Antrecords is a recording/mastering studio and record label, est. 1986 in Omaha.
Antech is a vintage Guitar and Amp restoration facility which also produces hand made custom pedals.
Music instruction is also offered.
"Eddie Van Halen, a self-taught guitarist, created a new
vocabulary on his instrument through an array of jaw-dropping techniques
and electronic effects. Two-handed tapping, in which both hands sound
the strings from the fingerboard, allowed him to produce fluid phrases
at dizzying speeds. Van Halen’s use of “dive bombing,” depressing and
releasing the vibrato bar to create dramatic descents and ascents in
pitch, drove innovations in guitar design such as the locking vibrato
system and ushered in new standards in virtuosic hard- rock and metal
performance.
Displayed here is a reconstruction of his rig as it
appeared onstage in 1978, the year the band Van Halen released their
eponymous debut album. It includes amplifier speaker cabinets and
tube-powered amplifiers (heads), effects units, and a reconstructed
pedalboard featuring effect pedals identical to the originals, alongside
a replica of the 1978 version of the “Frankenstein” guitar. Most
dramatically, Van Halen’s rig included the casing of a World War II–era
practice bomb that was repurposed as a rack for housing his Univox tape
echo units."
Rig Includes: EVH "Super 78 Eruption" guitar replica, white with black stripes Two Marshall 412 Slanted cabinets, late 1960s Two Marshall 412 Straight cabinets, late 1960s Marshall 412 Slanted cabinet, 1978 Marshall 412 Straight cabinet, 1978 Two Marshall 1959 SLP Super Lead 100W heads, late 1960s Two Univox EC-80A Echo effect units, Mid 1970s US Air Force MK 22 Practice Bomb rack (replica) Ohmite Variable Voltage Controller
Pedalboard: 1970s MXR Flanger MXR Phase 90 Two Echoluxe remote footswitches for EC-80A tape echo units
The Fantastic Maestro Echoplex (and a few others)...
Tape delay is a precious enhancement to any live sound or reproduction. If you've experienced it you understand. The myth of "prone to fault" is greatly exaggerated by non-users. One could say they are high maintenance, yes. You'd have to include the guitar itself to that category (tuning, string change, bridge set up). It is what it is, a little maintenance and know how goes a long way.
If beyond your skills I highly advise one to find your best local tech for this work. Shipping is expensive and can be risky to such units. Repairs can sometimes require follow up visits and tune ups. In the event you have no local options you may email me to discuss availability and pricing. I've been through many units including Maestro Echoplex, Roland Space Echo, Korg Stage Echo, Univox, Bruno, Schober, WEM Copicat, Fender, Klempt, others. I won't tell you all units will easily work again though I do have about 90% success over 25 years.
Tape Echo
Service:I offer a detailed tune-up job
on tape echo units for $XXX (plus parts/shipping) including what I see fit to
bring the devices to full capacity.This may or may not include the following:
*Clean
and degauss heads
*Rejuvenate
rubber parts
*Head
alignment/azimuth if needed
*Replacement/reloading
of lubricated backcoat tape (I do not sell cartridges, and F*Tone tapes do not
work, I've seen countless numbers of jammed/eaten F*tone tapes, be weary of "mastering quality" tape).
*Cap Job
Signal Path
*Readjust
tape bias
*Pinch
roller refurb/replacement additional $75-125.Further electronic issues are additional charges.
Schober Unit, pulled from an organ. I built this into a vintage box with controls
WEM Copicat #3Three jacks, black power cable.
WEM Tube Copicat
I had a tube unit, really neat blue box.
Oh wait, here it is. Tube. Not the blue box one.
Some Echoplex Details:
The original transport cover
SirEko model, 8-track type cartridge (pinch roller in cart)
rare Red faceplate
Early light blue-grey faceplate, black pointer knob
A faceplate removed
Later dark color faceplate, circle knobs.
Brushed aluminum logo EP-2
EP-2 original cartridge w/sound on sound
Lid and pointer
Reverberation numbers, serial number sticker
guts!
Dark red brown main boards
Cream main boards
3 color main boards
a whole mess of Plex
Mess O'Plex
A day at the office, EP-1's & 2's to boot.
The original inner lid diagram
The cleanest example ever, courtesy Stephen Bartolomei.
EP-2 NOS
Original brochure.
Rare full red EP-3, a la Jimmy Page. I think these were later units. This one I did not have in person.
Here's a story
At one time I was hell bent on creating a cleaner, better EP-3. I wasted about a week subbing the JFETs for high spec modern equivalents. Biasing and rebiasing each stage, cap swapping, ad nauseam. The noise floor dropped. Less hiss. Wider bandwidth, clear bass, sparkley treble. I'll stop short of audiophile. But it was a vast improvement. A vast improvement for the worse. After a few days I became really depressed. A lot of the magic was gone, the old warm unit that buffered the Plexi-just so right-was not the same. I couldn't live with it. So I spent yet more late nights re-inserting all the vintage TIS transistors, biasing the circuits back with the old carbon comp resistors. After this two week success/failure the EP-3 was back to the '70s. Hiss and all. And peace was restored upon the land once again.
Ok, let's get one thing crystal clear. The Echoplex preamp pedal is NOT the preamp from an Echoplex. Talk about false advertising ploy. That's like saying a Dunlop Wah is a Clyde McCoy, a Boss Fuzz is a Dallas Arbiter or a Mackie is a Neve. Is this a joke? The original EP's had TIS58/98 transistors. Vintage transistors with 20+ volts on them. This was a large part of the sound. If you change the transistors (+resistors+capacitors+voltages) in, say, a Neumann u87...it's no longer a Neumann u87? It may serve a fuction, so would about any clean booster or active pickups.
Neither is this:
This is just not for me, does not contain the magic. Not to mention the ratio of local guys using these vs. tapes eaten is about 1:1. One guy sent them an email trying to explain...got a sour email in return.
etc.
I offer two reissue footswitches, one featuring NOS gray Switchcraft cabling. EP Footswitch
Recreating the technique to the intro of Pink Floyd "Echoes". The piano
is mic'd by a SM57 ran into an EP-2, 5 watt tube amp into a Leslie
rotating speaker baffle.
Super Clean EP-2
EP-2
One with Sound on Sound, one without.
Three jacks, black power cable.
