Interview with Carissa Spatcher of Brooklyn-based SNATCHTRONICS

SNATCHTRONICS: Handmade and Custom Electronics for Your Audio Pleasure

Who the heck are you?
My name is Carissa Spatcher. I have three cats. My favorite color is brown. I hate mayonnaise.

How did you get into building pedals?
Well, I basically sucked in school, dabbled in college unsuccessfully, got into music later on, and ended up teaching myself electronics. Yeah, take that, Wheeler! (that's the high school i practically failed out of in Providence, RI.) I guess it just sort of arose out of need, like, a friend would say "hey, this pedal doesn't work. can you fix it?" and I'd open it up, and see a broken wire or something. That's how it started. Then drawing out schematics by hand, looking up what each symbol meant. Then i was copying pedals - not too hard if you sit down with it for a while.

Your overdrive pedal is really big. What's going on in there?
This overdrive (which i call the OvaDrive) has a lot of balls (or ovules). I used full-sized pots, one of which is a dual pot (for the drive), and the board itself takes up a lot of space. I'm working on a condensed version for my next production run which will be the exact same circuit but fit into a smaller enclosure.

You've named your company in the time-honored tradition of naming guitar pedals after female genitalia. Why is that?
I dont know....I guess all of us pedal makers have dirty minds! Well, it just seemed fitting, that I'm a chick, my company is a play on my name and a word for vagina, so why shouldn't my pedals be similarly themed? I had some nastier names in mind (less clinical than OvaDrive), but to try to appeal to a broader audience, I toned it down a little.

There are tons of 'boutique' pedal companies out there. What distinguishes Snatchtronics?
Well, im a chick. Not a lot of chicks build pedals. Also, I'm damn good at it. I dont skimp on components, and everything is put together by hand. Oh, and I powdercoat all of my boxes....no pun intended.

What's Snatchtronics going to be building in ten years?
Time Machines.

Gnomes or unicorns? Explain.
I've always been a unicorn fan myself, being that I've always loved horses, but something about the combination of the letters "Gn" at the beginning of words I find interesting.

You rock, and so do your pedals!

interview by Allen Farmelo www.farmelo.com

AKG 451E Pair and More

Found recently on Craigslist Brooklyn, an engineer based in Park Slope is passing on some of his gear. In addition to this amazing pair of AKG 451e's, he also has for (affordable!) sale a Gefell UM92 1.S tube condenser, a Vintech 1272 dual mic pre, an AKG 451b, a Royer 122 active ribbon, and a Universal Audio 6176 mic pre/compressor. Contact him through this Craigslist post and ask him about anything listed above: http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/msg/2339095364.html

Doepfer Modular Synth

Found on NYC Craigslist: A good start to a great modular synth rack. The seller is getting rid of 6 modules, including a voltage controlled ADSR envelope, a MIDI interface, a VCA, a low-pass filter, and a mixer to sum all your crazy patches. Or, as I'd recommend one to do, buy the full setup with rack ears and all the other necessary "fixings". You can read, check out the post: Doepfer Modular Analog Boutique Synthesizer

DRIP electronics

Have a soldering iron? Dont have 9 billion dollars?

That could be the EXACT combination of things these guys had in mind when they started Drip electronics!

You can build your OWN EQP1a... could be a very cost effective way to get some killer gear rolling in your space right now!

http://www.dripelectronics.com/

TRANSIENT DESIGNER 4

One of the most interesting and forward thinking boxes ever made. Designed by the same mind that now brings us the Elysia stuff....

SPL Transient Designer on EBAY

SHURE SM7B

Why do you not have one? this thing rules on guitars, bass amps, and vocals. if you have a small budget and need an all purpose mic, get this one.

SM7B on ebay

JBL/UREI 7110's can be fun

These can be fun, and inexpensive for a later UREI piece. Kind of cool tone with flexibility. Like a makita drill.. they just work to get the job done

without a ton of money changing hands. Here is a PAIR.

JBL/UREI 7110 pair on ebay

-----> Wade from Chandler LTD interview!!!

This mini conversation with Wade from Chandler LTD really sheds some light on the fact that he is just like you or me: a FREAK that likes gear and audio and Brad Pitt. Thats why I love his designs and support his super cool company!

     Chandler LTD stuff really has the right personality to hang with the vintage stuff without seeming like it is trying too hard to be "vibey" or "vintage-ey". It just screams quality, and we have a bunch of the stuff at Studio G... The Curve Bender EQ, the Germanium compressors,  The Zener Limiter, 4 channels of germanium mic pre, and I am probably forgetting something else in the rack... It is great stuff, made by a great guy. Check him out !!

Questions:

Who the heck are you? Well mostly Im just a kid from Iowa who has always liked music and sound. I started playing guitar in 7th grade and my parents bought me a Tascam Porta One 4 track in 8th grade (I big investment at the time!) and I have been recording and playing ever since. Nearly 30 years. I thought it was amazing that I had the "same setup the Beatles used"....a Four track! haha! Ah to be that bright eyed again. 

Why do you make gear? What made you start making gear? I make gear because I love sounds and gadgets. As a kid I was fascinated by the guts of an old radio and that was multiplied when I started looking inside Neves and Pultecs! They were works of art in both the build and sound. What really got me into building was when I had saved enough money to buy 1073s. It was a life changer for me. I NEEDED more of them and just did not have the money to get them, so I searched the planet for as many spare parts as I could and started making my own modules from them. It was pretty crude but they worked and sounded great. I even hand etched circuit boards when I could not find certain ones that I needed. Drawing the traces out by hand and dunking them in acid. Was quite fun! The first TG1 circuits were done this way as well almost 20 years ago. It is a very dense circuit and I drew the circuit out by hand on copper board and hand etched them as well. 

What piece of gear would you make if all the usual parameters were removed... like price point/physics/reality. Remove all reality and what would you want chandler to make? I think this is why I am now pursuing guitar pedal designs. Working with them seems to remove some of the restrictions life and physics put on us. Price becomes less of an issue because the circuits are simpler. Even some of reality is removed because with pedals even sometimes a wrong or terribly designed circuit can be amazing! In fact some of the things you would do to a guitar pedal are ideas that would never fly with a high quality mic pre for example. It brings me back to the feeling of being a kid and being amazed by gadgets and how even these smple circuits can be very effective and creative.

Would you rather be a unicorn or brad pitt? explain. Thats a tough tough questions....Im gonna have to go superficial on this on and choose Brad Pitt. Having been recently divorced I could use some of his luck with women! hahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

What single piece of gear, new or old, do you think defines the word "quality" in pro audio? I dont think I could choose just one. There would have to be at least one per catagory! Like and old EMI for eq or pre. Or a 1073. For a mic I would say an RFT7151 or KM53 or 54. Guitar amps....A marshall 69-71, Watkins Dominator, Selmer. Quality has many meanings...Sound, build, thoughtfulness in the design. If I was to pick one thing that shines in all ways for me it would be the EMI TG compressor. The design is light years ahead of its time, thoughtful, intricate but elegant. The sound is like nothing else there is...For me THE prime example of what we all mean by vintage and colored. Im lucky enough to be involved in the circuit in some way.

Thanks, Wade. You rule. 

Sincerely,

-Joel

CHANDLER compressor

These things are great. We have the germanium compressors and the Zener limiter by chandler. We are big fans of Chandler stuff around Studio G. Vintage personality and actual character, without the maintenance schedule...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Chandler-Limited-TG1-Dual-Mono-Abbey-Rd-Comp-PSU-New-/390163442817?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ad78dac81#ht_893wt_1141

Sennheiser MD211N (x2) Omni Dynamics

Easily one of my personal favorites. This omnidirectional dynamic microphone, the MD211, as I've been told, was primarily used for communicating with German miners working underground. Now, they are killer room mics.

Find a pair here:

Pair SENNHEISER MD211 N Vintage Omni Microphones MD-211 | eBay

INTERVIEW: Dominik from ELYSIA

I got one of the first 2 Elysia mpressors in the united states, and I only got number 2 because Michael Brauer can run surprisingly fast when there is great gear at stake...  Since getting the mpressor in the rack, next to some super sought-after "classic" compressors, I really feel that the mpressor is truly an incredible device, and I said so in a TapeOp review of the unit ages ago. I am a fan of Elysia, and the mpressor. Dominik Klassen, of Elysia, answers some important questions below. Enjoy. 
 **** EDIT:  to see this interview in german CLICK HERE

Who the heck is "Elysia"?

elysia is what fell out of Dominik's poor tortured brain after thinking about possible brand names night after night during the start phase of the company. We wanted to have something short and significant, ideally hinting at sophistication and excellence in terms of what we do. After five years of doing what we do, we are still pleased with the choice we made. But you know, we're not native speakers, so after a while we learned that Elysia is also a girl's name in some English speaking countries. That's cool - our greetings to all the sweet Elysias out there!

Did Reuben travel to the future when designing the mpressor? If no, why not?

He was originally casted for the role of Doc Brown, so I'm pretty sure you're right about this (although he never tells anybody). Just like in the movie, I think we're much more looking at a round trip... the discrete technology used in the mpressor is a secret art from the past which only a few people know to master these days, while the concept of this compressor certainly does not rest on what we call Vintage these days. We wanted the mpressor to become a truly modern and highly flexible piece, and if you ask me, I think we pretty much nailed it.

Would you ever consider making sweatshirts with the word "ELYSIA" in a pink "spray paint" type font? Mostly to sell in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

You wouldn't believe it, but a hardcore fan of the alpha compressor (a guy who does not even own the machine) made a whole collection of T-Shirts with different photos of the alpha on it, in different colors, sizes and even Girly-Shirts. He did not only give these shirts to his friends, but also send a pile of them to Germany for us. The only thing missing was some lingerie to go with it ;-) So yes, the future of pro audio (especially talking about analog stuff) is merchandise, and a pink spray paint elysia shirt should definitively be the perfect start.

Are you sorry you ever sold me an mpressor?

We're sorry that we didn't sell you two... just think about traveling and stuff... some spares would really come in handy. On the other hand, we're really glad about the one machine you have. The one reason is that you, dear Joel, belong to the few people who got the concept and the idea of the mpressor in all its aspects right from the start, and that you keep telling people who great it is - thanks a lot, dude! The other is that so much great music is sent through it because of and by you. Wild things we really like a lot!

What is next for Elysia? possibly a tube DI box with pan pots?

Oh boy, the drawer is crowded with cool ideas.... The main 'problem' is that elysia has remained a two-people-busyness ever since, and we really have to pick our projects carefully because of obvious time limitations. We have a lot of fun boxes and custom stuff as prototypes from former times on the shelves - I really do hope that besides 'serious' processing we are involved in at the moment we'll find more time to care about more creative and crazy gear, too. For example a tube DI with automated pan pots, sure ;-)

If you could turn into a unicorn and save the world, or travel through time 18 minutes forward or back, which would you choose?

That's a tough one: On the one hand, we could build the most accurate look-ahead gear of all times, on the other we could save the planet and everything on it. I don't know... We've seen so many movies that show the many things that can go wrong during time traveling. But being a unicorn is no fun either - you can't even turn the knobs on the gear you love. I think I'd ask Joel to do this for us. I mean, the guy has been on a Vespa race throughout the US for charity. He must know. 

Thanks, Elysia!

-Joel

Thanks, Joel. Always a pleasure!

Neve 2254

this is a cool one.

Neve 2254-A comp/limiter

EMI TR52 Tube Tape Machine

EMI TR52 Tube Tape Machine