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SKU
1102
$2,499.00
Thermionic Culture Vulture Two-Channel Tube Distortion Unit
Highly-versatile and musical two-channel tube distortion unit to add subtle warmth, completely mangle sounds and everything in between
The Thermionic Culture Vulture is the original and still the only studio unit dedicated to just adding valve produced harmonic distortion to sounds, with no solid state components in the way. This unique unit has changed little since its introduction in 1998.
There are 3 basic settings for the type of distortion:
T gives the typically "musical" effect found with triode valves and is good for just "warming up" a sound
P1 means that the "distortion" valve is switched to Pentode mode to add odd harmonic which make the sound more aggressive, but retaining that valve character
P2 is the "No Holds Barred" setting and is very unusual way of configuring an unusual valve, even giving an extra octave at higher bias settings
The Bias control varies the current through the "distortion" valve (6AS6 type) and this current is shown on the millimeter. At low current the Vulture is "starved" and the sound is inclined to be thinner and "break up" easily. High current and the Vulture is over-fed and becomes quite fat and bloated. At medium current (0.25-0.3 mA) it distorts least, and this is the best setting for just "warming up" a sound. When the Vulture is over-driven, the meter may "twitch" and this gives a good indication of how drastic the distortion is.
The Low-pass filter has a 12dB/octave slope and will remove unwanted frequencies above 6 or 9 kHz (selectable) so as to make the sound more "rounded". The Drive control and Overdrive switch give the user ample control over the amount the input signal is boosted before it hits the 6AS6 valve.
The Output Level controls the amount of signal going to the output valve. This control should be set at 8 + for low distortion and turned back when Drive is increased for more distortion, except when P2 is selected.
The Bypass switch completely bypasses the unit so that the Culture Vulture's effect can be accurately compared to the original.
FEATURES:
The original and only all valve rack-mountable distortion /enhancer
Vast range of distortion effects
Low pass filters (switchable)
Bypass and Overdrive switches
2 inputs per channel. DI at front cuts out LINE at rear
2 outputs per channel, line and low level
Standard ¼" jacks, stereo wired unbalanced for all connections
Long life high quality valves
Made in England
SOME CULTURED USERS...
Because of their unique blend of flexibility, musicality, and usability, brought about as a result of being hand-built by some of the worlds leading pro audio valve equipment designers and engineeers, Thermionic Culture products attract their fair share of high profile, industry leading producers and engineers from the world of recording technology. Here is just a handful - why not add your name to the list?
Tony Maserati - Culture Vulture
Black Dog Productions - Earlybird 2.2, Pullet, Phoenix Mastering Compressor, Culture Vulture.
Al Schmitt - Phoenix
Big Life Music - Phoenix Master Compressor
Steve Dub Jones - Earlybird 2
The Dairy - Phoenix
Al Stone - Culture Vulture
ROBERT CARRANZA - PRODUCER FOR LOS LOBOS, SUPER GRASS, JACK JOHNSON - CULTURE VULTURE
PABLO MUNGUIA - ROBBIE WILLIAMS - PHOENIX & CULTURE VULTURE
STEPHEN STREET - KAISER CHIEFS - CULTURE VULTURE
JAMES FORD - PRODUCER - ARTIC MONKEYS - CULTURE VULTURE
GROOVE ARMADA - EARLYBIRD & CULTURE VULTURE MASTERING - " Both myself and Tom Findlay bought the Earlybird and the Culture Vulture Mastering, they're like your first mobile phone, once you've used them for a week you wondered how you ever liver without them!" Andy Cato - Groove Armada.
Larry Hammel - Producer, Deepwave Music Productions, Earlybird 2.2 and Phoenix
Peter Katis
Chemical Brothers - Culture Vulture Mastering MV & Phoenix
"The vulture it distorts synths in a truly beautiful way-we used to acheive this effect thru a long,convoluted process now we can get this great sound at a flick of a switch!" - Tom Rowlands
Peter Gabriel - Real World Studios - Culture Vulture
Alan Moulder -Producer/Engineer The Jesus & Mary Chain, Swervedriver, My Bloody Valentine,Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral, U2's Pop.
Mike Caffrey
Steve 'Dub' Jones - Engineer/Producer - Chemical Brothers, Madness. Culture Vulture Mastering MV & Phoenix
Tom Findlay - Groove Armada - Earlybird-2, Phoenix
Pietro Taucher - Engineer for Sharrie Williams
Paisley Park
Tie Dye Keith
Jerry Harrison and Eric Thorngren (Talking Heads)
Peter Katis
Jimmy Boyle
Kevin Bacon ( Axis Studios, recent credits include Jaimeson )
Angel Mountain Studios
Overtones
Andy Strange ( recent credits include Robbie Williams )
David Ives
Bernard Butler
Tony Hoffer ( Beck , Turin Breaks )
Edwyn Collins
Mick Jones
The Libertines
Mark 'Spike¹ Stent ( U2, Madonna, Oasis )
Portishead
Ken Nelson ( Badly Drawn Boy, Coldplay )
Dave Gilmour
The Prodigy
Hugh Jones
Strong Room Studios
Air Studios
Mute Records
Ross Hogarth - "Mondo distorto! dude, I like your box a lot...really liked the musicality of it!"
The recording process has changed a lot over the years. In the past, engineers used tube mics and analog preamps to record instruments directly to analog tape. The combination of unique tones from those three pieces of gear added a very pleasing texture to the music created.
While it’s still extremely common to see analog preamps and tube mics in a modern studio setting, tape machines are a somewhat rarer bird. While you'll still find them in many studios, the industry-wide shift to working in the box has made bypassing tape a somewhat more feasible practice. Because of this, many engineers feel that modern music is missing something. Continue reading →
Gordon Bahary is a multi-platinum producer, engineer, composer and artist, best known for his work with Herbie Hancock, Raven Symone, Ramsey Lewis, Twilight 22 and the incomparable Stevie Wonder. Earlier this year, Gordon opened Electric Kingdom, a studio he built from the ground up with the help of Vintage King Audio Consultant Navon Weisberg.
Recently, we had the pleasure of chatting with Gordon about his new studio, including his Rupert Neve Designs 5088 console, what outboard gear he’s been using, and what it’s like working in the studio of his dreams. Continue on below for our full conversation. Continue reading →
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