Buying Vintage Harrison Console: Will maintenance be a burden?

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by Telefunk

If you want "Shitty" forget the Harrisons because they sound beautiful. If you want shitty, buy yourself a 70's Peavey or something.

Harrison 32 series has super nice transformers in/out and I personally find the status switching a great thing, lot's of options that you can use or just go with one of them all the time. The eq/filters are stunning. Pre's are great but if you sub the old chip to a discrete 2520 opamp it will be amazing. (identical to API down to every resistor value, by the way)

Re-chipping usually means the audio opamps are changed to newer/faster one. And in Harrisons case it can also mean the logic chips. As Jim mentioned Harrisons are built so that opamps have sockets and have local power supply bypass caps allaround, so you can just try all modern chips if you like and they wont start to oscillate. I myself found the HA4605-5 opamps to be really good, but prefered the LME49740 in monitor section and mix buss/master.

Those old power supplys must be completely recapped, if it's not done already a good tech will do it in few hours.

Fletcher, what do you mean you wouldn't call it "vintage"? A LFC (500kg) designed around 1976, that's pretty much hand built with in/out transformers and buffalo leather armrest, i think it starts to be in the ballpark of vintage-ism..., dont ya think?

I not a pro at knowing tons of info on LFC but I am like you vintage-ism is a good work at least.
I have never worked much on a LFC, but these are special, right down to the pre's that push dynamics mics like no other, eqs that is balanced well/solid and the Penny Giles faders.
I'm excited everyday just to fire the Harrison up.
When I die I want a extra grave dug to bury me with it.....lol

[beau]

I have a 3232c. Recapped, rebuilt power supply, modded master section, removed vcas, I also modded the top band of eq to be switchable between bell and shelving. I love it. Get the harrison. Get stoked.

[Fletcher]

Originally Posted by Telefunk

, what do you mean you wouldn't call it "vintage"? A LFC (500kg) designed around 1976, that's pretty much hand built with in/out transformers and buffalo leather armrest, i think it starts to be in the ballpark of vintage-ism..., dont ya think?

No - I don't think it gets into the realm of "vintage" any more than a 1976 Buick Regal is a "vintage" or "classic" car. Its "old". Its good, but pretty far from classic.

If you were around in 1976 you'd know it was a "mid-level" tool. They were built for "mid-level" studios, and while they worked, they were far from "marquee". In 1976 if you walked into Media Sound you wouldn't have found one... if you walked into Record Plant - you wouldn't have found one... if you walked into Electric Lady you wouldn't have found one... if you walked in the Cherokee, Village, A&M [etc., etc., etc.] you wouldn't have found one.

You would have found them in mid-level demo joints or jingle rooms... much like you wouldn't have seen Ted Nugent [huge in 1976] behind the wheel of a Buick Regal.

To me "vintage" means "classic"... it means "top gear in its day that is still top gear"... it doesn't mean "pedestrian tool that happened to live a long time". Just like I don't think an MCI 600 should ever be called "vintage" or an "Aces" 24 track machine should ever be called "vintage"... or a Valley People "Kepex" should ever be considered anything but "old".

As always... YMMV.

Peace

[Telefunk]

Thanks Fletcher for answering...

Sure, I wasn't around back then...

...but I wouldn't call studios like Polar (ABBA, Led Zeppelin, Genesis) , Power Plant (Sade etc), Westlake (Michael Jackson) and Musicland (Queen, ELO, Rolling Stones) mid-level demo joints or jingle rooms. Dont you think? They all had 32-series desks installed.

Besides, technically there is really nothing that would make a Neve any better than 32-series Harrison, both of them are packed with 5532's anyway (or the like) and Harrison mic pre's have Jensen transformers which are as top notch as it gets.

My theory is that the first patch (32a) of the 32-series had such problems soundwise that it ruined the reputation of the later models like 32c too, which sounds absolutely fabulous, compared to any desk there is.

And I'd doubt a guy like Bruce Swedien would use a 32-series Harrison if there would be ANYTHING he'd like better. I mean, he could have and use any console in the world if he likes, but he has chosen to use Harrison.

But like you said: YMMV, indeed.

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

If you were around in 1976 you'd know it was a "mid-level" tool. They were built for "mid-level" studios, and while they worked, they were far from "marquee". In 1976 if you walked into Media Sound you wouldn't have found one... if you walked into Record Plant - you wouldn't have found one... if you walked into Electric Lady you wouldn't have found one... if you walked in the Cherokee, Village, A&M [etc., etc., etc.] you wouldn't have found one.

So you think Amigo was a mid-level studio?

“We spent 12 days making the album. We had a totally different approach this time. We used a different studio too. It’s now called Warner Brothers Recording Studios, but it used to be called Amigo," said Van Halen, according to Obrecht. "It’s owned by Warner Brothers, and they have a real big room. It was nice to have a change, because we’d done every other album at Sunset Sound. It was just a lot of fun going to a different studio."

Recorded in NoHo: Van Halen's 'Diver Down'



---

[AllAboutTone]

Thanks Jim.

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by Telefunk

Thanks Fletcher for answering...

Sure, I wasn't around back then...

...but I wouldn't call studios like Polar (ABBA, Led Zeppelin, Genesis) , Power Plant (Sade etc), Westlake (Michael Jackson) and Musicland (Queen, ELO, Rolling Stones) mid-level demo joints or jingle rooms. Dont you think? They all had 32-series desks installed.

Besides, technically there is really nothing that would make a Neve any better than 32-series Harrison, both of them are packed with 5532's anyway (or the like) and Harrison mic pre's have Jensen transformers which are as top notch as it gets.

My theory is that the first patch (32a) of the 32-series had such problems soundwise that it ruined the reputation of the later models like 32c too, which sounds absolutely fabulous, compared to any desk there is.

And I'd doubt a guy like Bruce Swedien would use a 32-series Harrison if there would be ANYTHING he'd like better. I mean, he could have and use any console in the world if he likes, but he has chosen to use Harrison.

But like you said: YMMV, indeed.

I agree, he can not call them vintage if he desires, but mid level for that era ? NO WAY........ To many major records came off of those consoles.
You can add ACDC "Back In Black, Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" Sade Promise Album, Paul Simon and Kansas to say the least.

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by AllAboutTone

I agree, he can not call them vintage if he desires, but mid level for that era ? NO WAY........ To many major records came off of those consoles.
You can add SADE Promise Album, Paul Simon and Kansas to say the least.

Vintage is really just putting a date on stuff, doesn't mean good or bad. At what age it becomes vintage is a bit uncertain, but I would say that 76' Regal is a vintage Buick. Classic, probably not.

[AllAboutTone]

While we are on the subject.
I have 2 Harrison consoles, one is in the studio, the other is in my storage building, it is free of moisture, should I store the modules in a rack case ? should I wrap them is in something? my console is stored vertical so I don't want to leave them in the frame.

I cannot use both in my studio so it's good not to have both in the same place, suppose the place burns down I still have a working console, get my drift ?
The modules are also backup incase I have on ein my studio go down, nice to have backups.

[AllAboutTone]

Yesterday I finally got around to testing all my modules, the consoles was made in 82, I still have 61 modules still working like they should the rest only need minor repair, like a opamp, fader replaced or chip.

Pretty good I would say.

[mintytowel]

Mine is still kicking my ass!!! Been working on getting it running properly for two years. Granted I don't have a ton of money, and I do it when i can afford, but it is a pretty harrowing experience, and if I had to do it over again I would have done it differently.

Signal seems to get lost in the FET cards alot on mine, and it takes a long time to trouble shoot. That said it sounds great, and looks pretty impressive, but I would have bought something that was fully refurbished and in great working condition. I am in a similar situation to you, the cosole is for my own personal use mainly. I have learned a lot about soldering in the last to years but as I said the logic section and FET cards are way beyond my simple tech chops, and its always a bummer paying a guy a couple hundred bucks to tell you the problem was a $0.25 transistor.

The guy I bought mine from said a lot of things about how well maintained it was, recapped rechipped, modded etc, etc.....I will leave it at that

[mintytowel]

Also I shoud mention, Jim Williams did the summing amp before I bought it from the previous owner. Also all of the VCA's were removed, and nearly all of the old round can op amps were removed and upgraded, lots of 5532's or 5534's everywhere, to be honest I forget which. I do really like the mic pre's quite a bit, and there is a "silky" for lack of a better word sound.

[Telefunk]

Originally Posted by mintytowel

Signal seems to get lost in the FET cards alot on mine, and it takes a long time to trouble shoot.

No need to suffer because of THAT! This is a well known problem and very easy to fix.

Oxidation of the FET card pins breaks the old solder just enough to loose the contact. The bad contact can usually be detected by the little ring in the old solder around the pin.

Some people have changed to the gold pins, that's probably the best option as they will never fail again but it is also quite of an operation.

The other option is just to re-solder the FET cards, after removing the old solder and cleaning the pins from corrosion. After that the FET cards will work perfectly for the next 20-30 years.

[mintytowel]

Hey thanks for the headsup on the cards. I did have to do some crazy cleaning on the actual channel strip cards around the area where the FET cards sit. Something was pretty conductive on there, the cleaning helped, but I will aslo look into resoldering. I am assuming you mean the ones on the motherboard that the FET card sits on????

I have had problems with signal actually getting lost somewhere in the cards themselves, bad transistors, diodes etc... Pretty much have run across just about every problem I could have at this point. Every time I get to the point where I finally have every channel passing audio. it seems like 2 or 3 channels go down the next day.

A couple other weird ones....
There is a bus assign button on channel 32 that if no depressed, seems to short out the whole console, my tech cant seem to find a reason why. Still have to get my echo sends working, a couple busses arent reaching tape or protools.

The transistor which I assume controls the local mute function shorts out on nearly every channel often. I have put sockets on most of my channel strips at this point as I have replaced nearly all of them a couple times now.

Finally got to the point i could track a full band through this thing, all my moaning aside, it does sound pretty damn good!!!!

[Telefunk]

Originally Posted by mintytowel

Hey thanks for the headsup on the cards. I did have to do some crazy cleaning on the actual channel strip cards around the area where the FET cards sit. Something was pretty conductive on there, the cleaning helped, but I will aslo look into resoldering. I am assuming you mean the ones on the motherboard that the FET card sits on????

I have had problems with signal actually getting lost somewhere in the cards themselves, bad transistors, diodes etc... Pretty much have run across just about every problem I could have at this point. Every time I get to the point where I finally have every channel passing audio. it seems like 2 or 3 channels go down the next day.

A couple other weird ones....
There is a bus assign button on channel 32 that if no depressed, seems to short out the whole console, my tech cant seem to find a reason why. Still have to get my echo sends working, a couple busses arent reaching tape or protools.

The transistor which I assume controls the local mute function shorts out on nearly every channel often. I have put sockets on most of my channel strips at this point as I have replaced nearly all of them a couple times now.

Finally got to the point i could track a full band through this thing, all my moaning aside, it does sound pretty damn good!!!!

geez man, you have some serious things going on with that board. I have to add that i've never had a single local mute gone down or any problems in the fet cards, except the solder points even though before i got the board it had spent almost ten years in a cold attic! Have you replaced the 74c157 with modern CD40257 in the fet cards? You should.

That bus assign button thing sounds really weird, it shouldn't be a big thing to track down as it makes such a huge impact on the console. How does it happen when it shorts out the whole console? Signal path too? Or just some logic parts? maybe something shorts out in the status parts?

Yes, I meant the fet card pins where they sit on the mobo. Also check that the pins are not oxidized. If so, gently use sandpaper on them (just the pins nothing else) or something.

What local mute transistor are talking about excactly?

[mintytowel]

Not to steal this guys thread, but as it is directly related, and could be taken by the original poster as possiby the worst case scenario......yes, it has been nothing short of a nightmare for me.

As always thanks for the pointers, I will looking into swapping the chips on the FET cards. I have only had one or two bad logic chips so far, but anything that helps at this point. You name it, I have run across it as far as problems go. I am getting to the point of having the console being stable, less of the one step forward two steps back thing. Just a lot of frustrating days having the tech over and ending up with more problems than when I started.

I will try and post a pic of the card to point out which transistor keeps going on me. I am not at the studio now.

I always seem to have channels that work when soloed but arent making it to the faders. Signal always seems to get lost somewhere new, never the same problem twice. Talk about frustration!

Another weird one, on about 1/2 of the channels over channel number 24 the owner who had the console before me took out the circuity of the hi-pass filters. I have no idea what the benefits of this were supposed to be. Perhaps he was just cannabalizing parts for other channels, I will never know.

I have had to prioritize my repairs and come up with a plan of what I needed to do first to get up and running, I havent even discoverd this last one with the filters until recently. I am sure I will find more....ugh!

I did get the console very cheap, and even with the money I have put into repairs, I havent been totally ripped off financially yet, although I am fast approaching that line. I have however been robbed of time. The console was in storage when I bought it, and I put way too much trust in the seller as he seemed lie a fairly honest guy.

At the very least I figure I need five more full days with a tech to get this thing working once and for all. As I said I am on a bit of a shoestring budget, so that could be months depending on how busy I am. Again sound wise, I am very happy, but there are still lots of problems I havent even gotten to start adressing yet. I haven't given up yet, trust me, I have thought very seriously about just parting this thing out, but I have so much time and emotion invested that its hard to just throw in the towel at this point. I can see the finish line but it is, and probably always will be a bit of a moving target. Things do seem to be moving faster now, as my tech is troubleshooting quicker as he has become more familar with the layout. Most of the major problems have been solved, and I am moving on to more of the smaller ones but they are just as tricky, and expensive, to trouble shoot. Then I will finish recapping, and re-chipping on my own.

Sorry to vent...just a cautonary tale

To the original poster, I wish you much more luck than me

Lesson learned the hard way I guess.

[Telefunk]

Originally Posted by mintytowel

I always seem to have channels that work when soloed but arent making it to the faders.

Again, the FET card.

[mintytowel]

Most of the time the FET is the culprit. Not always, invisible brakes in the traces have hit me a couple of times, talk about hard to trouble shoot!. I am convinced this thing was possessed when I got it.

But it sounds so great! I am hoping after a full re-cap and major re-chipping things will be stable for years, as essentially it will brand new. It looks like i will need to replace a lot of faders as well. cleaning has helped, but some of them are just beyond repair, too noisy to really move while mixing even after being thoroughly cleaned.

@ Telefunk, exactly what chips did you use in the pre's, and where did you get them.

And as an added note. my plan is to do the arm rest in blue suede. and have the outside completely chrome plated. I am trading studio time for the services of a hollywood set designer. I had all of the meter bridge covers remade as well, looks really nice. Lastly, some panels made to cover the holes where I had missing channels, it was originally a 4032 but it only has 32 channels now. Don't really think i will need more but if any show up cheap I might buy some to fill her up, or at least to have a couple of spares in case a channel or two go down.

[jeremyglover]

Originally Posted by mintytowel

my plan is to do the arm rest in blue suede.

i was right with you up until this!
if it gets done, you have to post a pic please!

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by mintytowel

Not to steal this guys thread, but as it is directly related, and could be taken by the original poster as possiby the worst case scenario......yes, it has been nothing short of a nightmare for me.

As always thanks for the pointers, I will looking into swapping the chips on the FET cards. I have only had one or two bad logic chips so far, but anything that helps at this point. You name it, I have run across it as far as problems go. I am getting to the point of having the console being stable, less of the one step forward two steps back thing. Just a lot of frustrating days having the tech over and ending up with more problems than when I started.

I will try and post a pic of the card to point out which transistor keeps going on me. I am not at the studio now.

I always seem to have channels that work when soloed but arent making it to the faders. Signal always seems to get lost somewhere new, never the same problem twice. Talk about frustration!

Another weird one, on about 1/2 of the channels over channel number 24 the owner who had the console before me took out the circuity of the hi-pass filters. I have no idea what the benefits of this were supposed to be. Perhaps he was just cannabalizing parts for other channels, I will never know.

I have had to prioritize my repairs and come up with a plan of what I needed to do first to get up and running, I havent even discoverd this last one with the filters until recently. I am sure I will find more....ugh!

I did get the console very cheap, and even with the money I have put into repairs, I havent been totally ripped off financially yet, although I am fast approaching that line. I have however been robbed of time. The console was in storage when I bought it, and I put way too much trust in the seller as he seemed lie a fairly honest guy.

At the very least I figure I need five more full days with a tech to get this thing working once and for all. As I said I am on a bit of a shoestring budget, so that could be months depending on how busy I am. Again sound wise, I am very happy, but there are still lots of problems I havent even gotten to start adressing yet. I haven't given up yet, trust me, I have thought very seriously about just parting this thing out, but I have so much time and emotion invested that its hard to just throw in the towel at this point. I can see the finish line but it is, and probably always will be a bit of a moving target. Things do seem to be moving faster now, as my tech is troubleshooting quicker as he has become more familar with the layout. Most of the major problems have been solved, and I am moving on to more of the smaller ones but they are just as tricky, and expensive, to trouble shoot. Then I will finish recapping, and re-chipping on my own.

Sorry to vent...just a cautonary tale

To the original poster, I wish you much more luck than me

Lesson learned the hard way I guess.

You are having bad streak of luck sounds like, my MR3s were made in 1981, I am sure repairs have been made and I am the 3rd person to own them, PTL first owned the two, believe it or not out of 72 channels 67 of mine are working perfect, the others are minor issues, like chips, op amps out etc, I ordered 100 chips yesterday, cost me 327.00, got a deal and got all they had. Got 100 op amps for 61.00, never know when you are gonna need parts so I am buying up.
Hope you get everything worked out, I have a wonderful tech.

[Telefunk]

Originally Posted by mintytowel

I am hoping after a full re-cap and major re-chipping things will be stable for years, as essentially it will brand new.

Mine had a full re-cap & re-chip and it was cleaned thoughout. It has been working perfectly ever since. So, don't give up, but I admit you've had quite a bad luck with it too.

@ Telefunk, exactly what chips did you use in the pre's

I used API 2520 and LME49710. But also kept some original HA911's to have different options. API sounds the best, most of the time.

my plan is to do the arm rest in blue suede. and have the outside completely chrome plated.

WOW! Pictures PLEASE when finished!

[Fezzle]

@ Telefunk . Hey mate, did ye end up pulling out electrolytics that 'dont need to be there' like Jim suggested on the channel strips...? Im about to start racking my two 24c strips, I got the old 4605-5's and NE5534's coz I heard the original Harris chips are hard to beat for slow mellow tone, however I'm interested if removing those caps makes a positive difference

Cheers!

[Telefunk]

Originally Posted by Fezzle

@ Telefunk . Hey mate, did ye end up pulling out electrolytics that 'dont need to be there' like Jim suggested on the channel strips...? Im about to start racking my two 24c strips, I got the old 4605-5's and NE5534's coz I heard the original Harris chips are hard to beat for slow mellow tone, however I'm interested if removing those caps makes a positive difference

Cheers!

I didn't try removing them. The idea is to use very low offset V opamps that don't need caps to remove DC. HA4605-5 is not one of them, but i like how they sound. On the other hand, I decided to use LME59740 in the monitor and master sections.

I wouldn't expect miracles by removing few caps from the audio signal...you get the same results by using low esr caps that are bypassed by small poly's.

[AllAboutTone]

A question on the input and output transformers, how long do they survive ? And can they still be found ?
Just asking, have not got around to asking my tech this question.

[Fezzle]

Originally Posted by AllAboutTone

A question on the input and output transformers, how long do they survive ? And can they still be found ?
Just asking, have not got around to asking my tech this question.

Hey man , Im not sure on the lifespan but.. on input mine are JE-115-K-E, you can still get them from Jensen but theyre now JT-115-K-E.. dont know what the hell are on the outputs but they read.. JB 499 AI

[Fezzle]

Originally Posted by Telefunk

I didn't try removing them. The idea is to use very low offset V opamps that don't need caps to remove DC. HA4605-5 is not one of them, but i like how they sound. On the other hand, I decided to use LME59740 in the monitor and master sections.

I wouldn't expect miracles by removing few caps from the audio signal...you get the same results by using low esr caps that are bypassed by small poly's.

Ahh cool thanks man

[Wabana66]

I agree with Fletcher regarding the MCI 636. It's not what I'd call a classic. BUT, I wanted a large format studio console and that was the only one I could afford. And it was still so much better than anything I'd used before. And I used it for 5 years, happily. But yes it's like a marriage....there are things you aren't going to like about it but put up with, things that are going to need constant maintenance, and things that just come up on a daily basis. But in the end it will be so worth it. You will get happiness out of it. A Harrison will have a real big and pleasant sound, always easy to get a fast rough mix on, always easy to get a fast headphone mix on, but will require maintenance occasionally. And when you crank the speakers it'll put a smile on your face. That alone is so worth it. The nice thing is, if a channel is funky you can just avoid that channel and use the next one. Make sure you get an extender card so you can check the channel while it's under power to figure out what's wrong. I'd go for it. My old MCI was in hard shape and many channels sounded different from each other and it STILL sounded better than the dozen or so live consoles I'd used before. I have since heard so many wonderful consoles that are light years better than that old crappy MCI, and when I upgraded it was a substantial sonic improvement. But that experience of owning and caring and feeding an old board....I wouldn't trade it for anything. It was worth it, and showed me the way of hybrid analog/digital recording.

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by Fezzle

Hey man , Im not sure on the lifespan but.. on input mine are JE-115-K-E, you can still get them from Jensen but theyre now JT-115-K-E.. dont know what the hell are on the outputs but they read.. JB 499 AI

On the MR3 outputs "I have heard" that they were Harrison built, IDK that to be the truth.

[David Kulka]

Originally Posted by mintytowel

Not to steal this guys thread, but as it is directly related, and could be taken by the original poster as possibly the worst case scenario......yes, it has been nothing short of a nightmare for me.

As always thanks for the pointers, I will looking into swapping the chips on the FET cards. I have only had one or two bad logic chips so far, but anything that helps at this point. You name it, I have run across it as far as problems go. I am getting to the point of having the console being stable, less of the one step forward two steps back thing. Just a lot of frustrating days having the tech over and ending up with more problems than when I started.

I will try and post a pic of the card to point out which transistor keeps going on me. I am not at the studio now.

I always seem to have channels that work when soloed but aren't making it to the faders. Signal always seems to get lost somewhere new, never the same problem twice. Talk about frustration!

Another weird one, on about 1/2 of the channels over channel number 24 the owner who had the console before me took out the circuity of the hi-pass filters. I have no idea what the benefits of this were supposed to be. Perhaps he was just cannibalizing parts for other channels, I will never know.

I have had to prioritize my repairs and come up with a plan of what I needed to do first to get up and running, I haven't even discovered this last one with the filters until recently. I am sure I will find more....ugh!

I did get the console very cheap, and even with the money I have put into repairs, I haven't been totally ripped off financially yet, although I am fast approaching that line. I have however been robbed of time. The console was in storage when I bought it, and I put way too much trust in the seller as he seemed lie a fairly honest guy.

At the very least I figure I need five more full days with a tech to get this thing working once and for all. As I said I am on a bit of a shoestring budget, so that could be months depending on how busy I am. Again sound wise, I am very happy, but there are still lots of problems I haven't even gotten to start addressing yet. I haven't given up yet, trust me, I have thought very seriously about just parting this thing out, but I have so much time and emotion invested that its hard to just throw in the towel at this point. I can see the finish line but it is, and probably always will be a bit of a moving target. Things do seem to be moving faster now, as my tech is troubleshooting quicker as he has become more familiar with the layout. Most of the major problems have been solved, and I am moving on to more of the smaller ones but they are just as tricky, and expensive, to trouble shoot. Then I will finish recapping, and re-chipping on my own.

Sorry to vent...just a cautionary tale

To the original poster, I wish you much more luck than me

Lesson learned the hard way I guess.

(Spelling errors corrected above. )

In the 70's, 80's, and 90's I worked on and installed a LOT of Harrison desks. A lot of them. In some cases, multiple / unpredictable problems like the ones described above were caused by edge connector issues. There are actually 3 problems that can occur with the edge connectors. The male contacts on the modules can become tarnished or worn, the female connectors on the motherboard can become tarnished or worn, and "geometry" problems in the console frame can cause the connectors to line up incorrectly. (Sometimes problems were caused by people who had "cleaned" the edge connectors with various sprays, which were hard on the contacts and actually caused long term damage.)

These problems were not uncommon but could be very tricky to troubleshoot. One needs to carefully and methodically follow EVERY step of the signal path, in sequence, and see where the signal is lost, including the audio paths between the module and patchbay.

Problems like this aren't necessarily caused by interruptions in the audio paths. Connection issues in the master logic switching, master fader, master mutes etc, can also occur at the edge connector. Again, the way to identify these problems is to carefully trace the signal from beginning to end. In order to do this, you need to REALLY understand signal flow in the Harrison - which is not simple!

Harrison made extender assemblies for servicing the modules but unfortunately, since they change the way the modules mate with the motherboard, they can improve, worsen, or change those symptoms. Sometimes it's better to pull out a bunch of neighboring modules so you can get your hands in there and troubleshoot the modules in their normal positions.

When I worked at United/Western in the 70's, we had 3 Harrisons. I have to tell you that at the time Harrisons were really considered 2nd tier desks, compared to say API or Neve. There were plenty of heavy duty engineers -- especially rock guys -- that wanted nothing to do with Harrisons, and some of the staffers at U/W felt mildly embarrassed that we "only" had Harrison desks in the big rooms. The EQ's and VCA's were the biggest complaints, plus a lot of engineers simply could not wrap their head around Harrison signal flow, which can be confusing. (Those consoles have 8 master modes!)

Of course this didn't stop Sinatra, Streisand, Santana, Starr, and many others from recording there, and I enjoyed working on the Harrisons. But, it seems ironic that in the recent years their hipness quotient has increased because back then Harrisons didn't get much respect, and a lot of well known engineers really disliked them.

[Sounds Great]

David, most excellent post!

The EQ's and VCA's were the biggest complaints, plus a lot of engineers simply could not wrap their head around Harrison signal flow, which can be confusing. (Those consoles have 8 master modes!)

So in your opinion, do you think they were disliked mostly because of all the problems you were addressing in your post, the fact that they were different and required a different mindset, or was it the actual sound quality that was considered inferior?