It is always great to start the New Year off with renewed resolve.

 

The polar vortex put a slight crimp in the plan, but as we thaw out from the deep freeze, we restart once again with great enthusiasm. We spent some time at the end of last year to go through our gear (as explained below) and we are up and running at optimum operating levels.

 

We look forward to serving you again in 2014.

 

We take the business of making sure our gear works very seriously. The key is to have the will to make sure things get repaired, sometimes before it breaks, quickly and completely. It is not easy because everything breaks when the time comes, whether you expect it or not. Here are some examples of what we do.

 

At the end of the year, we conduct our annual microphone maintenance where we go through every one of our mics and test each one to make sure it is operating optimally. We do the same with all our outboard gear.

 

Over the last 5 years, we have been refurbishing our Neve 8088 console one module at a time. According to Fred Hill, who we worked with on this project, our console is in the best shape of all the Neves he has worked on and will be good for another 40 years. Other consoles that we have go through similar long term scrutiny.

 

Finally, it is the small, everyday things that are done, such as cleaning and exercising switches, on a consistent basis that make a huge difference.

 

With all this, you have better odds at a trouble free session at Avatar.

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