Vintage Stereo - Marantz 2245 Receiver

Here’s another vintage receiver I picked up recently – a classic Marantz 2245 from the early ‘70s in the WC-22 wood case. It’s in excellent condition overall with a very clean face plate and perfect glass. There is a small chip at the back left corner of the case and some black marks on the knobs, but considering this is over 35 years old these are just minor [character building!] imperfections.

Even though I got the Marantz 2245 receiver for a good price, I knew I would have to put more money into it. The speaker relay was failing resulting in some very loud pops through the speakers and with a receiver this old, capacitors would need replacing. I took it to my vintage stereo repair expert and he gave it a thorough restoration including new power switch, new speaker relay, new caps, and tuner alignment. He believes this to be a low mileage receiver as it has all the original lights still working and was very clean on the inside. Someone had attempted some amateurish repairs, but he corrected those and a low level hum in the right channel. That’s the thing with vintage stereo equipment, you never know what you are getting into . . . and it’s usually bad and expensive.

So how does this old Marantz 2245 receiver sound? The short answer is superb. I am driving some ‘80s Klipsch KG4 speakers which are probably not the best match because they are not very restrained, but it still sounds great. Deep bass, yet super clear and crisp highs. I am hearing things, especially in the lower register, that I have not heard before. Geddy Lee’s bass on “YYZ” has a growl and clarity I have not heard before, for example. The addition of a “mid” control is a nice touch that gives the Marantz a little more control than other receiver brands. It has a big soundstage, great separation and a wonderfully warm presentation, especially when playing LPs. The tuner is strong and sensitive and pulls in stations with ease. It’s much less muddy and warmer than my Pioneer SX-780 although that unit needs recapping as well so it’s not really a fair sonic comparison.

All in all the Marantz 2245 delivers fantastic sound quality that you would have to spend upwards of $1,000 to beat buying new gear today. And no new piece of equipment is going to give you that vintage look and beautiful blue Marantz glow. At 45 real watts per channel it’s not super powerful, but for normal listening that is more than adequate. So two thumbs way up for the Marantz 2245 receiver. It’s my first Marantz and probably not my last.

My Current Pedal Board

If I’m writing a blog on guitar effects pedals, I should really show my own pedal board. I’d like to add a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 unit to power everything, but otherwise I am really happy with my current line up, which I have had for about 6 months now:

In The FX Loop

• Analogman Chorus – Very versatile chorus pedal that covers all the bases. Thick and lush or light and airy with a passable rotating Leslie simulation. $150 used from The Gear Page. ($250 new).
• Voodoo Lab Tremolo – Perfect reproduction of Fender amp trems from the ‘60s. $80 on eBay. ($129 new).

In Front of the Amp

• Area 51 Wah – Italian Drop in Kit retrofitted into an old Dunlop Wah casing. Killer boutique wah. $199 new.
• Tone Factor/Mojo Hand Analogue Filter – Auto wah/envelope filter that’s ideal for funk. $85 from The Gear Page ($150 new)
• Barber Tone Press – One of the best compressors you can buy and useful for increasing sustain on single coils. $95 from The Gear Page. ($150 new)
• Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phaser [with Analogman Mods] – Version 2 from 1977 in great shape. One of the definitive phasers from the ‘70s. $80 on eBay + $100 of mods.
• KR Products Mega Vibe – As used by Frank Marino and Steve Stevens. Probably the best recreation of a Hendrix vibe; I don’t think these are being made any more. $295 new.
• Paul Cochrane’s Timmy – One of the most transparent overdrive pedals made, great for mild, tube-like distortion. Hand made and a long waiting list for these. $160 on The Gear Page. ($129 new but 3-6 months waiting list)
• Mojo Hand Huckleberry Fuzz – Very versatile fuzz/distortion box. $55 on eBay. ($150 new) 
• MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay – Recent reissue that sounds great with plenty of tonal options from short slap back to spacey echo to self-oscillation madness.

All pedals are connected using a Bill Lawrence Wilde Cable Kit.

Book Review: Bruford - The Autobiography

This is quite unlike any music autobiography I have ever read. There's no tales of drug binges, wild orgies with groupies, car wrecks, or any of the usual excess we have come to expect from "famous" musicians - take a bow Motley Crue. Considering how long Bruford spent with Yes and King Crimson, there's also very little detail about those seminal bands.

What we do get though, is a large serving of disdain for the "music business" and a very intellectual analysis of making music, musicians and the audience. There are passing references to Chris Squire, Robert Fripp and others but that's not what this book is all about.

Perhaps the strongest feature of his autobiography is the research that crops up on every few pages. Bruford references many published analyses on music and creativity which I found very interesting. And that fits in with the style of the book because it is a very analytical and intellectual read. Obviously none of the stupid drummer jokes apply to Bruford.

However, what makes this book different is also its downfall in my opinion. An autobiography is supposed to be personal, and this book doesn't deliver on that level. I would have liked to know more about how some of those classic albums ["Fragile", "Close to the Edge", "Red", "Discipline" etc.] were conceived, rehearsed and recorded. I want to know about other musicians he's played with and loved or hated and why [there are a few references, but not many]. As he's now retired, let's hope that is covered in book #2.

After reading this, I felt I got a better understanding of what it's like to be a musician that remains true to themselves despite the industry they are in. I feel I know what Bruford thinks about a lot of topics, but I don't feel I really know what makes Bruford tick or some of the experiences he has had that have shaped him as a person. He comes across as rather cold and removed from everything, like he was a distant observer of events rather than actually being in among the drama.

The other thing that rubs me the wrong way is that he has had an incredible 40-year career in the music business - yet there are a lot of sour grapes and a lack of appreciation of how lucky he has been. I would be on cloud nine if I could jam with Tony Levin or travel the world doing what I loved.

Overall, it's an interesting, intellectual read, but I would not be beating down the door to buy it at full price unless you are already a huge Bruford, Yes, or King Crimson fan.

Listen Up: Third World Electric - Kilimanjaro Secret Brew [2009]

Here's a great disc worth tracking down. I like '70s Weather Report a lot, but being a guitar player, I always wished they had a guitarist. This CD gives you an idea what that would have sounded like: F A N T A S T I C !

This disc is very much in the Weather Report & Zawinul Syndicate [with Scott Henderson] camp - it's a tasty gumbo of '70s jazz-fusion and ethnic/world music. Of course it doesn't hurt that the band features some seriously good players - The Flower Kings' Roine Stolt, Jonas Reingold and [ex-FK drummer] Zoltan Csorsz along with drum monster Dave Weckl on three tracks. Scott Kinsey [Tribal Tech keyboardist] put out an album called "Kinesthetics" in 2006 in a similar style, but I find "Kilimanjaro Secret Brew" much more exciting and interesting.

Each track offers jazzy grooves and African soundscapes that give the players plenty of space to solo over. However, unlike the super indulgent '70s, everything is kept very controlled and concise. And that's the big attraction of this disc: everything is just right. The rhythm section is excellent on every track [wonderfully nimble fretted and fretless bass playing by Reingold], the synth textures are perfectly '70s, and Roine Stolt provides some nice guitar textures, including some wah pedal, to add some crunch. The icing on the cake is the recording itself: crystal clear and very dynamic, unlike the super compressed CDs that are typically produced these days.

I have really been enjoying this hard to find CD lately and highly recommend it. It's a travesty that such a great album has no major label support and limited distribution [it's on the bass players' label Reingold Records]. But I won't beat that dead horse any more.

Available from Abstract Logix, Audiophile Imports and other online sources.

1 Waterfront Migration
2 Ode To Joe
3 Capetown Traffic
4 Downbeat Dakar
5 The Lava Juggler
6 Kilimanjaro Secret Brew
7 Tincan Robots
8 Children Of The Future

Jonas Reingold (fender & warmoth basses)
Dave Weckl (drums)
Zoltan Csorsz (drums)
Karl Martin Almqvist (tenor & soprano saxophones)
Roine Stolt (guitars & keyboards)
Ayi Solomon (congas & percussion)
Lalle Larsson (piano, rhodes & synth)

Movie Review: I Need That Record [The Death (or Possible Survival)] of the Independent Record Store

I watched this documentary recently (streamed from Netflix) and I found it quite interesting and enjoyable. I don't think it completely answers the subtitle though: The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store. There's a lot about the death, but not much about the survival.

Through interviews with independent store owners (many of them going out of business) and independent artists/labels, the movie charts the decline and splintering apart of the music business. It examines the "pay for play" trend, the consolidation of radio stations leading to narrow playlists, the gouging of consumers with $18.98 CD pricing, the impact of MTV, the rise and fall of Napster, and how the Internet has turned the music industry upside down. Much of this we already know, but the documentary does a good job of providing context and supporting statistics for these developments.

It's a fairly short documentary and well worth watching for those of us interested in music.