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Ken Kessie
Mixer Ken Kessie (En Vogue, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Celine Dion) is known for being experimental. "Seems like everybody knows the basic tricks for the 1176," he says, "But here are two that might be lesser known. If you turn the attack knob fully counterclockwise until it clicks, the 1176 ceases to be a compressor and acts only as an amplifier. Sometimes this is the perfect sound for a vocal. And of course the unit can be overdriven, adding another flavor of distortion in case your plug-ins are maxed out!
"Then, for that hard-to-tame lead vocalist (the one that backs up from the mic to whisper and leans in for the big ending chorus), try an 1176 followed by a DBX 165. Use the 1176 as a compressor, and the DBX as a peak limiter...it's guaranteed to be smooth as silk."
Jim Scott
Jim Scott shared a Grammy for Best Engineered Album for Tom Petty's Wildflowers. He's also known for his work with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Natalie Merchant and Wilco. "I use 1176s real conservatively and they still do amazing things," he comments. "I'm always on the four to one button, and the Dr. Pepper--you know, 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock, and it does everything I need.
"I always use them on vocals. I use them on room mics, on acoustic guitars--sometimes in mixing I'll sneak a little on a snare drum or a separated channel of a snare drum. I'm not one of those guys who leaves it on everything, but I'd have to say I've used an1176 on everything at one time or another.
"They have an equalizer kind of effect, adding a coloration that's bright and clear. Not only do they give you a little more impact from the compression, they also sort of clear things up; maybe a little bottom end gets squeezed out or maybe they are just sort of excitingly solid state or whatever they are. The big thing for me is the clarity, and the improvement in the top end.
"The 1176 has that same kind of phenomenon, where, when you patch something through a Neve equalizer and you don't even engage the EQ, it sounds better. It's just a combination of the amps.
"I also use LA-2As all the time. I use them on bass, and it's one of the compressors I use for reverb. Often I'll send a bunch of things to one LA2A and bring it back into the console like a return--it's great for drums, great for kick drum especially.
"LA-2As warm things up. They're the opposite of the 1176--they EQ all the warmth and low mids and bass. When you put bass and drums in them they get fatter and bigger. And unless you hit them way hard and make the tubes sizzle they don't really distort. Of course, you can get them to sound like an AC30 if you want to, just turn them all the way up. They are very loud, powerful amplifiers.
"I've also used both the 1176 and the LA-2A for stereo buss compressors--you just have to be a little bit careful that your mixes don't go one sided. Tom's [Petty’s] records have often been mixed through 1176s. I've also done that with LA-2As --they are of course, more inconsistent piece to piece than the 1176s, because of the tubes and the difference in fatigue of the tubes.
"My big mentors were Andy Johns and Lee DeCarlo and Ron Nevision because they were all Record Plant guys. I learned how to make a rock and roll record from them. Although over the years it's become my own thing, my style still tends to be that Record Plant style, U87s, 1176s, LA-2As, 47 F.E.T.s...it's what I like."
Mike Clink
Producer/Engineer Mike Clink (Guns N' Roses, Sammy Hagar, Pushmonkey) also comes from the Record Plant school of recording. "I find that I actually use 1176s more now than I ever did," he comments. "I like them because they bring out the brightness and presence of a sound--they give it an energy. It seems like when I'm mixing I end up using an 1176 on the vocals every time. And if I want to compress a room sound I'll take a mono room mic, put an 1176 across it and push in all the buttons."
Bruce Swedien
Bruce Swedien is a master engineer who needs no introduction. He also is a die-hard 1176 fan. "I have two silverface 1176LNs in my rack that Bill Putnam personally picked out for me," he says. "I remember sitting at Bill's place in the Channel Islands, and talking about the 1176 and how I wanted a pair . The next time we went over he'd picked this pair out and they were sitting in his garage waiting for me. I love them on vocals. All of the Michael Jackson and James Ingram vocals that everyone has heard so much were done with at least one of those 1176s. I couldn't part with them for anything. They sound fabulous."
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