Another invention from the lab - TI Box

I give to you the Thicker Injection Box.  The TI Box is easy to build for the average DIY'er and fairly low cost.  What it offers is a more colorful way to record bass or keys direct in the recording studio.  Its a simple way to get a thicker tone than what a regular DI box will offer.  Enjoy 😊

Indirect Box - a new way to reamp in the recording studio.

So long since the last update on here...

There's plenty good reason for that... the official Lightning Boy blog is now located at http://www.lightningboyaudio.com/blog.html and its been going on there now for a while now. There's plenty of tasty morsels to catch up on if you haven't been there before.  However, if you want to taste a different treat, I've been hard at work developing a new website for my recently renamed recording studio, LBA Studios (formerly Gallery Acoustics).  The name change is symbolic of all the many changes that have occurred with the studio and will continue to change in the same direction into the future.  To get a better handle on what I'm talking about, please take a quick moment to check out http://www.lbastudios.com, Western New York's home of vacuum tube tone.  Also check out http://www.facebook.com/lbastudios and http://www.facebook.com/lightningboyaudio

Thanks for reading, happy journeys!
-Mike

LB2A Compressor Limiter

The LB2A is a NOS LA2A clone with a couple minor electrical upgrades and cosmetic differences.

Basically, this is a vintage LA2A. It uses the same NOS UTC input and output transformers, NOS Carbon comp resistors, NOS tubes, T4B opto cell and NOS Allen-Bradley carbon pots. Even the placement of components and wiring is laid out in the same positions as in the original LA2A from the 1960's. The upgrades are minor but here they are:

1. The on/off switch is a military grade (MIL) water proof switch with silver contacts
2. The meter select switch is a NOS MIL Greyhill rotary switch.
3. The non-shielded wiring is silver plated Teflon insulated wire
4. The 3 conductor shielded wire is Mogami
5. Silver Solder was used instead of traditional plain old 60/40 lead solder
6. The VU meter is smaller than the original, although this has no effect on sound.
7. The Compress/Limit switch is conveniently located on the front panel like the current production LA2A's.
8. The front panel is not on a hinge. Its bolted on.

How does it sound? Thick, fat and beautiful. As a mic preamp its very colorful.

Sum King 1602

Built for the studio of Tom Rastikis, Ohio, the Sum King 1602 is a 16 channel version of my original Suminator 8 channel passive summing box.  Passive summing networks are very susceptible to noise because of all the losses from summing.  The Sum King utilizes huge 5-watt non-inductive wire wound resistors to minimize resistor noise.  The Sum King has been cryogenically treated after assembly to enhance its electrical properties by realigning the molecular structure of the conductors back to their natural crystalline state.  The more conductive the components, the less noise. The Sum King is wired entirely with silver because silver is the best conductor on Earth. Silver wire, silver solder, silver jacks.  Basically, it sounds as transparent as possible.

SOUL DRIVE

Only the best overdrive in the world. Not only is it made with the best components in the world, it uses a real vacuum tube, not a circuit simulating the real thing. Soul Drive is a booster/overdrive (depending on the gain knob position), which makes use of a NOS 12AU7 tube.



Features:
-True Bypass
-Point to point wiring because it sounds better
-Teflon insulated Silver wire & Silver Solder for the best conductivity and sound
-NOS Paper in Oil caps, plus the tone control uses one of my hand-made Gallery Acoustics paper in oil Fat Caps. PiO sounds better than anything!
-NOS RCA 12AU7 tube (made in USA), selected for low noise and beautiful tone which can't be beat!

Sound:
-Warm, open, detailed, smooth.

The King Tone DI Box (ver. 2.0)

The King Tone is a passive DI box with a whole lot of mojo. It was designed specifically for use with Keyboards, but sounds remarkable on bass as well.

Features a vintage UTC transformer, and a very simple eq circuit which uses a NOS PiO cap from the 50's. The eq can be bypassed, but when engaged it allows the user to reduce the highs of the signal. As the knob is turned, the frequency is lowered while the amount of cut is increased. Basically, at its minimum setting the eq slightly reduces the high frequencies, but when turned all the way up the eq will only allow sub bass to pass.

The box also features an impedance switch, which changes the character and volume output of the box depending on the preamp and instrument you're using, as well as the EQ settings on the box. The tranny switch can be rather useful.

Finally, the box has an output switch to choose either 1/4" unbalanced or XLR balanced. The standard "Thru" found on most DI boxes, was omitted from this design by request of the client it was built for (would have cost slightly more).