Thermionic Culture THE FAT BUSTARD II 12 Channel Summing mixer User Manual
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© Thermionic Culture Ltd, May 2011
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1 Introduction
The Fat Bustard is a passive input summing mixer that has all
valve summing and output stages. There are 12 input channels
and 2 auxiliary inputs. Included in the output stage are facilities
for stereo EQ, gain, distortion and also control of the stereo /
mono balance over different frequencies. These features are all
tried & tested and are felt to be useful and unique to what the
Fat Bustard offers and what it can be used to achieve.
The Fat Bustard owes its sound largely to the unusual choice of
valves used. The summing / EQ amplifier uses 5965 valves,
only used in audio applications by Fairchild before now. These
excellent valves give smoothness and fatness to the sound. The
output amplifier uses 6SN7 valves. These large output valves
give a huge amount of headroom and a tough punchy
character. The stereo width is controlled by a 12AU7 valve
giving a wide spectrum to the sound.
The Fat Bustard has been left with unbalanced inputs and
output as standard because, after much experimentation, the
sound of the unit was preferred this way.