Few know my long term goals, but the main one is to build a large format 32 channel vacuum tube Mixing console, code named "The Big One."   Its literally going to cost a fortune in parts and it will take many years to complete... unless of course an Angel investor drops into my lap.  

The goal is lofty, so I thought the best way to get there is with baby steps.  Its such a massive undertaking that I'll only get one shot at this (Recording equipment parallel to Nasa's landing on the Moon).  So, to make prototyping possible I plan to start small.  Yesterday I built a small active tube powered splitter, which takes one signal and splits it into two outputs with independent volume controls.  I couldn't do this passively without the volume knobs interacting with each other, so a single 12AU7 tube is on both channels for isolation purposes.  The 12AU7 also adds some overall volume to each channel.  The sound is not 100% transparent, but its very close and the subtle coloration is very pleasing.  How could this be used in "The Big One?"  Using this circuit (or a modification of it) I could implement several FX sends on each channel of the board.  Being able to route a channel to various external effects with controls of the send volumes is absolutely critical for a Mixing board.  I would be happy with 2 sends, which is exactly what this prototype box is capable of.     

I really hope to create a small 4 channel tube mixer later this year.  What I'd like to build is something relatively simple and rack mount friendly.  I'm thinking per channel it would have volume, pan, phase invert, and low cut switches + VU meters for the stereo output.  It wouldn't be cheap, but it could be priced in the realm of obtainable for project studios.  It could be used to combine the outputs of 2 summing boxes or it could be used for sub-mixing, which is how I intend to use it.  

This is the first post about The Big One, but I'll be writing more in the future as things develop.  

Since my last post about the 1401, minor alterations were made to the layout to lower the noise floor and raise the output level capability.  It is now complete and available for purchase here on the site.  Details about the 1401 Stereo Microphone Amp can be found here. 

The Ghost Box (pictured above the 1401 Preamp) was built as an add-on to give the 1401 all the typical features commonly associated with mic preamps. Its main feature is phantom power, but it also provides switches for phase invert and low cut.  The Ghost Box is stereo to compliment the 1401 Preamp, but it can be used with any mic preamp as a sonic alternative to on-board phantom power.
  
There's a few interesting things to note about the Ghost Box.  First off, its 100% valve state (like everything made by Lightning Boy Audio).  That might not sound too strange unless you're familiar with phantom power enough to know devices that deliver phantom power are traditionally powered by solid state power supplies.  Usually with phantom power, it needs to be well regulated so that the microphones being powered by it can operate with low noise.  The use of solid state voltage regulators is common in the industry.   Furthermore, phantom power was first introduced when solid state condenser mics came about.  I doubt anyone considered building a tube based phantom power supply because few people are as crazy as I am and its considerably more expensive to do... not to mention the design challenges involved.      
The Ghost Box departs from traditional phantom power by deriving its 48vDC from a vacuum tube rectifier and a neon voltage regulator tube.  

What's so special about that you might ask?  Well aside from it being a new concept, there is an obvious sonic difference between using a solid state phantom power supply and the all-tube Ghost Box.  Check out this demo video with some decent speakers or headphones to hear the difference yourself!  

As you'll see from looking around the site, I've been busy incorporating my studio into the folds of Lightning Boy Audio.  I renamed the studio and have a new sign on the way... "LBA Studios."  Keep an eye on the site as new gear rolls out and the studio section of the site comes together.  BTW, check out the super killer 1401 preamp and Ghost Box!  There's some tasty demos up, with more on the way!!!

My prototype passive EQ was first put into service in January of 2010, which means I probably started building it in December of 2009.  In the beginning it was a passive EQ filter with no amplifier for makeup gain, no output transformer and the incorrect input transformer, but even then it sounded great.  Since then I have occasionally modified, tweaked, added on and taken away from it, until 2013.  In '13 I stared hitting it hard with lots of R&D time of which the most was conducted in the first few months of 2014.  Yesterday I finally got the EQ sounding so great its breathtaking, which means I'm done.  The actual production model will be somewhat different, but it will be strongly based on the prototype.

• The prototype features Carnhill input and output transformers, a Jensen interstage transformer and an Edcor power transformer.  With 3 transformers in the audio path per channel, its clearly a tone machine.  
  
• The prototype filter section is a modification of the Pultec EQP1-A program equalizer.  It features independent controls for low boost, low attenuate, high boost, high attenuate and a Q control for the high boost.  The prototype has more than twice as many EQ frequency choices as a pultec and with the combination of overlapping frequencies and independent controls, its vastly more versatile.  All of the filter caps are paper in oil (of course) and the inductors are my very own hand-wound creations.  I even managed to make some of the paper in oil caps by hand.  
  
• The amplifier section uses a single 12AT7 per channel in zero-negative feedback push/pull configuration.  I tried many tubes before settling on the 12AT7, which I favored for its wide frequency response and warm "single-ended sounding" tone.  Plus, the 12AT7 has just the right amount of gain for this circuit.  
• The power supply is onboard in the prototype, but will be external with the production model, due to limited space.  The supply puts out 500v through a 6X4 rectifier tube and some very big audio-grade filter caps for DC smoothing.          

March 1st marks the end of instrument FX pedal production for Lightning Boy Audio and signals the start of a new era for LBA.  I will be building pedals for the next week or two as I complete the last orders and get them shipped out.  After that I'll be starting on some long awaited projects.  The very first thing I'm going to work on is a new plate reverb for my recording studio.  The new reverb will take all I've learned from working on vintage EMT 140 reverbs and all I've learned from building hi-fi tube amps and combine them into the most badass analog plate reverb to ever grace the Earth.  I am literally setting out to create the best sounding reverb processor ever.

After I conquer the reverb, which will be no small feat, my next project will be a stereo passive EQ.  This is something that I've wanted to do for many years.  Thankfully I held off for as long as I did because now I have spent over 4 years of R&D on my prototype, which is so impressive sounding its just plain ridiculous.  I'm very excited to finally be building this equalizer because I know how epic it will be.  Words can't describe how beautiful the prototype sounds AND the crazy thing is the prototype is made out of spare parts and salvaged junk.  It looks ugly as hell, but it works great and sounds even better! 

After the EQ is complete I will be building a very limited run of super high-end rack mounted studio guitar amps.  I'm probably only going to make 5-10 amps. I already built a prototype which blows away anything I've heard before.  Its a 30 watt singled ended class A hand wired tube amp.  Its going to have a killer tube powered spring reverb (which may be optional, but I haven't decided yet). I already built a standalone rack mount tube reverb for a very faithful LBA customer, which this amps reverb will be based on.     

Last night was the first test of my first guitar amp build and it was a massive success!  I'm building a tube amp for Benjamin Wade and the only requirement is that it be a studio amp of Lightning Boy quality.  What we have here is a head that puts out 20 watts of pure class A single ended tube tone.  Its a low gain amp with controls for input gain, bass, mids, treble, output gain.  Its currently powered by a 5U4 rectifier tube, an EL34 power tube and a 12AX7 preamp tube.  In the coming days I will be converting it over to a 6L6 power tube and I'll be adding some simple tweaks such as a jewel lamp, which its currently missing.  It has outputs for 4, 8 and 16 ohm speakers.  

Hows it sound?  Well, on first listening the very first thing I noticed was a significant amount of headroom.  Thats always a good thing!  It can get really clean and "nashville" sounding, but you can dial in a raw and angry crunch with both gain knobs cranked.  With the gain pegged, it has almost a wild sounding purr to it, like a lion.  The breakup is pretty unique sounding in a very hip kind of way.  The EQ controls are buttery smooth and very gradual, unlike the EQ on most amps I have played through over the years.  I may mess with the EQ points a touch because the bass is so deep that its not all that useable for guitar and the low mids are a little too low for my taste, although they sound really nice!  

Next update will include photos at least, but also some sound samples!  I think I shall call her the "Custom 13."  

I am planning to make my own inductors by hand for the Tube Buffered Bypass option (Opti-Mu Prime) and for the Mikey Q sidecar for Soul Drive IV. For the time being, I am using some vintage Yamaha inductors scrapped from PM1000 Mixing board channel strips for Opti-Mu Prime (tube buffered bypass version), but I only have a very small number of these.  I ordered some ferrite cores to start building my own mini inductors, so it will soon be possible for the "Mikey Q" Sidecar to become available again.  

Also, I updated the Opti-Mu Prime page -  the Tube Buffered Bypass version is available for ordering.  The price is higher than the True Bypass version because there is some added electronics which are pretty serious.  The tube buffered bypass was painstakingly tuned to provide the purest tone possible for long cable runs when the pedal is bypassed.  Opti-Mu Prime

I'm currently working on developing a new line of products to fill the niche of studio gear.  One of the main products currently under development is a line of tube powered microphone preamps.  Hopefully, these new products will be available sometime around the New Year.  

Currently tweaking the output stage.  I'm trying out different transformers looking for the "right sound."  Just ordered some Carnhill transformers, so we'll see how they perform soon enough.  I have already tried Sowter, Jensen and Cinemag.  Jensen transformers work, but sound a little to "plain" for what I'm looking for.  More updates to follow!

NOS tape head cleaner (buffing tape) came in today so I took a cleaning to the Marantz. Took a look at the heads first and realized one was very dirty, so I busted out the Alcohol and swabs first. Then I ran the buffing tape through and now the heads look like they're brand new. I can tell this machine has very low mileage. won a box of blank hi-bias NOS tapes this morning. Getting ready to get a bit more creative :)

Mike Here with an update... "Estate Sale Gems" (ESG)... I found some really killer NOS 12AU7 tubes at an estate sale. Super low noise and super warm fat tones. If you want to upgrade your purchase with an ESG tube, shoot me an email at [email protected]. There is an additional charge of $20 per tube. The tubes normally included with Soul Drives are tested on a tube tester and tested by ear for microphonics, but they are not screened for normal tube noise unless it seems higher than average. However, our ESG tubes go through more significant testing and are compared against other 12AU7 tubes to find those that exhibit less tube noise than average. I have developed a noise rating system (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-). Any tube heard as a "B" or worse in terms of noise will always get rejected in any Soul Drive pedal. A- and B+ tubes are average NOS tubes. The ESG tubes are hand selected when they exhibit noise low enough to be considered A+ or A rated. ESG tubes are also fatter sounding in terms of tone, IMHO.