Mega of London |
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colint
Old Croc Joined: 06 October 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 5222 |
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A wonderful incite to Mega thank you Martin.
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Never criticise another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. Once you have, call him what you like, you're a mile away and you've got his shoes!
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madboffin
Old Croc Joined: 03 July 2009 Location: Milton Keynes Status: Offline Points: 1537 |
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Martin, thank you for posting that message - a nice potted history of the mighty Mega! The quality of their woodwork was always outstanding so you were obviously doing an excellent job.
The original partners in ATC were Bill Woodman, Hans Freytag, and Bryan Gillece. Brian wasn't Irish, but an Aussie, as is Bill. Neil Grant has had a few companies. I think in those days it would have been either Eastmill or Westmill. You probably had a lucky escape in deciding not to run a factory with Dave Martin. He was the stereotypical "Crazy Aussie" and "Mad Boffin" rolled into one and consequently few people were able to work with him for long. But underneath that he was quite a likeable character who would go out of his way to help anybody, and of course he was driven by an overwhelming passion for high quality audio. I worked for Martin Audio for some years and knew him well. Last I heard of Steve Borrill he was still making cabinets, at APS in Horsham. Edited by madboffin - 09 March 2017 at 2:10pm |
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nickyburnell
Old Croc Joined: 06 February 2005 Status: Offline Points: 4410 |
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Have APS gone now?
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It's everything, not everythink!
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Kraznet
New Member Joined: 09 March 2017 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 14 |
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Hi there!!
Thanks for jogging my memory. Of course it was Hans Freytag and yes the other partner was Brian. Although I always thought he was Irish but there you go. Yes you're right Neil Grants company was Eastmill and he brought with him a German lady called Danni who became part of the setup down at the Arches post Mega. The bass bins we built for him were quite unusual and I was keen to take up the challenge of building them. They were filled with an expanding type foam material behind the curves of the bass horn and in the centre which was like an aerodynamic bung. We even bought a special machine which pumped the foam into the cavities using a hose type arrangement. Dave Martin did seem very driven and his later demise was very unfortunate. He was based up in North London at the time and I think Midas were in the same compound? That's interesting that Steve Borrill is still making cabinets. From the website it looks like it's a one-man band. http://www.aps-roadbox.co.uk. Looks like his interest in cabinetmaking continues. Before I worked for Mega I also did some work for Paul Dobson at RSD at Theobalds Grove in the Waltham Forest area. This was after he had split with Graham Blythe. He had some interesting cabinet designs. Particularly the 2 x 15 folded horn. I remember he supplied a PA for the French band Magma. I met him after visiting his music shop in Notting Hill Gate run by Bob Doyle from Birmingham. Bob was a top bloke but he left and I took over for a short time but the shop closed as it wasn't profitable. Then I started doing some cabinet building for him for a few months. Edited by Kraznet - 09 March 2017 at 3:13pm |
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Kraznet
New Member Joined: 09 March 2017 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 14 |
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The website is still active http://www.aps-roadbox.co.uk
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Robbo
Old Croc Joined: 05 December 2005 Location: Shropshire Status: Offline Points: 4221 |
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Martin--You may remember me from when Mega moved to the old Great West Road factory--we used to come down regular from Wolverhampton and fill a huge 7.5 ton Cargo with Mega cabinets and CP cases.
Obviously most of our dealings were with Chris or Peter but I often had contact with David Lythe down there and also Cliff Campbell who was involved with Mega sales at that time. Bob Doyle also had quite a few custom built Mega cabinets as well as he was using his big Cerwin Vega hire system(Tekserv)based in Birmingham and Bob used to get a lot of his double 18 Earthquake bins made there complete with the fold away mouth extenders--our paths must have crossed sometime as we did do a lot of business with Chris and Peter--I remember Chris having a very nice BMW 3.0 CSL coupe with aluminium body as I always used to pull his leg about buying it from him--Cheers--John. |
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nickyburnell
Old Croc Joined: 06 February 2005 Status: Offline Points: 4410 |
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Last time I called it was a private number, website looks to be 2010 and the design/host are now event photographers! Anybody else on this? China no doubt Edited by nickyburnell - 09 March 2017 at 6:26pm |
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It's everything, not everythink!
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Kraznet
New Member Joined: 09 March 2017 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 14 |
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Hi John, It's possible I might have seen you at some point although chances are I was beavering away in the factory building cabinets. I had an alarm clock I used to set and I'd time myself to see how fast I could build cabinets. My best was 8 x 4560's in 8 hours or they may have been Martin 1x15 Bins. I had the workflow pretty much down :) Also I didn't last long at the Great West Road factory because I wasn't particularly happy there compared to the idyllic setup of the arches at Kew Bridge. That's why I quit and returned to Kew. I remember Chris had a nice car. Him and Pete also played in a band together as well. Chris played drums and Pete guitar. Either Chris or Pete went into partnership with Rod Argent and they opened a shop in Denmark Street called Argent's. Yes I remember the Cerwin Vega rigs they were pretty full on. I had a Cerwin Vega bass rig myself 1x18 cab and bass head with graphic. Covered with grey carpet type material. I do remember mention of a full-blown CV setup for that film Earthquake at the Leicester Square Empire. Was Bob involved with installing that? What's he up to now as he still in the business? Cheers Martin
Edited by Kraznet - 09 March 2017 at 8:20pm |
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Kraznet
New Member Joined: 09 March 2017 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 14 |
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There is a mention on the website that he's only just started the business and is seeing how it goes. Maybe it didn't work out like he hoped. Although he probably past retirement age by now. I'm 65 myself. Martin
Edited by Kraznet - 09 March 2017 at 8:18pm |
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Dub Specialist Sound
Old Croc Joined: 15 November 2013 Location: Smethwick Status: Offline Points: 4873 |
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Ive still got a pair of mega cabs , still rock soild
great build quailty.....and still sound great in today standed
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Musical Roots Reggae Vibration is Life! for music is sound...sound is vibration...vibration is energy... and energy begets life. Therein lies my passion!...MUSIC IS LIFE...
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Robbo
Old Croc Joined: 05 December 2005 Location: Shropshire Status: Offline Points: 4221 |
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Martin--Yes,I think that both Peter and Chris were involved with the Argents venture and possibly again later on with Bob Henrit and the Drumstore---It is really amazing how the music business circles went around and around in the good old days.
Argent were managed at one stage by Maurice Jones who was based in Wolverhampton at the time and he went on to form Midland Concert Promotions and the Monsters Of Rock festivals at Donnington and sadly is no longer with us--He also did all of the hard work organising Live Aid at Wembley but was always kept in the background by Harvey Goldsmith who wanted to take all of the kudos but not the graft involved in organising such a major event. I eventually ended up with the huge Laney PA rig that was put together specifically for Argent at Laney's factory at Cradley Heath and would you believe, the bottom end was a horn loaded 2x12 bass cabinet long before the Mega design came about and some of these ended up on the in-house PA rig in the famous Club Lafayette in Wolverhampton. Edited by Robbo - 09 March 2017 at 8:49pm |
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BJtheDJ
Young Croc Joined: 28 November 2012 Location: Bristol Status: Offline Points: 884 |
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Back in the 80s I worked a club called Martells on Anchor Road in Bristol - it had Mega bass bins, they were either 8x10's or 12x10's and many of the drivers inside were dead and they were finally dragged out to the loading bay where they disappeared one night after a sound system clash; they weren't missed for at least 6 months. Never got to hear them in what might have been their glory, they were running of an H|H v800.
Chris at CP cases, remember him from before CP started when he was with Dave Simms at the 'Musical Bargain Centre' in South Ealing, which later moved up to The Grove in Ealing proper; got my first intro to cyanoacrylate from them trying (and failing) to repair a mike stand. Long gone days. |
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