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Stephen Peter "Steve" Marriott with tape recorder


Jeff Wexler

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Cool photo posted on Facebook

 

post-1-0-40876500-1392130752_thumb.jpg

 

Marriott at Beehive Cottage, Moreton, Essex (1966).
 
Stephen Peter "Steve" Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) English musician, songwriter and frontman of two notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades.
 
Marriott is remembered for his powerful singing voice which belied his small stature, and for his aggressive approach as a guitarist in mod rock bands Small Faces (1965–1969) and Humble Pie (1969–1975 and 1980–1981). Marriott was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2012 as a member of Small Faces. 
 
In later life Marriott became disillusioned with the music industry and turned his back on the big record companies, remaining in relative obscurity. He returned to his music roots playing the pubs and clubs around London and Essex. Marriott died on 20 April 1991 when a fire, thought to have been caused by a cigarette, swept through his 16th century home in Arkesden, Essex. He posthumously received an Ivor Novello Award in 1996 for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music, and was listed in Mojo as one of the top 100 greatest singers of all time.
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Sorry Dan but you are wrong.

Malcolm Davies. A.m.p.s.

 

 

 

 

ouch, that will learn me.

 

the top plate is remarkably similar - the capstan cover, the nagra/cantaresque transport control, the meter(?) at the top/back between the reels, but i concede the ferrographs (in the link) project forward with a 45 degree bevelled surface which SM's recorder does not (i though perhaps it was another model), and i notice the the transport control is the other side of the capstan cover.

According to the site, ferrograph were the premier recorder of their day, and apparently the name (at least) is used by the manufacturers of the digital 'next train' and led matrix displays on uk railway platforms.

 

Tempted to drop some of the other names mentioned on the website but i'll only make more of an idiot of myself so I'll shut up now and hand the mic thread back to you Malcolm.

 

dan.

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Dan is right in choosing Ferrograph but the machine is in fact a Vortexion. The tape transport was made by Ferrograph but the electronics are Vortexion who were leaders in the field of high quality amplifiers. I bought a Ferrograph model 4 which was the forerunner of the machine in the photo and was the best tape recorder available to non professional people in the late 1950's. It was mono (stereo came in several years later) and cost me the princely sum of 87 UK pounds which was a lot of money in those days. The machine weighed forty pounds.

If my memory serves me correctly Ferrographs were the mainstay of the machines used in most of the theatre installations done by Stagesound who Mike West worked for because like a Nagra when you turned the switch you knew it would start.

Malcolm Davies. A.m.p.s.

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i like the headphones... :)

Vin,

The headphones are STC (Standard Telephone and Cables) now manufactured by the British company called Coles who are still trading today and they also make the 4103 lip microphone used by sport commentators and a fabulous ribbon mic ( the 4138).The headphones were standard issue to technical operators at the BBC in the late 1950's.

Hope this is of interest to non dinosaur soundies.

Malcolm Davies. A.m.p.s.

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Thanks for sharing the pic and history guys.

 

I found a site for the vortexion (i'm loving that name). The model looks like the CBL6, halfway down the page. Did they do left and right hand versions :-) or has someone did someone 'flop the shot' (as a director i was working with once said he was going to after realising he had to may talking heads on the same side of the screen).

 

dan.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gee Malcolm!

 

Have serviced Ferrographs, have built two from scrapped units

 

Owned a stereo one once

 

Built like a @hit brick house and used by the UK forces

 

Bought a load of 7 series when I worked in Africa

 

Great engineering before the Studer A77 etc replaced them

 

mike

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