyone esle,

No one here is trying to rip him off, all we wanted was a tidbit of information that 99% of use would or could never use anyway.
Click to expand...

Its that free tidbit of information that could very well be put to use that matters Ametth, and for the record I am not bashing you, but upgrades like that could very well be used and sold. Sure, maybe not by the average Joe, but your technical, and others are as well. There are those who will put their work out for free, and others who won't. I do not blame those like Stephen who choose not to.

The reality is this is the problem with these posts. I took it exactly the way Stephen did, and it is obvious others did as well. On the other hand, others took it entirely different. So what is the end result?

Those who know Stephen personally, truely know why he is so protective of his work. I took Harvey's post as if he would get a list of items offered by Stephen and offer it up so others could do it, so this is why these BBs's are so frustrating. I am sure Harvey did not mean it that way, but it gets taken the wrong way.

Stephen is defending his work, his life and the only thing that keeps him going. I admire his principles, and so what if a few of you out there don't like him. Its not like you will ever hang out, so BFD! I would be pissed off as well if I thought I was doing someone a favor and it then "appeared" that my work would be spread around for free.

It's cool Stephen...you still da man

Alan Hyatt
PMI Audio Group
 
Yeah, like if the Cournel Sanders told someone on the Internet those 11 herb and spices he puts in that killer chicken, everyone would stay home and eat chicken and he would die poor and homeless without a pot to piss in.

So dont expect any secrets to be revieled here.
 
No matter what has happened to you in the past, Steven Paul, there's no excuse for lashing out at people that did absolutely nothing to you. It's understandable that you wouldn't want to share trade secrets; that's shooting yourself in the foot. However, good people are able to convey their inability to do so in a polite, professional way. You didn't, and, until I have some reason to think otherwise, you'll always be an unprofessional jerk in my eyes. And, yes, I know you don't care.
 
It's pretty easy to take pot shots at ol' Stephen since none of us will ever be writing him a check for a mod...but I think we better let this thread die before we piss off other "notable" forumites...


...that said, I've always thought he was arrogant and it makes me nauseous to see his legions of followers always kissing his ass on recording.org...he seems to shit marvel.
 
It's a bad day when TexRoadkill has to tell some of you HomeWreckers that you have no class.
 
Man,some of you guys are a trip.The man was only doing a favor for a friend and it really ain't none of your business anyhow.The man works moding mics that cost more than a lot of our recording set ups and you expect him to spend his time modifying 99 dollar mics from Mars and net himself a cool profit of maybe twenty to forty bucks.Get real.Why don't you call fucking U2 or something and see if they will gig at your next birthday party for fifty bucks.If you guys don't see how insulting that is I don't know what to tell ya,if you don't have a clue now I don't think you'll ever get one.I know most of us are amatuers but that is no excuse for some of the shit I've read here,we might be amatuers as far as recording goes but our people skills should be better than this.If you can't understand let's just move on,no amount of blah,blah,blah,blah is going to show you the light.
 
You know, a ot of people here do need to work on thier people skills, but I think maybe you should work on your reading skills... I just posted that I didnt mean any harm, and that I thought it was something simple like the Dorsey mod, adn nothing more, nothing secret, nothing too fancy... thats all... no harm meant, and everyone jumps to conclusions.
If I had the knowledge he has, and this is me, not anyone else, I would have a blast with you guys turning mics into this and that just for thehell of it, especially since my mics would STILL sell for $4000 or more and none of you could EVER make a capsule like mine. I would not be offended if somone asked me, I would at least say "sorry man, no can do" I wouldnt kick someones ass over it, for sure. No harm was intended, harm was taken, and he refused to apologize. Lost respect, deed is done, now lets let it all go. No need for anymore posts, lets see how big we can all be now.
Peace. Back to recording.
 
Tubedude,actually my tirade was aimed more at people who were not really involved in the thread who felt they had to jump in and jump on SP.I understand that he could have perhaps been more diplomatic in his response but I think given his history he responded from his heart.

As homewreckers we have to retain our perspective,we are blessed with some very knowledgeable folks here and we gotta keep in mind that some of these folks deal more with high end equipment rather than the gear we use.Over in the rack forum there is a newbie that builds high end preamps and I would never dream of asking him about modding an Audio Buddy.These people should be made to feel very welcome here and we should appreciate ANY knowledge that they chose to share.If we drive the folks who really know their shit away we will be stumbling along in the dark.We should feel blessed by the presence and appreciate what knowledge they chose to share not get pissed because they won't tell us what we want to know.The attitude in some of the posts in this thread is capable of driving away the people that benefit us the most.Let's not let that happen.I don't want to fall into bickering and I agree with Tubedude that it is time to move on.

Peace.
 
So, basically what you guys are saying is that since Stephen Paul is good at what he does that we have to treat him like royalty. That he can lash out at us, and we have no right to say what we think about that.

I, for one, have a little more self-respect than that. I agree that we should probably kill this post, but I also think it would be productive if Stephen Paul would apologize for overreacting to a simple request for information. A simple "I can't tell you, as it would threaten my livelihood" would have sufficed. By lashing out, he missed a great opportunity to be gracious and professional. Can you at least acknowledge that, Stephen?
 
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