R.I.P. Technics

[radiofan]

The DJing community and the greater dance music scene mourns the loss of a clubbing staple today. No, Steve Aoki hasn’t hung up his record bag, but rather news has emerged that iconic turntable manufacturers Technics will be stopping production on their universally loved Technics 1200s and Technics 1210s.

In a statement re-posted on dance board Global Hardstyle, the company behind the production of the Technics turntables Panasonic announced that they would cease the manufacture of Tehcnics turntables in February next year, citing an increasing decline in sales as the motivation behind the line’s demise.

The Australian arm of Panasonic issued a similar statement today, expressing their disappointment that the brand’s 35 years-and-running legacy was to be put to bed.

“It is a sad day today but due to low sales globally in analogue turntables a decision to stop production has been made on Technics Turntables,” Panasonic spokesman Ian North explained. “For Australia this means we will receive our last shipment in March.”

With the disappearance of Technics decks now imminent it’s becoming increasingly clear that the digital juggernaut is showing no signs of slowing down. We’ve already heard from trance icon Tiesto how he’s abandoned the ‘outdated’ medium in favour and gone for the ease and accessibility of digital tune libraries. Indeed, the new (and might we just say super-sexy) CDJ-2000s from Pioneer look to be making things easier than ever before with USB stick functionality, employed just last weekend by another digital convert Sasha.

Whilst we’re sure the classic Technics turntables will live on in the hearts of many club-reverent folk out there – not to mention in more than a few purist clubs – it’s still a crushing blow to lose the decks, and if nobody minds, we’ll be bringing beer o’clock around early this Friday afternoon.

http://www.inthemix.com.au/news/intl/45 ... cs_is_dead

[Mike Cleaver]

That's sad but time marches on.
Technics had the best radio turntables ever in the SP-10 models, the ones with the separate power supply.
Those things started on a dime, no matter whether they were running at 33.3, 45 or 78.
You only had to back cue the disc about a half inch from where the audio began and hit start.
It was up to full speed by the time it hit the audio.
The things were rock steady as to speed as well and easy to fix and mod with remote starts.
I put quite a few into disco units back in the day as well, usually mounted on custom made slate bases.
Even blasting the Altec A7's didn't shake the stylus out of the groove.

[Anotherwpgguy]

Here's a YouTube video that conveys the real physical fun that used to be the case in radio before computers came on the scene.

Technics turntables are featured in this 1970 to 80's era master control room.

I preferred to slip-cue whenever the layout of the room would permit it, but I was funny that way.

Regards to all my old buddies that appreciated really, really tight live on-air production values.

Anotherwpguy

Edwin Starr - Happy Radio .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW2YQFlILFo

[jon]

I preferred to slip-cue whenever the layout of the room would permit it, but I was funny that way.

I was at the other end of the spectrum: scarred for life, thanks to my first paid radio work being an operator at CHQM. There I developed the habit of backing up an LP a full half turn. Because the only two turntables in the FM control room were single speed (33 1/3 rpm) and took almost a half turn to come up to speed.

After that, wherever I went, I always cued LPs a half turn and 45's two-thirds of a turn -- do the Math. and you'll find that it takes the same amount of time for a 45 to travel two-thirds of a revolution, as an LP to travel a half turn.

And I had a little clock in my head that told me when to start the turntable. Obviously that meant knowing how every song would end, how every commercial and imaging cart sounded near the end, and, of course, when I was going to finish talking.

At the other extreme, there was a Saturday night DJ at KOL Seattle who was on the air for quite a while with his record cue technique: when you hear the sound, stop the record, don't back it up. And, of course, he "hot potted" giving each song a unique sound at the start.

CHQM also taught me to never "hot pot" especially after I got caught by a drunk operator who had made an automation tape complete with the thump as the turntable started. It was interpreted as the 20Hz stop tone by the Ampex in the AM control room, so I think you can guess the rest. I had to pick that moment to be in the Record Library. But, Hey, it was Christmas music time, so drinking was fairly common during the day at the station.

[hagopian]

Nice slip cue memories. I had two Technics and they were great. They got me through many Beatle soaked hours.
I wonder if computers can mix songs the way some of the people that tread this board.
There is one gent here, from now, the Great State of Washington who was a master at nailing mixes and clean 'layovers'.
We'd all spend part of our shifts trying to figure out the permutations of each of the discs and what worked and what didn't. CFUN would go through the top twenty songs in about, what, a week, maybe a few? They'd get scratched and the intro grooves would be destroyed from cueing and dropped needles and stuff.
It was always fun to get the Engineers into the control room and bug them about one thing or another, and in my case it was always the sound of the Monitors that had come over on the Lusitania.
The equipment I worked with was either Stan Davis OK, or it was trash - not much in between.
One Ward Beck, and it had pots the size of a Buick and it was also toggled, and would boggle a certain rookie, at a certain FM station, on a certain Christmas Morning when I would up playing the same Music tapes back and forth for 6 hours, because I couldn't figure out the arcane toggling mechanism.

I am starting to get queasy and feel old talking about the so called 'memories'. They are surprisingly vivid and sure did have a lot of fun, but it was also a tough and rascally task master. Many weekends, many hours in the toolies, and many hours trying to make Production copy sound like it was in English, because we always tried to cram too much into that 'thirty'.
Some of the folks you worked with became giants and ran stations and became Managers, hell, owners - some died, some drank themselves to death - lots got Divorced and moved across and around the Country, working for Radio stations that MEANT something to the Communities they were in - on a scale that isn't possible now. It's not that Radio sucks, or that it was better when 'The Racoon", or Larry and Willy still had their own teeth (*kidding guys) - it has just become increasingly drowned out by other media platforms.
That's OK, that's change.

There are memories being made now, at Stations across the dial and I hope you are having as much fun as we did.
No kidding when I tell you I met some of the nicest, funniest and most talented AND eccentric people in the world, because I was too dim to do anything else, and wound up in 'Radio'.

The Technics story reminds me of phasing records 'live' on the air - reminds me of Kelly's and buying new 'diamond needles' and having your drunken buddy destroy it at the New Years Party, as he plays Alan Parsons AGAIN.

The Technics story reminds me of Christmas parties, and laughter and smiling faces and silly pranks.

The thing I love about RadioWest.ca is we get to still chime in, and we also get to throw in some 'talkin' story'

A guy asked me today - who was the most talented radio guy - JOCK, NEWS/HOST you ever worked with or liked at OTHER stations, say 70-90.

Tough, but not impossible - but top five/ten.........can't say just one....BUT....

When he was hot - no one could touch a gentleman named John Rode. He worked in Vancouver for only a short time and he simply would astound and amaze. I can't quite describe how he could weave a Stevie Wonder contest liner, into a Horoscope and make it fit. I guess you had to be there. His pacing, his use of music as b/g and PULSE to make the show go...? Impeccable.

Latremouille. Nuff Said.

Dan Williamson - a big heart, production genius - phones, joie de vivre....

Jon McComb - News/Host etc. Consistent thy name be JM.

JB Shayne and Daryl B and Rick Honey. Tied. All way beyond GREAT.

Stevie "Wonder" Grossman (*Thanks for giving me the bug). Barry Bowman in Victoria. STILL the best at narration and clean air work you will hear anywhere. I owe him a lot more than just honest praise.

Kathy Danford.....Russ McLoud.....Jim Hault....Gord Robson (*we miss you Gordie)....Lizzie McKinney.....Casey White (*never has had her due....talk about staying power).....jeez, sorry, ran over.....Frosty....Cullen.....Red.....Karen Daniels....Clay St. Thomas....Chris Coburn....Big Daddy.....Luker....Racoon Carney....

The GREATEST....? Not Vancouver - not Canadian....it would be WIBG Era John 'Records' Landecker. WLS may be the Glory years for John, but man, WIBG, he was so far ahead of the pack it was scary.

What about YOU. Sorry....I have to cue up "Take Me To The Pilot".

[radiofan]

Some great memories there hagopian .. keep 'em coming!

For those who missed John Rode when he was at CKVN for a short time (wish I had some airchecks...) in the early 70's,
here he is on Labour Day Weekend 1971 at Toronto's 10-50 CHUM counting down the CHUM Top 300 ...

http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/air1971.html [scroll down about 2/3rds of the page]

This aircheck from Dale Patterson's Rock Radio Scrapbook.

[Anotherwpgguy]

Hagopian ... nice post ... but .... the least you could do would to cue up something with a layunder in the intro!

Maybe something like "Edwin Starr - 25 Miles" out of a fast logo jingle laid up to the vocal with a strong pot up at vocal hit point ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0nFlUeN0o

Or out of a slow jingle with "Gladys Knight & The Pips - I Don't Want To Do Wrong" ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJxVimBgxGk again working with the pot level to make her start with greater presence and a smooth blend out of the jingle ... preferably in the same note.

Or, you can never go wrong with "Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed Delivered, I'm Yours" laid under a top of the hour ID with the pot up good & high for his scream .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inXC_lab-34

All this requires microsecond timing and an understanding of the attack time on the processor to make things sound their best though.

I smirk and chortle at the thought!

Ex-CKVN and CFUN ... Now I'm just .... Anotherwpgguy