powerlight
Active Member
Well that IS cool! Neat being able to see behind the curtain at such an historical show. Thanks to the OP and to brtech.
I actually don't remember what the crossover's were, sorry.
The picture is showing the amps for the towers, not the monitors. Monitor power was on the stage. The smaller amps would have driven the horns.
Nothing special about the monitors other than, for this event, final monitor mix was on the stage side. Usually, we fed the monitors from a separate mix off the main board, but for this event, for some reason, the monitor mix was separate. It may have had to do with the splitters we used for the recording, and the fact that we used those small Shure mixers for the main mix. My memory is not great on this.
Commercial boards of the day overloaded. The concept of an adjustable pad ahead of the pre-amp wasn't common. Those small mixers did have switchable pads, so we could get a lot cleaner sound out of them then a big board. Eventually, we built our own board with pads.
Fact - Janis could get 1 V P-P out of a Shure mic. I measured it (with that HP o'scope), although not at this event. You had to hold the golf ball with your hand and yell into it, but it could output a full volt.
Yup, we used those golf ball Shures pretty much exclusively. Condenser mics weren't rugged enough. Sound quality was actually pretty good out of them, and they would take a lot of abuse, but it wasn't uncommon for one or more of them to get smashed and break at the plastic part where the golf ball threaded on to the handle.
The Grateful Dead used these amps for their road shows for many years. They did not do rental equipment because they needed their own stuff so Mac it was.
OK, one shot of more amps and other gear running in the trailer...
Ron-C
This thread just went from super awesome to epic. I mean, to have a guy that worked the PA at Woodstock find this thread and then fill in some of the blanks . . . whodathunkit?
Just wow . . .
brtech - by chance do you have any photos that you could share with us? I mean even a photo of your staff pass would be way cool.
So how many AKers were actually THERE? Hell, I was just born in '69 so I wasn't . . .
The Tektronix limiter evolved into the famous UREI limiters, LA-3 and 4. The Altec was a 1567 tube unit using 4722 input mic transformers and probably a 15095 out put transformer for balanced out put. The Shure MR mixers were just barley adequate over the years. I was using Ampex MX35 Mixers using Altec passive graphic tone controls if necessary with White passive 1/3 or 1 octave EQs for voicing and to control feedback with Altec 1566 single line pre-amps to restore the levels to +8 db to drive the Mac 3500's and 275's. For small jobs I used Ampex monitors with 8" JBL driver and tweeter on stage. Other times I used JBL floor monitors. We used Altec 210 or stacked 825 enclosures with all variety of Multicells, but preferred the 203, with 288 and later 291 drivers. We used White passive 500 Hz filters at first when bi-amping.
I was fourteen, so I didn't go. My neighbor's brother went. I think he was about 18 at the time.
Almost only counts in horseshoes but I was working my first job after graduating as an EE in in 1969 in New London, CT. Cousin Brucie was constantly advertising Woodstock on WABC. One of my three "house-mates" went. I loved rock but was never a concert person. I paid the price for my reluctance. I was a perfectionist and always thought a good studio LP sounded better than live music with applause and noise.I was fourteen, so I didn't go. My neighbor's brother went. I think he was about 18 at the time.
A friend I met later in life went with a friend. He was 17. Went there on a motorcycle I believe. He said his parents were not happy with him when he got back, since he really didn't ask permission to go in the first place.