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07 Aug 09 - 02:00 AM (#2695223) Subject: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: GUEST,Lotech Strummer Hi, anyone know if its worth trying to salvage the valve pre-amp out of an early 60's mono Ferrograph Tape Recorder and modify it into a viable standalone recording pre-amp? I'm crap at electrics so I'd have to consider paying a local technician to disconnect it, restore any components, and then fit it into a new box with inputs/ outputs and vol/tone controls. So would this be a reasonable idea, or just too expensive to justify the end result in comparison to the sound quality & price of brand new Chinese built pre-amps ? I used to record my band with it back in the 70's. .. and use it as a makeshift fuzzed out guitar amp when my Dad wasn't looking. But its not been used for at least 20 years, and getting caked in dust and cobwebs last time I checked it out at my Mums house. |
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07 Aug 09 - 04:27 AM (#2695275) Subject: RE: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: Richard Bridge Probably not up to modern-day standards. Try the Joe Meek range. |
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07 Aug 09 - 05:54 AM (#2695316) Subject: RE: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: Bernard Take care - the mains smoothing electrolytic capacitors may be far too dried out to work properly, and could even explode... you must replace them with ones with the correct ripple current specification, which may be tricky to source these days. My guess is your memory is improving its performance in your head...! I don't mean that in a derisory way, it's just the way we are! |
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10 Aug 09 - 02:40 AM (#2696752) Subject: RE: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: GUEST Hi I'm not a real tech person but I have a ferrograph series 4 tube tape machine.. I use it A as a guitar amp (often fuzzed out because it does it so well)for solo gigs and recording and B as a line amp and high impedance mic pre on occasions. Its input is very high impedance and not suited to standard modern balanced mics but a tech can tackle that with the right input transformer. I recapped the power supply and it came to life. Its got a great bottom end and obviously a real valve quality. When mixing I often run stuff through it admittedly to drive it but I think it would make a great mic pre if modded. Probably not technically good on paper ( I read somewhere its meant to be flat on playback to 12khz which is not bad ) but who cares? If you want super transparent and hi fi then there are probably expensive mic pres or cheap functional ones out there that fit the bill but if you want the explosive and lifelike valve tone I reckon youd have it there. Anyway its plenty clear and present to my ears. I have a couple of dedicated mic pre's that would be more hi fi but I don't think by much and many of them don't have the same qualities as the ferrograph. It has nice old mullard valves in it, inductor eq on playback, and output transformer for the speaker or 15 ohm output. I think they were built really well, not cheaply by any stretch and there is plenty in there for a tech to do something with. Alot of the capacitors are paper in oil which are good in that they have a smooth tone etc, bad in that alot of them may have dried out. I'm sure my one would be improved by a recap in the amplifier section. PS I'm no tech expert but have looked alot in to these and am thinking of setting up a mic input transformer so I can feed in low impedance mics through the machine as is.... What a rant! Anyway, I reckon it'd be great to give it a shot. Tim |
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10 Aug 09 - 06:35 AM (#2696831) Subject: RE: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: Bernard You could always run a passive DI box backwards... saves a lot of modding! By backwards I mean plug the mic into the 'output' XLR - you'll need a 'gender-bender' or modified cable - and connect the 'input' to the Ferrograph input. This won't work with active DI boxes, only passive! |
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11 Aug 09 - 06:55 AM (#2697594) Subject: RE: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: GUEST,The Man in the Shed Is this any help ? http://www.morphet.org.uk/ferro/s5docs.html "Ferrograph Series 5 Documentation The following pages are scanned from the manuals of Ferrograph Series 5 tape recorders, kindly donated by Derek Revell and David Sylvester. This manual is also available as a high resolution PDF file (8.0MB). The Manual of the Ferrograph Series 5 Front Cover Series 5 Photo Title Page Important Notice Contents Contents, List of Diagrams and Plates Page 1, Foreword Page 2, Model 5A Specification Page 3, General Information Page 4 Page 5, Operating Instructions Page 6, Loading the Instrument Page 7 Page 8 Page 9, Speed Selection, Playback, Winding Page 10, Recording Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15, Brief Stop, Playback after Recording Page 16 Page 17 Page 18, Erasing, Record Links Page 19 Page 20, Auxiliary Socket, Changing Tracks Page 21, Editing and Splicing Tape Page 22, Spools Page 23, Endless Loops Page 24 Page 25, Care and Maintenance Page 26 Page 27 Technical Description - Design Details Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36, Testing and Alignment Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42, Use as an Amplifier, Conversion of 5A to 5S Page 43 Page 44 Page 45, The Ferrograph Model 5S Page 46, General Description, Connections Page 47, Playing Back Pre-Recorded Stereo Tapes Page 48, Appendix A - Operational Fault Analysis Page 49 Page 50, Appendix B - List of Components - Model 5A, 240V, 50 c.p.s Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54, List of Components - Model 5A, 110V, 50 and 60 c.p.s Page 55, Appendix C - Accessories Circuit Diagram (220K) Page 58 Page 59" |
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11 Aug 09 - 08:22 AM (#2697622) Subject: RE: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: Bernard Don't you just love t'internet?! ;o) |
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09 Oct 14 - 02:05 AM (#3667336) Subject: RE: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: GUEST,Evo Anyone made a definitive mod guide for these units yet? |
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09 Oct 14 - 12:34 PM (#3667557) Subject: RE: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker 5 year old thread... The OP was me using one of my off the top of my head disposable IDs [don't ask why, I can't remember] The ferro is still gathering dust at my mum's house. Since then I've found the odd blog post from techs who have modded these old boxes. So there are newer additions to the internet to google. This is my favourite... Ferrograph Amp I am now resigned to probably not being able to afford to pay to have the work done..... |
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08 Apr 15 - 08:30 AM (#3700494) Subject: RE: Ferrograph pre-amp project ? From: GUEST,Itay Hi guys, Quite an old tread but I thought I'd give this a go. I've got a couple of Series 6 units, stripped bare of their valves, transformers and power supply. I could get the remaining bits by checking for the right ones in the schematics, but I couldn't find which power supply it needed exactly. any thoughts? |