Ashley SC50 Black vs Blue. Some comparisons.

[jrepro]

Ok, so last week I won the SC-50 on ebay that I posted about. All in all the $29 buy it now cost me close to $60 with shipping and handleing. :Hoppingmad:

It arrived today. I am happy to report that it was not in anywhere near as bad condition as it looked on the auction. Also when I purchased it, I realized that it was an earlier compressor because of the use of red, black and white knobs, as opposed to just black knobs. Once I cleaned it up, I realized that this was actually the coveted blue face compressor, and not the later blackface units. As far as I know there are 4 versions. BLueface with colored knobs. Blackface with colored knobs. Blackface with black knobs, and a later blackface that has a different smooth texture to the paint.

So I decided to open this one up and see what was different than my black ones. The blue face uses the RC4136 opamps which are very early integrated amps. This was prior to the standardized pin outs. The SLEW rate of the RC4136 is very slow. What happens is the harder the amp is pushed, the lower and lower the bandwidth. So in the case of a compressor the more you compress, the darker the tone. The RC4136 was also used in the famous UREI LA4a. When left in, the play a great roll for bass, kick or any harsh/bright source. (I found a way to upgrade my UREI to eliminate this effect). I believe but did not confirm this yet, but the later blackface units use a later IC amp. These have a faster slew rate which maintains bandwidth better. When the amp is hit harder it takes longer for the frequency responce to go down. In fact most of the time the responce of faster opamps never dip below the audiable frequecny. My guess would be the later compressor are using TL074 or 75.

So do they sound different? YEP! The blueface unit that Fletcher brags about really does sound different then the black ones. The blueface compressor rolls off the high end. It is done in a really musical way. I would not say its dark or muddy. Its much more like the difference between a condensor and a ribbon mic. While it has noticably less bright, it still sounds natural. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? I can not say, that it sounds better or worse. Just different in a subtle way. They both have simular qualities, and sound great.

Just to double check my findings, I tested the single blue unit against 2 blackface ones. The two black units sounded identical. One would have to consider that the blue unit was older and could possibley use a re-cap. But the overall condition of the electronics were very good. At this point I believe the findings are valid.

Sorry guys, I was going to pass this one on to someone else. At this point it will go in the rack with the other comps.

JD

[joel hamilton]

I had a blue, scriptface, original one of those for years, and a black one with colored knobs.

They are all cool for what they are. I still like the symetrix 501 better. The 501 will do a great "poor mans distressor" trick or two, but with a color that is very much NOT the distressor (in a good way).

The ashly comps I sold because right where I liked what they did, they made too much noise. The symetrix stay pretty damn quiet, even getting hit really hard, and gaining up on the back end quite a bit to get the output to clip a little.

The ashly will do a good dark, slow drive on certain sources ( I like dark, but present gear) , But god forbid there is a break in the song where that comp can open back up att all and start spewing pink noise at you. Of course you can throw a gate after it, with the threshold set just above that noise, but that changes the whole structure of the chain for the worse usually, because you cant drive the output and get back to your console witout slamming the crap out of whatever gate you are using.

Cool comp, not as cool as the early symetrix stuff like the CL100, CL150, and 501....

[jrepro]

Thanks for the reply Joel. I have not found them to be noisey, but I will admit, my console is not the quitest either. So it could be masking some too. I may do a little more testing on the noise level.

Funny thing is, I've sold 2 Symetric 501's I've had. I did not like the way they distorted. Now, I am wishing I would have given them a second chance on something that could have benefited from the distortion. Live and learn. Lucky they are still reasonable. I sold one this fall for $100 including shipping.

[Bear's Gone Fission]

I'm sure I've said it here before, but the faceplate doesn't tell you a lot on the SC-50. Blueface are supposed to be cool because they have the discrete VCA. But I have a blackface (without colored knobs) that has the discrete VCA circuit. (Don't know how different it is otherwise - I'm thinking the cosmetic development doesn't track 1:1 with the electronic development, but that's just my guess).

You do want to open any of these old Ashly's up and get the rotting foam the heck out of them. Packed in there to keep things from shattering during road use. They're a pretty tough build, though, so unless you treat yours like a gorilla treats Samsonite, you're fine.

Good to see these can still be had for good prices. That's kind of the problem with "forum finds"- the market always goes up when enough people find out about them. The good thing about that is that it drives you to find unique alternatives. Like the built in compressor in the Fostex MN series mini-mixers - the bomb for nuking drums.

Bear

[jrepro]

Bear, the foam was pretty bad in this one too. I removed some, but not all. This one appears to have the discrete VCA, but also the RC4136 chips which are slow. If was not such a pain in the ass, I would pull the black ones out and see how they differ.

I have schematics from 79 if you need them...

Joe

[OneZero]

AAArrgh

There was a blue face with colored knobs at the local music shop for soo long. $125.00!!!
I had been waiting and waiting till I had the spare cash. One morning recently I said Fuck it. My wife is gonna kill me but I gotta have it
.

Walked down there with the "I'm going for smokes" line. Went to the cash machine. Walked into the store. "Missed it by about an hour" the clerk tells me! AAARRRGGGHh

[eeldip]

last friday there was an sc55 on musicgoround.com for $79. its the stereo 2U version. i sent the link to a friend, who sat on it for a day, when he called, he missed it by a few hours...

these things go FAST

[aurelialuz]

The ashly comps I sold because right where I liked what they did, they made too much noise.

totes.

[drumsound]

Supposedly the blue SC-50 had a really odd-ball VCA. The company went out of business and thus the change in the SC-50. I've got a blue one that I use a my bass parallel regularly. On the mix that's on the console right now it got the bass and BD in parallel.

[Bear's Gone Fission]

It's been a long time since I cracked it open, but I'm 99% sure mine has those same slow old 4136 opamps. Odd pinout, right? Because I remember thinking about setting up adapter sockets to try something different but decided to leave well enough alone.

If you're worried about getting the "right" one, I suppose blackfaces are more of a crap shoot, but I have a hard time not laughing at the prices I've seen on some bluefaces. Probably worth it, but I just can't get past paying more than $50 for an SC-50.

Bear

[joel hamilton]

but I just can't get past paying more than $50 for an SC-50.

Bear

I said the same thing about Altec 436/438... Effectrons... Dbx 160 x's and xt's.....Gates compressors even. You could find that stuff for 20 to 100 dollars in 96/97...even '98...

It all depends on what people will pay, and the speed of the "ebay curve" is crazy.

[Derrick]

The 501 will do a great "poor mans distressor" trick or two, but with a color that is very much NOT the distressor (in a good way).

...the early symetrix stuff like the CL100, CL150, and 501....

OK, I have a CL100 that has a "D-essor" switch on it. What the hell is that for? It doesn't seem to do anything...

[jrepro]

D-essors generally reduce the 7k band. When a vocal is compressed the siblence on SSSSSS really stick out. D-essors reduce the SSSSS problem durring heavier compression. Not sure exactly how yours is set up. Sometimes it triggers an external eq via the side chain. Other times the unit has a built in band reduction.

Maybe someone with that unit can explain it. I do not think you would hear this on bass, drums ect. Maybe on cymbals, but usually this is for vocals.

[Bear's Gone Fission]

but I just can't get past paying more than $50 for an SC-50.

Bear

I said the same thing about Altec 436/438... Effectrons... Dbx 160 x's and xt's.....Gates compressors even. You could find that stuff for 20 to 100 dollars in 96/97...even '98...

It all depends on what people will pay, and the speed of the "ebay curve" is crazy.

You're completely right. I scored an Effectron for under $50, too, but I missed the curve on the Gates or the Altec. I think my Roland Space Echo is probably worth about twice as much as I picked it up for in the early 90's, but I think of the price I paid as what it's worth. Do you know what you could buy a Coke for in my day?

(Isn't 30 still too young to be crochety?)

Bear

[jspartz]

I have not played with a Blue face unit but I have been very happy with my Black face model.

Jason