McNally Smith College Auction

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twday
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McNally Smith College Auction

Post by twday » Mon Jun 18, 2018 6:24 am

I'm surprised this isn't a subject on the TapeOp forum. The school bankrupted and abruptly closed last December: mostly mismanagement problems and general administrative incompetence. Their gear is getting auctioned off this week, starting Wednesday. You can find a list of equipment being sold here: https://www.proxibid.com/asp/catalog.as ... 100&sort=0. Keep in mind that between the "Internet Fee" and MN and city sales tax, there will be about 25% added to your bids. However, as the prices currently stand, someone is going to get a killer deal on a pair of Otari MTR-90II 24-track decks, SSL Duality consoles, Trident S80B consoles, and a pair of Studer 827s. The decks weren't used much in the last 10 years, but they were stored reasonably well and occasionally fired up for special moments. The SSLs will need a fair amount of maintenance.

I wouldn't bid much for anything at the auction unless you live close and can be there to pick up your purchase ASAP. The auction company isn't taking responsibility for anything, which means you could be bidding on property that vanishes before you can claim it. Still, it looks like there will be some good deals on recording equipment. The school went nuts on 500 series stuff in the last few years.

kslight
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Re: McNally Smith College Auction

Post by kslight » Mon Jun 18, 2018 6:48 am

Hey Tom! Former student of yours... I saw the auction but it seems like most stuff that would be “easy to carry” is already priced at or above market value including fees.

I thought it was pretty cold that they were selling the final project CD wall...I’m tempted to buy it just to attempt to redistribute to alumni...but I am 8 hours away so not sure.

Hope you are well.

Kyle (2005 grad)

twday
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Re: McNally Smith College Auction

Post by twday » Mon Jun 18, 2018 8:26 am

Hi Kyle,

I retired in 2013, so I missed the emotional aspect of MSCM's crash. I saw it coming, though. The "school" missed its opportunity to do the right thing in September of 2017 when what passed for administration and management failed (as usual) to make worst case plans for downsizing and conserving resources. Like conservatives blindly driving the world into ecological catastrophe they didn't see the cliff until the front wheels were well over it. Expecting the bankruptcy court and executor to make emotional decisions like preserving student's recordings for the students is just not going to happen. Their job is to extract the most money possible from the remaining assets to pay off the school's debt; including debt to students and ex-employees.

Agreed. The "easy to carry" stuff seems to be attracting the most realistic bids. Anyone who already owns an SSL Duality might be looking at the school's pair for parts, at the prices they are currently pulling. SSL's service ought to make anyone nervous about owning them as a primary console, though. Personally, I'd pay more for the Otari MTR-90's than the Studer 827's. The Studers are already close to impossible to repair as their LSI chips are out of stock and near impossible to reverse engineer for a reasonable price. The 2-track decks seem to be attracting decent attention and should because they were barely used after ATR reworked them.

I'm good. Retired to Red Wing in late 2014. How about you?

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Gregg Juke
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Re: McNally Smith College Auction

Post by Gregg Juke » Mon Jun 18, 2018 10:00 am

Glad things didn't get political.

GJ
Gregg Juke
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http://MightyNoStars.com

"He's about to learn the most important lesson in the music business-- 'Never trust people in the music business.' "

kslight
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Re: McNally Smith College Auction

Post by kslight » Mon Jun 18, 2018 10:04 am

Agreed, I realize there is little emotion taken into consideration when purging everything, just surprised it is offered for sale at all as opposed to trashed...surely someone could have noticed these are a bunch of CD-R’s of unknown quality..oh well. I was real surprised that my project still remains in that wall, I can see it in the first photo.

It also is incredibly odd to me that action was not taken sooner if the situation was getting dire, from the outside at least it looks like they could have been more proactive about downsizing. It’s not like they didn’t have a massive amount of equipment that could have been liquidated. Glad you were able to get out while you could.

I’ve been staying busy in KC, picking up engineering projects that seem interesting here and there, writing music for film...but graphic design/IT is my bread and butter ATM.

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Re: McNally Smith College Auction

Post by twday » Tue Jun 19, 2018 5:33 am

I did a walk-around the school and the auction lots yesterday. Not much organization. Part of the problem was that the studio area flooded when a pipe broke a few months back, so the studios were just ripped apart without much thought about how that might affect the assets. They are selling a lot of the student-made acoustic materials, for example, while quite a lot of the manufactured treatment materials are still on the walls and are not likely to end up getting sold: look for a dumpster near you any day now. The CDs just didn't get removed as part of that process, so they are being sold "as is" and it's the buyer's responsibility to remove them. I posted some pictures of the studio wreakage in my blog.

There was no thought at all to the last semester's budgeting. For the last 8 years, there had been mindless talk about going non-profit but it was all talk because Jack and Doug didn't want to let go of their cash cow. An actual organization would have been planning for a "worst-case" budget way back in August when they saw the enrollment numbers and could make spring 2018 projections. Administration was just an amazing amateur hour demonstration of why you should never hire MBAs, let alone musicians, for management positions. Jack and Doug got out of Dodge before they even notified the faculty they were going to get screwed. Harry hung around for the faux last "graduation," but he vanished pretty quickly too. There were a lot of unused assets that could/should have been sold years ago; while they still had some value. I've worked for a fair number of brainless mismanagement types in my career, but MSCM set some new records.

There are still some good-to-great deals to take advantage of, but a smart buyer would be there in person to pick up those purchases. It could get messy between now and Saturday.

kslight
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Re: McNally Smith College Auction

Post by kslight » Tue Jun 19, 2018 8:25 am

Interesting I had no idea about the flooding.

I did see all the DIY Sound panels...could always use a few more but obviously impractical for me to ask someone to pick them up for me.

There are a few items I’m considering (price being important of course) but I will need to make sure i can have a friend grab it for me. I couldn’t really get up there before Saturday.

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Re: McNally Smith College Auction

Post by Magnetic Services » Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:59 am

twday wrote:
Mon Jun 18, 2018 8:26 am
I'm good. Retired to Red Wing in late 2014. How about you?
Hey Tom, another former student of yours (Dante Fumo, 2009-2011). Just wanted to say you were probably the most knowledgeable, engaging, dedicated, and nicest prof I had there. I still use everything I learned from you in my daily engineering, building my studio, and writing technical articles about audio. Our trip to Orfield labs in particular sticks out as a watershed moment for me.

A few other McNally teachers were great too, most had chips on their shoulders, and some should never have step foot in a classroom. McNally's hiring policy of industry fame over teaching experience was part of their downfall, in my opinion. And I'm not sure I'd want to hear my CD from the wall again :?

So thanks again, Tom. Hope you're still cruising on your bike when weather permits.

twday
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Re: McNally Smith College Auction

Post by twday » Tue Jun 19, 2018 1:01 pm

Good to hear from you, Dante. I'm glad you're finding some value in your experience at MSCM. I enjoyed having you in class and it's good to see that you are using your skills and knowledge for fun and profit.

For some reason, I haven't done much on the motorcycle since we moved to Red Wing. I was mostly a commuter/rider and I don't commute to anywhere anymore. I do bicycle a lot here, though.

take care of yourself,
Tom

kslight
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Re: McNally Smith College Auction

Post by kslight » Tue Jun 19, 2018 5:34 pm

I occurred to me you are the reason that I subscribe to Tape Op in the first place, as I was not aware of this publication at the time (not much besides the newspaper and TV guide in Des Moines).

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