VINTAGE ABBEY ROAD IN A LUNCHBOX
By Graeme Hague
20 January 2014
Abbey Road Studios is as iconic as you can get in this business. Even so, it’s interesting just how often we go rummaging through its history – not to mention the backroom shelves and cupboards – for gear to inspire hardware and plug-ins that emulate the studio’s legendary 1960-70’s “sound”. Plug-ins in particular – the tape machines, the consoles… about the only thing left that hasn’t been sampled and modeled must be the teaspoon that John Lennon used to stir his tea during the Sergeant Peppers sessions. In pursuit of those famous tones Chandler Limited prefers real knobs and wires and stuff. The TG2 has been around awhile and is a recreation of the rare EMI TG12428 pre-amp used in EMI/Abbey Road recording and mastering consoles in the late 60s and early 70s, a period including albums such as The Beatles’ Abbey Road and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Chandler has now announced the TG2-500, which is – no surprise for guessing – a 500 Series version of the TG2 and Chandler readily admits it’s taken a while to figure out how to design the module without compromising the circuitry and sonic signature of that EMI pre-amp it’s based upon. The end result is the TG2-500 has the identical TG2 circuit, transistors, and transformers, including the coarse gain control and a fine gain control as found on EMI consoles. Go to www.chandlerlimited.com for technical details. Chandler hasn’t yet pinned down pricing or availability.
Australian Distributor: Mixmasters www.mixmasters.com.au
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