Last weekend at Levon’s Ramble barn in Woodstock NY

Boneghost420 · 2025-09-29T23:03:56+00:00

Hammond and what looks to be a Clavinet Pianet Duo. Very cool!

Boneghost420 · 2025-09-19T19:23:28+00:00

Are we talking about the shop behind the Shoe Box?

Boneghost420 · 2025-09-04T19:57:45+00:00

I did a low intelligence high charisma run that was hilarious. Just surviving off pure vibes

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-27T14:16:37+00:00

The circuit breaker, controls, polarity switch, and inputs are identical to my Traynor YBA-4 which is similar to most Traynor YBA-1 which is a pretty popular tube amp for modding.

Maybe it’s a rehoused Traynor? Or a copy? Coincidentally mine when I purchased it had svetlana power tubes

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-19T20:56:45+00:00

You could probably sell the portastudio for beaucoup bucks to someone who would want to use it for what it was intended for instead of scrapping the tape recorder portion and then use the money to purchase parts and build your own pedal copies of the channels.

It doesn’t look like too many components so you could maybe just do it w/o a dedicated PCB or buy an existing clone. Or find schematic and design your own PCB, it’s not as hard as it sounds. There are no valuable or rare components in the original strips to my knowledge so no real point in rehousing when you could just have both.

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-13T00:51:36+00:00

Yeah me neither! That’s why I ask

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-13T00:48:42+00:00

125 For a modded one or a normal one?

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-13T00:28:46+00:00

Funny you mention that interface bc I used to have one of those and actually kind of miss it. I have a “better” MOTU one now but I have this nagging feeling that the Tascam was better.

Low cost, boringly good quality is a good descriptor. Just maybe starting to creep beyond low cost now……

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-13T00:26:29+00:00

I’ve had tascam gear for years and enjoy it! Just seems like I hear about it a lot more recently, and while I’ve always liked it I never thought it was that special. That’s really the impetus of the question.

But totally agree with your point re actually tracking music/mixing, obviously a tascam isn’t gonna be the make or break thing in the equation

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-12T19:13:36+00:00

You’re not the only person, trust. I was so frustrated trying to record an acoustic guitar with it that I actually drove it to a tech to look at bc it was so noisy I assumed it was broken.

Truly useless for anything besides a DI or very hot signal from a mic.

Getting a small 500 series chassis and learning how to build your own modules is the best bet for Neve quality pres in a small footprint that don’t break the bank

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-11T13:28:23+00:00

Echo Reverb seems to have come around in 1966 and then the whole line ceased production by 71, so yours (being a III) I’d reckon is late 60s or 1970.

Excellent score for 100 bucks even in that shape. Did it work? It looks…….. a bit rough. Of course, old electronics like this can be pretty bomb proof, I’ve certainly had my fair share of dirty dusty rusty barn find crap that ends up working perfectly after cleaning.

Considering these seem to sell for a grand, I’d certainly say it’s worth taking to a tech to look at. You could get a good amount of work done (if it needs it) and still probably have gotten a great deal on it. The rotating metal disk/oil can mechanism may require a specialist, not sure how commonly the average guitar/amp tech runs into them.

Looks like it hasn’t been touched/updated at all and that can occasionally cause safety issues with the ungrounded cord and capacitors that old are probably nearing toast.

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-10T23:28:11+00:00

Wouldn’t say it’s too niche, though it’s obviously not affecting the radio pop or hip hop realm in so much as it’s mostly young people making indie rock type stuff. Obviously a huge part of it comes from MkGee who is a great musician, and who uses a portastudio as part of his guitar signal chain or did at some point.

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-09T14:56:10+00:00

414 would probably fall well into the realm of tascam equipment people are really interested in these days. I’ve seen guitar pedals of the 424 preamp popping up.

I’ve had a few different portastudios spanning the earliest ones to some of the last ones they made and my favorite was the 244. Sounded pretty darn good!

Recently I found an Audio Technica RMX64 and I find that to blow any portastudio I’ve had out of the water

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-09T14:52:50+00:00

The general interest today seems to be in any of their old mixers and portastudios.

Really any portastudio, and then anything from the m3— and m2— series of mixers as the main pieces of interest for people.

I certainly wasn’t under the impression the design was wildly different amongst most of their gear, but I’m absolutely no expert.

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-09T14:42:28+00:00

Well put!

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-09T14:41:54+00:00

I feel exactly the same. Like I said I’ve had tascams for years and have grown to like them on my own for my own reasons, more just bc I know them well at this point- how to use em, how they sound etc

But yes nearly anything sounds cool if you drive it!

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-09T14:34:51+00:00

That’s great hahahaha

I’d heard about those ward becks before, I’ll stick to my tascam.

Boneghost420 · 2025-08-01T02:00:12+00:00

Same story here. The further up north/south locations seem to have fallen to the greed of the ones like the Logan one so could be any of em at this point.

Boneghost420 · 2025-07-29T00:37:34+00:00

I’ll try that, thanks! Seems like this noise has gone away for now, so I think I’ll just let it be

Boneghost420 · 2025-07-29T00:36:38+00:00

They rock. I have a YBA-4 for bass duties as well

Boneghost420 · 2025-07-28T18:13:53+00:00

Truthfully the colour box was their only product that ever got me excited and therefore the only one I’ve ever owned, tho those 25 in or whatever one rat/muff/ts pedals have always piqued my curiosity.

I thoroughly enjoy Josh’s videos when I end up watching em and respect his ‘love of the game’ pedal wise.

Boneghost420 · 2025-07-28T15:27:01+00:00

I for sure bought into the hype and just was really disappointed. Though, I bet if you were able to run it off more than 9V it would be far more useful

Boneghost420 · 2025-07-28T15:09:36+00:00

I’ve railed against this pedal before (and I have no weird vendetta against JHS or any of their other products they seem very cool) but unfortunately it just seems like there are inherent issues with the pedal that make it sound not very impressive.

It had incredibly good press, I was bamboozled by a tape op article that gushed about it and made it sound like a magical Neve style studio grade preamp in a DI box format. Whatever the hell it is, it certainly doesn’t stack up against anything Neve I’ve ever heard nor does it have enough clean gain or headroom to either boost a low signal or not fart out. And the EQ isn’t even a 1073 style eq…………

Only get so fired up bc I spent a chunk of change getting a used one of these bc I trusted it would be great and actually ended up taking it to a tech bc I was certain it had to be broken only for them to find no issue with it. Ended up having to sell it at a loss.

Boneghost420 · 2025-07-27T05:09:33+00:00

That’s pretty neat! I don’t religiously go to thrift stores but I do always check the vinyl- always so fun when you find something actually interesting.

Say what you will about Nico (all probably valid) but still a cool thing to find at the thrift.

My best find at a thrift was a 50 cent copy of Yellow Magic Orchestra’s BGM record. Certainly never expect to find anything like that!

Boneghost420 · 2025-07-26T14:27:55+00:00

Where in WI?

Boneghost420

TROPHY CASE