Yamaha PM-180 rack mixer, forgot I had it!

[gerard]

Took a break from building the mixer stand and other stuff and decided to reorganize the garage and cabinets today. Found a box that we never opend since we moved (marked "stuff") and inside was a Yamaha PM-180 6 x 8 rack mixer and a MXL 2000 mic. Cracked the case on the mixer and it has tanny's on the inputs and ouputs. Anybody ever use one? Is it a PM 1000 "little brother"? Thought about using it for the mic pre's just for some more flavor plus it looks pretty cool and it's built like a tank.

 

[sweetbeats]

That is cooooooool!

Grerard you are just FULL of surprises.

Never seen one before. Looks neat-o!

I think very highly of Yamaha gear...I think a lot of their stuff is underrated and underpriced IMHO.

I have an 01X/i88x combo that provides up to 24 in and 20 out of a DAW plus comprehensive DAW control PLUS the 01X is a full featured 24 x 2 x 2 digital mixer with flying faders...noting elseon the market has quite the same feature set and it stood totally alone for years. Its all built really well. Yamaha has always been a leader in drum corp percussion instruments...have one of the corpmaster snares, quads and a 26 inch bass. Their drums in general are very well-made. We also recently aqcuired a Yamaha upright piano from the late 70's...very well made. I've come to trust that anything from Yamaha will be well-built, full featured and reasonable priced.

Okay...and the last bit of my Yamaha rave: just learned this from the guy that came to tune the upright...did you know that Yamaha got its start making pianos in the 1800's???

Look at their logo...it is 3 tuning forks positioned 120 degrees relative to each other...I could never figure out what their logo was...now I know.

More pics of the PM-180 please...

 

[gerard]

Trade ya

A Yamaha grand! I'll trade ya my Aleseis QS6 for it.......no? OK, I'll toss in the stand, deal?

Can't believe I forgot about that thing and the mic. I hope the mic isn't trashed buy being in a un-aircondition/heated enviorment for some years. Will get some pics of the mixer up soon. Still drilling/cutting/sanding wood. The rack and tape stand is in "sanding mode" and just need to add the wheels and paint but the pedastal is kicking my butt.

 

[WhiteStrat]

That's a pleasant surprise indeed! I was in the hunt for a PM-180 on eBay for months--wanted a rack mount mixer for those times when I just want the studio to be a live room for jam sessions. Ended up scoring a similar unit by Sunn/Fender. Have fun!

 

[gerard]

PM-180 gut shot

They just don't build 'em like they use to! I'm kinda thinking about doing a mod to tap each channels output, like a direct out and by pass the 2 buss out. Shouldn't be to hard if i can find schematics. I did find one more thing I forgot about, the panel is from Electric Lady. I had it for over 35 and forgot about this to, it was in my scrap metal bin. Guess they use 4 tracks "back in the day"! Now I need a 4 track, just so i can use the panel.

 

[stevieb]

Look at their logo...it is 3 tuning forks positioned 120 degrees relative to each other...I could never figure out what their logo was...now I know...

That logo is key to Yamaha's core. Hard to see the connection between pianos/pro audio equipment/guitars, and motorcycles and building tuner engines for Ford... until you realized that the unifying thread is tuning. Tuned intake runners is the main trick Yammie used on the original Taurus SHO engine to get the power out of that engine. the unique, eye-popping look when someone popped the hood was a side benefit.

 

[sweetbeats]

Ohhhhhh I totally forgot that it was Yamaha that did the SHO engine...I remember preparing to be unimpressed when I heard rumblings of the SHO (I was a Road & Track subscriber at the time) and then when it hit the market and I read the review I remember thinking "Huh! They did good!" Then I saw the reference to Yamaha and I remember thinking "Sheesh! They're everywhere!"

You're right...It is about tuning isn't it? Very cool.

 

[analogkid]

Be interesting to see how that unit sounds - I am pretty sure that those were built for PA/Live show work.


AK