Steve Hoffman's Ampex 350 by J-Corder

[RogerD]

I thought I was bad!

These are photos from Steve Hoffman's website. It sounds like this machine is his and I must say it is with out a doubt a "work of art". Now beauty is in the eye of the beholder( it has grown on me),but this deck should be awesome to hear. There's no question Steve is a big Ampex fan and by the looks of it the Ampex 350 will be his "dream machine".

Congratulations Steve Hoffman!

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=188529&page=13

 

[amirm]

Wow! I am speechless. OK, no I am not but it is a great work of art! I assume the Birdseye maple was not on the original equipment? If so, do people really send out to get the graphics printed on them? Or is that a stick on of sorts?

 

[Steve Williams]

I guess I am odd man out. Hopefully it sounds great as the wood for me is not what I would call a work of art, but to each their own

 

[RogerD]

I guess I am odd man out. Hopefully it sounds great as the wood for me is not what I would call a work of art, but to each their own

Not my first choice either.

 

[RogerD]

Wow! I am speechless. OK, no I am not but it is a great work of art! I assume the Birdseye maple was not on the original equipment? If so, do people really send out to get the graphics printed on them? Or is that a stick on of sorts?

The original was stainless with black knobs. Just all the custom work alone must have cost a small fortune. It wouldn't surprise me to see a 20K bill on this one.

 

[naturephoto1]

Not my first choice either.

Not my first choice either and like you I am sure that the custom work was quite costly as well. Part of what strikes me as interesting though is the fact that the machine was made in the vertical orientation rather than as a console unit. But, ultimately that is the same arrangement as I have opted for my hybrid Ampex.

Rich

 

[Vincent Kars]

You can buy one for $99 : http://www.waves.com/content.aspx?id=11702

 

[RogerD]

You can buy one for $99 : http://www.waves.com/content.aspx?id=11702

Ersatz

 

[RogerD]

"When Vinyl Ruled"

Great stuff! and why Ampex 350's are such sonic masterpieces.

http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/mtgschedules/109conv2000/109th-vinyl-report-1.html ,
http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/mtgschedules/111conv2002/111th-vinyl-report-1.pdf ,
http://www.auldworks.com/AESDD/dd1.htm , and
http://www.aes.org/aeshc/conv111pics.html .

Then in 2002, there was a third one
http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/mtgschedules/113conv2002/vinyl_3_report_1.html
and in 2003 there was a fourth one, organized by the late David Baker,
"Vinyl goes digital" , http://www.aes.org/events/115/historical/ .

And Jay Mcknight adds a little history on the Ampex 350:

"As for Ampex history: The Model 200 was introduced in 1948. After
that, the goal was to make cheaper professional tape recorders: The
Model 300 in 1949, the Model 400 in 1950, the Model 350 in 1953.
(See
http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/company.histories/ampex/leslie_snyder_early-days-of-ampex.pdf
) So all recordings with Ampexes made before 1958 were NOT Model
351s, but 200s, 300s, 400s, or 350s. All of these had electronics
that were similar to the others.

I know that the Les Paul "Octopus" was made with 350 electronics,
and I believe that the Tom Dowd machine was identical to Les Paul's.

The Model 351 uses a completely new design of electronics, and
wasn't introduced until 1958. It isn't necessarily better or worse
that the previous electronics, but it certainly is DIFFERENT --
different tube types, and different circuits. (The 351 transport is
almost identical to the 350 transport.)"


"

 

[Tom B.]

OK, so it's pretty. Kinda.......

It would be more interesting to see whats under the hood, so to speak.

Tom

 

[JackD201]

Is that a Furman PL dressed in burl on top? That's trippy! The wood probably costs more than the unit.

 

[Tom B.]

Is it actually a 350 and not a 351? Without seeing the power supplies or the telltale 'dot' it is difficult to distinguish. In either case I would have put the Furman at the bottom of the rack, which is basically where Ampex recommended putting the power supplies for rack-mounted units.

Tom

 

[RogerD]

Is it actually a 350 and not a 351? Without seeing the power supplies or the telltale 'dot' it is difficult to distinguish. In either case I would have put the Furman at the bottom of the rack, which is basically where Ampex recommended putting the power supplies for rack-mounted units.

Tom

Good point about what Ampex electronics these really are. I thought without the "dot" on the faceplate these were 350's,but now I think they are 351's. If you look close at the bottom case of the electronics of SH's deck you will see multiple screws that fasten the PC boards of the 351.

My 350 electronics have no mounting PCB screws (point to point).

 

[RogerD]

Tom

Btw, Welcome Tom B.

Are you a fan of Ampex recorders?

RogerD

 

[Tom B.]

Btw, Welcome Tom B.

Are you a fan of Ampex recorders?

RogerD

Roger,

Yes, but probably not as big a fan as you

The only non-Ampex machine I own is a Studer A80 VU MKII outfitted with FM 1/4-tk playback head, which earns its keep due to gentle tape handling.

The rest: Ag440 2 trk, Ag440 mono, AG350, 354 2 trk, ATR-800, 300, & MR-70 2 trk.

The ATR-800 is a surprising sleeper; not particularly popular with the Ampex crowd but it's versatile and sounds quite good.

The MR-70 is apart until I can figure out how to properly machine a 440c servo motor to fit; at this point I am not sure if it's worth trying or just revert to the original capstan tire drive.

My 300 is a unique project, outfitted with 440c servo and constant-tension mods, it runs both 350 (tube) and AG350 (SS) electronics all in the same rack, original Ampex heads on the tubes and FM ME on the SS. Currently re-capping the 350's. Dubbed 'Ampexius Maximus' by my wife, I've been working on this one steadily for the past year. Should be a nice machine....

It's all like a bad addiction, you start with one deck and it just takes over....

Tom

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

As any guitar guy can tell you, maple adds bite and reduces harmonics. It's a solid state wood. You want warmth? Rosewood would have been a better choice.

By the way, why would there be a variable wow and flutter control? I'd think they only thing you'd want to do with wow and flutter is minimize it.

Tim

 

[ack]

It's all like a bad addiction, you start with one deck and it just takes over....

Tom

Ah yes, and this forum has very few addicts, which makes it well balanced Welcome...

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Won't those lights generate all kinds of noise in the circuitry? Very non-Audiophile. But very cool.

Tim

 

[Ki Choi]

Roger,

It's all like a bad addiction, you start with one deck and it just takes over....

Tom

Hey Tom;

I don't know what you're talking about! ;-)

Ki

 

[amirm]

We have our own RT-RA group here.... Reel-to-Reel Anonymous!