Gigant 80's Turbosound rig - former ABBA
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Forum Name: Golden oldies
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Topic: Gigant 80's Turbosound rig - former ABBA
Posted By: 4AC
Subject: Gigant 80's Turbosound rig - former ABBA
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 11:38am
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Take a look at this: http://link.marktplaats.nl/740619684" rel="nofollow - http://link.marktplaats.nl/740619684 Can anyone confirm that these were used by Abba? This all is pretty rare stuff, isn't it?          ------------- uǝɿɿɐʌǝ6ɯo sı ʇsʞǝʇ ǝzǝp |
Replies:
Posted By: cravings
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 12:02pm
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the mids do look like old turbo tubes but that's about it. it's like the top cabinets were built around old turbo mids? don't think it's SSE construction.. so probably some custom reworking. that would be my guess. the turbo mids didn't have jbl drivers either.. and it looks like there's been a wooden ring / extra baffle added as a spacer between the driver and the phase plug. interesting though. |
Posted By: Artical Kulcha
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 12:03pm
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Ent got a clue about the abba thing, but i like them mid/highs what model are thay anyone?
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Posted By: mini-mad
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 12:37pm
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they are either custom and bodged to stay working over the years or just some of the sh!tist work iv seen in a long time using very nice compnants screwed together very badly!! ------------- If it sounds like a gorilla is trying to escape, turn it down. |
Posted By: tall_mike
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 12:40pm
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Forget the cabs, just gut them and chuck them out. The amps you could re-sell and make some money I'd reckon. ------------- http://www.livesoundhire.co.uk" rel="nofollow - Live Sound Hire Ltd |
Posted By: Artical Kulcha
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 12:43pm
i wished you owned them tall-mike , chuck um my way....
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tall_mike wrote:Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 2:00pm
Ooooh those amp racks, quads and amcrons with bss.  ------------- music is the message |
Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 2:02pm
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All speakers not working? My oh my, 16 dcs and 8 405s. ------------- music is the message |
Posted By: RUS
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 2:03pm
ahhh i didnt know quad did an amp of that size, off to look them up.
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Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 2:03pm
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They are 1970's TFA-Electrosound cabinets, one of the first systems (maybe THE first) ever to use the Turbo Tube mid. It was an early 2-box modular system, and I haven't seen one for 35 years. TFA-Electrosound toured with many of the major acts of the 1970's. |
Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 2:06pm
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After looking at the full advert, I'd say it's the complete TFA system, amazing to see it turn up after all these years. The HF amplifiers were Quad 405's in custom 19" rackmounts, also used in Highlife's system. Oh, and it was a great sounding rig at the time. |
Posted By: 4AC
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 2:15pm
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Thanks for all the replies. For your information: I am not interested in actually buying this. I translated the advert for you all: TFA Turbosound / Electrosound  ------------- uǝɿɿɐʌǝ6ɯo sı ʇsʞǝʇ ǝzǝp |
Posted By: dj scratchy
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 3:25pm
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i hope someone here buys this and saves it, a real piece of history there and it would be a massive shame if it ended up in the hands of a free party crew or broken up for drivers of something
------------- sound, light, trilite, stage decks, complete stage packages indoor and outdoor 07568188104 sl systems sound&light |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 3:55pm
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It is possible that these were used by, and possibly even built for, Abba. The original TFA system IIRC, was a one box system consisting of both the Low box and the mid/high box as shown in the ad, with the lows I believe, on either side of the mid/highs (and was immensely disliked by a certain Mr Andrews). It is possible that this particular system was custom built for use on a major world tour and needed to be flown between countries in which case the one box system may have been too cumbersome. Strange it has suddenly appeared on the market now, but the components do look authentic - good to see the Quad 405s in there for highs - but the drivers may have been changed and could the cabs have been cut and spliced together? Whether is actually exists is another matter - has anyone checked the validity of the ad/advertiser?
Edit. The original TFA System using the technology was the 'Brown System' (I kid thee not!). ABBA used 2 x planes for their world tour - a Boeing 747&727. (Guess who's bored, today?!)
------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: London Sound1
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 4:09pm
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I have an article somewhere about that system, in something like Beats International. Ian ------------- We know what most of the knobs do http://www.soundengineer.co.uk |
Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 4:24pm
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Does look like it was preserved in a bog. ------------- music is the message |
Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 4:54pm
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TFA-Electrosound definitely provided audio for at least one Abba tour, it's documented in a few articles written at the time. I had a good look at this rig shortly after it was built and, of course, was fascinated by the innovative design. One of its first outings was a Rod Stewart tour, and Tim who designed the Turbo midrange travelled with it for a while. The shows that I heard it used on included, I think, Wings, and the Pretenders. This would have been around 1977- 1980. From what I remember it sounded good, but it was noticeable how directional the mids were. In practice, like most similar 2-box and 1-box rigs, the boxes were usually not arrayed properly and as you would expect this resulted in comb filtering and split beams in the coverage pattern. Apparently Tony Andrews was very unhappy with the system, and I would guess that this arraying / coverage problem was the reason. The whole point of his Festival system concept was to use curved arrays in which the cabinets were set up to optimise smoothness of coverage. |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 5:59pm
I believe the 'Brown' system was actually designed specifically for the Rod Stewart tour. ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 6:05pm
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So yeah, break it up for firewood I reckon, like a few of the earlier comments... ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: jbl_man
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 8:01pm
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Did a quick tot-up of the component value on that lot,(at realistic used prices,not over-inflated "ebay dreamer" prices.ie £150 for a dc300a,not some silly £400 ebay nonsense),and the seller has priced it at pretty much the exact value of the component parts...it is probually worth the 7000 Euro asking price,but take the transport into account,and the work involved,its doubtful. ------------- Be seeing you. |
Posted By: bee
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 8:13pm
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nice find, the boxes look fairly solid, a bit of dodgy fixes on some of the cabs, and im sure the subs were not ported originally. The ports look like they have been added (random hole sizes and placement).... The tops could be brought back to life, not sure about the subs.... the main issue with the tops is the added ring, and some of the phase bungs look non original.... the added rings could mean the backs of the phase bungs could of been butchered....
------------- https://www.elements-audio.com |
Posted By: TONY.A.S.S.
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 8:24pm
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I would imagine Bill Kelsey had something to do with that. There were various things that he tried with the early Turbo stuff. When I saw the Quad in the rack, I thought of Bill straight away. I did two really big systems for him and he used RSD amps and the top amp was the rack mounted 405. ------------- http://www.facebook.com/tony.rossell.3" rel="nofollow - http://www.facebook.com/tony.rossell.3 |
Posted By: RobinMatrix
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 9:02pm
I don't know what sort of house you live in, but there is no way that lot would fit in our bog. Even if you took the sink out, it wouldn't fit.  ------------- Matrix Pro Audio :: http://matrixproaudio.com/" rel="nofollow - http://matrixproaudio.com/" |
Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 10:11pm
The bass boxes definitely had those ports in 1978, I remember seeing them! The turbo mids look like they may have had new baffles, perhaps to fit alternative drivers. I thought the originals were JBL. The HF horns might be cut-down Vitavoxes (who else here remembers those?). But it's hard to tell, without a picture looking directly down the bells to see if they have the diffraction vanes in the throat. The 2402's are original, but I bet they will need new diaphragms, even if they are producing some noise on test... I think JBL man is right about the pricing. Bill Kelsey may well have had a hand in these, he certainly designed the later Electrosound system (the one with the Transylvanian tweeters) |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 10:12pm
Was that the Karlson system with tube loaded HFs? ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 10:14pm
| Ha ha, synchronicity... |
Posted By: cyte
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 10:36pm
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Wow, not seen any of that before. Proper history! Apparently the Turbo bins used that folding in 1976. The 'festival bin' layout used in subsequent Turbo/F1 designs didn't come about until 1978.
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Posted By: el chupacabra
Date Posted: 05 November 2013 at 11:13pm
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Protag from Yorkshire solar sound still runs this system with success. The bass Section is the same and one of the first examples i ever heard of a ported bandpass horn. The mids are all modular now and the 2" comps are now bms. Holds its own with live bands just fine. |
Posted By: TONY.A.S.S.
Date Posted: 06 November 2013 at 12:18am
Was that the Karlson system with tube loaded HFs? [/QUOTEJazzy, That was the one. 80 cabs in all, 40 bass cabs, 20 with tubes and 20 withEV horns. 26 flight cases with those Quad 405's in. ------------- http://www.facebook.com/tony.rossell.3" rel="nofollow - http://www.facebook.com/tony.rossell.3 |
Posted By: jbl_man
Date Posted: 06 November 2013 at 8:25am
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Moved this to oldies section,as it seems more relevant. ------------- Be seeing you. |
Posted By: Robbo
Date Posted: 06 November 2013 at 4:25pm
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I have heard that system many times with Rod Stewart and other top acts as well and it always sounded superb and would still stand up against a lot of todays latest "in fashion" systems. The original bass bins did not have the ports and were sadly lacking in any decent bottom end as it was still a very small 2x18 sealed box in its day so the ports were definitely an after-thought---we had six of the original non ported versions of these that we used for years on our sidefill systems and they were great for what we used them for and Budgies drummer used to love having four of them on his drumfills---needless to say Budgie were one of the loudest bands around from that era. |
Posted By: Nachural
Date Posted: 07 November 2013 at 1:14pm
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John you really must put pen to paper more often, this stuff is fascinating! It's great to hear about these early systems and how they were deployed. ------------- it's all just cardboard and magnets really |
Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 07 November 2013 at 1:23pm
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Have these been burnt yet? ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: Robbo
Date Posted: 07 November 2013 at 6:41pm
I know Chris--I have seriously considered writing a book on quite a few occasions over the last 10 years or so,but now I am older my time is much more valuable to me, so it is down to the odd little snippet that I drop out on here on occasions. I have led a very interesting life really, both professionally and also in my private life as well, so I could tell some really interesting stories especially about touring life in the seventies and eighties and probably get away without being sued now that a fair bit of water has gone under the bridge--Cheers--John. |
Posted By: TONY.A.S.S.
Date Posted: 07 November 2013 at 7:44pm
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Do you mean now that many of them are dead? ------------- http://www.facebook.com/tony.rossell.3" rel="nofollow - http://www.facebook.com/tony.rossell.3 |
Posted By: GregM
Date Posted: 07 November 2013 at 8:22pm
Do it, do it, do it - selfish on my behalf I know, but it'd be an absolutely fascinating read........... ------------- Remember, if you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question! |
Posted By: godathunder
Date Posted: 07 November 2013 at 8:43pm
Ive not seen burke for a couple of years now but he used to run a marshall major pretty much flat out through a pair of 1x18 vox foundation cabs for small pub gigs. ------------- LOUDER THAN LOUD |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 07 November 2013 at 9:18pm
John, if you do put a book together or even an historical blog, do it via the States - the libel laws over there are such that even if there is a grain of truth in the statements you make, then there is no case to answer. Publish and be damned! ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: bee
Date Posted: 07 November 2013 at 9:39pm
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robbo why not start your own thread, talk about a memory or event, the chat from us guys from it will lead the way for you to tell us more. ------------- https://www.elements-audio.com |
Posted By: GregM
Date Posted: 08 November 2013 at 8:42am
What he said......  ------------- Remember, if you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question! |
Posted By: Nachural
Date Posted: 08 November 2013 at 9:46am
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Come on John, indulge us. Its interesting stuff and could get lost in the mists of time without your contributions! Having said that, I suspect Jazomir and a few other guys on here may have a story or two to tell also..... ------------- it's all just cardboard and magnets really |
Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 08 November 2013 at 9:58am
Given that the scandal-mongers and no-win-no-fee lawyers are now trawling the country for former groupies and their stories, some care may be needed. The technical history has yet to be properly written up. The technology usually just gets superficial mention, as an aside in articles about the acts. There's bits of stuff scattered around the internet and in ancient magazine articles but nobody has drawn it all together. A serious history of the equipment and practice of touring technology would be quite interesting. There's some quite funny (and very Aussie) stuff here though: http://www.dunkworld.com/ODTFTR.htm" rel="nofollow - http://www.dunkworld.com/ODTFTR.htm |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 10 November 2013 at 12:37am
Unfortunately, I wasn't involved directly with the biz from an early age. I realised that there was little return for lots of involvement (rather like running a restaurant, which I also considered for some time) and ended up in the IT business instead. I was lucky enough, however, to have lots of good friends in both the music biz & the techy world who for quite some while provided access to gigs/gear/bands/stories etc so was able to keep abreast of things both on a personal level and a tech level including working with bands until one by one, pretty much everyone I knew dropped out of the biz and got sensible (and often very lucrative) work in the real world. I still have links to people in the industry, but don't name names though I still hear new and amusing stories from times gone by which never cease to amuse & amaze even me - these I am quite happy to pass on, as I am with knowledge gleaned over the years. ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: Daniel S
Date Posted: 05 January 2014 at 1:38pm
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Being from Sweden I found the ABBA reference a bit interesting. I googled around a bit and found this transcript of an interview with the main sound engineer for ABBA's tours, Claes "Clabbe" Of Geijerstam where it's confirmed they used an Electrosound Turbo rig: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/3729637-post47.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.gearslutz.com/board/3729637-post47.html In the interview there's talk of a Harwell PA system as well. I've never heard of those before but got a little curious and didn't find much more than a few notes and a couple of pics. Does anybody have more info on the Harwell system?
------------- Distortion is evil |
Posted By: cravings
Date Posted: 05 January 2014 at 1:45pm
| there have been quite a few threads on here about "tasco harwell"... |
Posted By: APC321
Date Posted: 05 January 2014 at 8:20pm
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I found the following in an old International Musician Guide dated 1985. " The system was designed by Roger Harvey who has given Tasco an exclusive worldwide license for its use. It consists of a folded horn bass unit containing a pair of Guass 15" drivers front and rear loaded to bring the useful response down to around 30Hz; a low mid-cabinet which takes over at 200Hz and contains two peripherally loaded 12" JBL drivers; and a single high mid and high cabinet containing a pair of JBL 2441 both driving a single diffuser looking not unlike a large version of the famous JBL bullet, feeding into a fiberglass horn, and crossing over into four JBL 075." The old address for Tasco was 115-125 Lambeth Road London SE1. I found this on the old Ratsound website in America: "Rat Sound Newsletter December 1999 OK, so it has been a really long time since the last Rat Newsletter and a lot has been going on. First and foremost, we are proud to announce that Rat Sound is now the proud owner of a legendary PA system (http://ratsound.com/pictures/harwell.jpg). Recently at an auction of sound and light equipment we were extremely fortunate to acquire 10 stacks of Tasco/Harwell PA. To give you an idea of the magnitude of this equipment take a look at these sizes: Rat Trap 5 - dual 15”, dual 10”, 2”, 1” occupies 9.5 cu ft of truck space V-Dosc - dual 15”, quad 7”, dual 2” occupies 12 cu ft of truck space Harwell - dual 15”, dual 12” dual 2”, quad bullet occupies a whopping 80 cu ft of truck space! That is over 10 times the truck space! Unbelievable, unequaled and some say is the loudest PA ever. The Harwell System is the PA that embraces all the theories we sought to disprove and here we are 19 years later owning one. We have given up and are throwing in the towel, we sold out. Well, actually we are enjoying dismantling it and are selling off the components, except that we intend on hanging on to two complete stacks for historical and sentimental value. The idea is to have these ominous monoliths as working gargoyles to ward off the evil PA spirits when and if we ever get a new shop. " I think a company in London called KSS might have a couple of the mid / high horns, but this was many years ago. |
Posted By: 4AC
Date Posted: 17 April 2015 at 1:45pm
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Now take a look at this: http://link.marktplaats.nl/m920187119" rel="nofollow - http://link.marktplaats.nl/m920187119 They look like the same cabinetes, but empty now and without amps/processing.      ------------- uǝɿɿɐʌǝ6ɯo sı ʇsʞǝʇ ǝzǝp |
Posted By: Bams
Date Posted: 17 April 2015 at 1:51pm
| That's a shame, but understandable. he company which is selling is rather active in the netherlands since a few years. they are into buying/selling europewide. I bet you will see the speakers and amps popping up in small batches. |
Posted By: JACKCO520
Date Posted: 30 April 2015 at 6:40pm
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hi don t worry i have 6 top en 16 bass taken from the man from holland i need time to make them like new i will takes some foto s if its work regards jaak |
Posted By: JACKCO520
Date Posted: 19 May 2015 at 6:08pm
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hi can someone help my on the bass and top on the front are aluminium profiels are they still evalable in the uk mayby some old stock thanks jaak |
Posted By: bob4
Date Posted: 25 August 2015 at 2:14pm
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wow, the midhorns on the tops seem to have been JBL 2350s, that puts their size into perspective! were the 2350s loaded with JBL 375/2440 originally? And if so, why would they replace with EV? Cost? I'm surprised the horns were left in the cabinet by the original seller, I'm sure they would fetch a good price on ebay, especially with the throat adapters in place. wouldn't mind snatching a few of the 2350s to mate with a fat BMS coaxial -> beefy hi/mid section  |
Posted By: APC321
Date Posted: 25 August 2015 at 2:22pm
| jbl 2350S are big and heavy, but sound lovely especially open air. |
Posted By: JACKCO520
Date Posted: 27 December 2024 at 2:57pm
 
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Posted By: JACKCO520
Date Posted: 27 December 2024 at 3:05pm
   
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Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 28 December 2024 at 3:46pm
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That's coming along nicely, keep up the good work! |
Posted By: JACKCO520
Date Posted: 28 December 2024 at 5:50pm
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thank you |