[ToneLux]

The East coast was pretty much stock.

There is a way that a designer can mix ICs and Discretes if he knows what they are doing. The critical parts are the Mic Pres, parts of the EQ and Summing. As long as the rest is at line level, you can make a great sounding product and save the customer money at the same time. It's all about tone.

The API op-amp/transformer set were designed to work together, as was the 990 and the nickel core transformers. The early days at Sunset had custom consoles (Bushnell, then DeMideo, then their own). The earlier ones were stock API line cards and EQs. The SS console had special versions of the API 550A with 990s and nickel, and used the twin servo 990 concepts internally.

The "LA" sound was pretty well divided between Neve and API, with a more leaning towards API, but in those early days, the API console frames and features were custom, but the electronics were stock. The electronic stuff didn't come until later.