Jim Dickinson
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 16 May 2018 12:11 pm |
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I really hate to ask for one, considering the practice of parting out working instruments, which is a real hot button issue for me.
Until 2000, when they got merged out of business, I was and ALTEC Lansing Sound Contractor, my Dad got the local franchise a week before I was born in 1950.
It's slowed down now as people realize the value of the systems, but, for many years I have seen opportunists take the ALTEC drivers out of their large beautiful, perfectly functioning Hi-Fi speakers and sell the parts for 3-4 times what they bought them for. Most of the components went overseas, Japan, Korea, now China. Man, you just can't get that kind of wood and veneer anymore. I still see it with the utility speakers like the 844-9844 studio monitors, the MI PA Speakers, and what is being taken out of installed sound and theatre systems, breaks my heart. To me it looks like we are getting to the end of it, parts are drying up. Working on reproducing some of the now hard-to-find stuff, will be starting with the 416 woofer, just bought a magnetizer.
A number of years ago, I bought a somewhat parted out original 26 inch Stringmaster, minus a tuner pan. I couldn't find an original back then so I made patterns to sand cast both it and the trap one. I took it to a little foundry that did highly detailed medallions and other small things. They had some issues with the trap one. I was sent home to work over the patterns, then the owner retired and shut the business down. Life got in the way and I put it aside, now I want to get back at it. I can make one out of bent up stainless and get a friend to tig weld it, but, won't look right. I don't want to use the Kluson trap pan for this instrument, although, it's sure nice that there is one.
Making the Pattern.
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