SoundCraft Series 1/1S "Story...."

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samth3mancgp

samth3mancgp

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So My friend and I made the trip up to Harrisburg PA to get the SoundCraft! It was an interesting experience. The trip up was fine. But after we got there and I tested every channel to see that it was working enough (enough meaning enough for me to fix at my technical level) I found that I had locked my keys in my car :eek::o:(

The seller was a really nice guy. He had a "Slim Jim" lock picking thing that goes down in between the windows that we tried, but to no avail. :(
We then called AAA to come out and have a pro unlock it for us. haha. We went inside for an hour watching the Jets Vs. Chargers game, waiting for the AAA assistant to show up. I found out that the guy had a 32 channel console that he gave away to somebody because the pastor at the church said they had to get rid of it because it was too big! the brand was TOA? I wish I found deals like that!

So there's the story, here's the mixer..
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The beast as it arrived. I have already started to clean the faders and pots. they are terribly crackly. My guess is they have probably notbeen cleaned out in decades.

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Top Of Flight case has foam on it.

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Master

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Channels 1-3 are slightly messed up. 2 and 3 had the faders missing screws. I was able to get those back up into position. Channel 1 Seems to be setup to have the "fader" (which is not there) wired like it is bypassed. the channel seems all wired up except that the Stereo pan pot is missing so the signal cannot get to the mains?


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Hey look! This happens to be a model that was custom ordered with phantom power! :):) Every channel (Except 1 because the switch is broken) has nice phantom power to it! What a treat, I was thinking of trying to add the power using an online schematic and now I dont have to!

http://s174.photobucket.com/albums/w88/samth3mancgp/?action=view&current=DSC_2739.jpg&newest=1
As I started to pull the duct tape away from this bulge on the mixer next to the inputs I found what looks like that "ELCO" connector or whatever that sweetbeats was talking about.

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I wish the sticker was still all there. Made in england. NAAAICE :cool:

http://s174.photobucket.com/albums/w88/samth3mancgp/?action=view&current=DSC_2740.jpg&newest=1
Heavy Duty Flight Case

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After peeling away all of the old crusty duct tape

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Here is the Phantom switch for channel 1 that got punished.

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PC Board. they all look pretty good to me. Although they all say that they were tested 1978. probably when it was made

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Transformers? :):) Cant wait to hear it in action

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The power supply and master channel stuff

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PC Boards

Dang I hope this thing works well and sounds good. some of the contact cleaning on the faders and pots for some channels seem to be working very well. most have zero staticy and scratchiness to them :) The manual says that there is "Inserts on each channel" But this one seems to have line inputs. Perhaps I could add Direct outs to some channels? I would be using this as a good front end for stuff like snare and guitars for the DAW, and for some analog stuff because of the pres. And of course it's already built and setup to be a pretty damn good live board too.

I saw on eBay that somebody was selling a stereo preamp with basically 2 channels of this mixer (just the pre and EQ). It sold for quite a bit. I go the whole 16 channels for $80. Series 1S Preamp

Now to see what everybody thinks :)
 
IMHO, that's still an awesome price for what you have there. I bit of minor cosmetic cleaning, minor repairs perhaps, here and there and it's gonna be a one bad-ass mixer! I wouldn't be surprised if that thing would cost in the several thousands, if these were still made today. BTW, don't remove that sticker. It's cool. Let us know how it sounds. :)
 
Sam,

Congrats on getting the mixer! Looks like you've got yourself a fun little project there to clean it up and fix back the first few channels that look a bit battle scared. Very nice too that the phantom power mod was already done for you. Perhaps not so good that the inserts were re-wired for line level inputs! Maybe consider leaving them as is except for a few channels where you might actually still want to have line inputs.

Cheers! :)
 
Yeah I'm thinking about setting it back up so that a good portion of the channels have the inserts.

Could I use the inserts for running it in and out of a tape deck? and how would this work with only 1 cable? would the stereo cable break off into 2 mono cables either RCA or 1/4"? But they would be RCA for the tape deck. That is why the stereo jack inserts struck me as odd, because I've never seen a cable like that.
 
Yes, a TRS connection would be a single channel send and receive point with a common ground so technically, if you could get that wired back to that configuration, the Send part would feed the tape deck's input and the Receive part would go to the deck's output...if you're dealing with a multi-track deck!!!!

But, if you're only using this with a 2 track deck, then the normal stereo outs of the board would be the way to go. This is what you said you wanted the board for originally, correct?

So, if that's still the case, then the inserts, should you ever get that accomplished, would be for normal stuff like inserting a compressor, or other single channel sound processor through an individual channel. Without the insert connection, you'd have to put the processor at the end of the mixer's signal chain between the final stereo outs and the recorder's inputs. The issue of the mixer being balanced and a recorder, or processor not being balanced, would also need to be addressed.

Cheers! :)
 
Would it be difficult to turn some of the line inputs into inserts? I'd like to probably have 8 of them If i wanted to use it with the 8 track. I did not really intend on using this as a pre-mixed stereo recording board, but for good pres as a front end for the DAW for recording. as well as for analog multi-track stuff. It's a pretty versatile mixer and I could see it being used for many things because of it's portability.

So far I have..

Cleaned the outside of it a lot with goo-gone, magic eraser, pledge, and dust remover spray. I have gotten all faders with contact cleaner, and used bearing oil in the sliders. They are very clear now and move better than they did. I have cleaned all of the panning pots and they are clear now, I have done the gain pots once. they may need more. did the master section. Got all of the aux pots once. I have not checked how those sound yet.

I am hearing quite a bit of hum from the masters when I turn them up. like low end and some "beeping" sort of high end. kinda like an AM radio? The pres are not terribly noisy. I set the EQ to level and cranked the gain and pushed the faders all the way up on all channels and the hiss is apparent but I would never have the signal that hot so it probably would never come through. The noise on the masters are pretty bad though :(
 
It shouldn't be that hard to do the insert conversions and especially because you have the manual, you can check the diagrams to see where they were originally wired.

About the noise and hum; audible Noise with everything cranked would be pretty normal for an older PA mixer as the signal content going through would always be louder then the noise. A more realistic noise test is to not put all the controls at max but to put them at the unity gain marks, which are normally around 70% on the faders and 1:00 o'clock on any other gain stage controls.

Not sure about the hum? The obvious things to look for are ground loops in the AC and signal chain and aging/dried up caps in the power supply. But also look at the hum at more normal operating levels, not at full blast.

Getting back to the inserts for a minute; also consider that the traditional insert point on the mixer may be pre-eq so make sure you find a post eq spot to tap into to make your insert point from. The signal buss cards that run the width of the board are probably where you'll find your tap in points unless there are other bundled wire bussed that do that? Again, read the schematics. They'll tell you far more then any of us here could. That said, a direct out's best spot is usually just before the pan pot, as this will give you the whole strip's singnal before it goes to the stereo buss.

Cheers! :)
 
Today I was poking around ont he PC baord for one of the cannels and I think I have figured out how to make a dicrect output that is Post EQ, but Pre-Fader. I don't understand how I would be able to re-create the original Inserts using what is now the line input.

The 1/4" jacks that are currently setup to be used as inputs have 3 leads and appear to be mono, but seem to have a mechanism that acts as a switch that breaks the connection to the XLR input when a 1/4" line level plug is inserted.

So the jack has the "switching" type setup that would be expected of an insert, but it only has 3 leads (the 3rd used for the switching). This only leaves 1 lead touching the tip and one touching the ground.

This board was originally owned and used in a theater in Hershey Park in Pennsylvania many years ago. It may have been ordered to especially have the line inputs that break the XLR input instead of the stereo style insert. I have figured out how to make a direct out that is post EQ but pre panning pot and pre fader, but the Insert jack is either not possible or has me confused quite a bit. :confused:
 
Well, you might consider perhaps leaving the line inputs in tact so as not to mess any of that up and just wire in your direct outs to a separate jack that you could drill a hole into the panel or case to accommodate that. That way, you not losing any functionality on the board! Think about that!

Cheers! :)
 
Yes that sounds like a much better idea. My friend and I wired one channel into a direct out using the line in jack. It is post EQ but pre-fader. (The EQ dosent seem to be working right now though the way it is set up. :o Perhaps when we messed with the wiring of the mic in and line in jacks so they are not wired together something was over looked now the EQ isnt connected in the chain properly.

Should the "Ground" or "Neutral" or whatever all be shared by the Direct out jack, the mic in jack, and the PC board. like a closed circuit? The place where we tapped into was at the end of a wire bridge on the board that was right at the monitor send pot. We'll probably put it back the way it was and then start getting supplies for adding the direct outs as a separate jack like you said because the post EQ setup worked when the mic and line input jacks were left untouched and we just held wires to the solder joints. Thanks! :) This is going to be a time consuming but fun project.

Some things that I noticed are that the Power supply has been re-capped before because there are clamps for what seem to be MUCH bigger caps and the ones that are in there now are hot glued into place since the clamps wont fit. There is also a big hot ceramic resistor that goes across both caps :confused::eek: (this may be in one of the pictures above)

Lastly, I am missing knob caps for all of channels 1 and 2. The dual pot for panning and the fader are missing on channel 1 as well, and of course the phantom power switch that got destroyed from it being flipped over and worked on. Is there a place that I could get spares of these parts? or even a component that can be used in place of it?
 
I would suspect that whatever ground the mic and line jacks are using should be good for the direct out as well.

I have no idea what you guys messed up on that channel without the EQ so just follow the wiring from a working channel and put it back to its original state.

As for the PS caps and resistors, Again, follow the schematics in the owner's manual to see if they're there in the factory documents. Even if they're not, I don't advise messing with that as it may have been part of a mod done to accommodate the phantom power.

Switches should be readily available from any decent parts store or on-line supplier. They're not space shuttle parts that were made specifically for that mixer! :D

Missing knobs will be harder to source out as these will need to come from Soundcraft...though you might get lucky and find something very similar from a parts supplier. Good luck on that hunt.

Cheers! :)
 
The channel we tried modding already was just a test and should be able to be reverted to the original state fairly easily. I am pretty psyched about getting post EQ outputs on each channel while leaving the inputs intact. It will add to the versatility of the mixer quite a bit. right now it is just a 16x2 with 1 monitor send and effect aux. adding the DI outs the way I have should expand it's capabilities for studio stuff as well as live multitracking since the Direct out will have no affect on the mains like an insert would. It also lets me get just the sound of the pre and the EQ without all the extra gain from the fader and those damn mains faders that are noiser.

Hell, i could go on more and more about how great having this mod done will be, but you already know all of the great uses for it ;)

the only thing that has me worried is doing maintenance on it since it is not like the series 1S that is in the manual with inserts, no phantom, the 20dB pad, and the talkback mic section that are in the manual, but not on this mixer :eek: Mine is labeled Series 1 and the manual is for a series 1S. but maybe the 1 and 1S had the same number printed on the chassis but shipped with different manuals.
 
Awesome link to the pot caps. I found some that seems very similar to the ones on my mixer, but not exactly like it.

I'm not sure how to figure out whether or not they will fit properly?

I found a good eBay auction for the connectors I need for the Direct out mod.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350131858958&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
A 1/4" jack is just a 1/4" jack to me. Great price.

Finding the 47k dual pot and the fader is probably gonna be harder than the knob caps :(
 
I'm not sure how to figure out whether or not they will fit properly?
Click to expand...
Well, the website has a drop down menu to pick the shaft size by diameter in mm and type of either ribbed, (push type), or by collet, (set screw). After that, it's just a matter of picking the right colors and style and you're done.

The site also offers a means of speaking with them on the phone to ensure you get the details right or by email if you don't want to spend a couple of bucks on the phone call.

What issue are you having with that?

Cheers! :)
 
Thanks man. This one Seems to be the closest match. only 2 colors but I can deal. I'd rather have all 16 channels working easily than have the mixer restored to absolute perfection.

I also found the company that the gyu in that eBay auction swapped the transformers out on. "Sowter"

I dont think transformers go bad? but those are what the guy selling the series 1 pres on eBay put on them.
 
Yup! That knob looks pretty close in appearance to the other ones! :)

About the transformers; true they don't tend to go bad unless their overladed to the point of burning through the insulation of the windings and shorting it out or, drastically changing the sound characteristics of the transformer.

Before you go swapping all them out though, I'd try to do some testing on the ones you have already in there and see if you like the character of their sound. I would assume you don't want to turn this 80 dollar project into a gigantic money pit if you don't have to, right????

Perhaps work on the more basic issues first of getting it all working as it should and then consider the loftier upgrades after that.../2 cents.

Cheers! :)
 
I picked up a few mono 1/4" jacks at radio shack today to try and get started on the direct outs mod. The only Way I will be able to make them fit properly is to cut a notch in the PC boards. there is no circuit on the part that I want to cut into. it's right on the edge. the boards will look a little messed up but it should work just fine. what would be a good tool for cutting the notches out of the PC boards?
 
as a tech i'm all for modding stuff but.... on the otherhand it will be worth more as a piece of history unmodded...
 
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