Saw this listed today, might be of interest to a European buyer....not sure if it's still a current listing though. Well put-together rig....!

http://larkingslist.com/products/bro...rding-studio-1

My buddy in Ireland was considering this rig a few months ago. He even has additional images of this rig that I looked at when he was asking me for my advice.

I believe he eventually passed on it.

dunno about the rest of the world but over here (old world), there are a couple of things to consider:

- audio-only trucks are having a hard time over here: i know of about a dozen which went out of business within the last 3 years
- while still capable, the sountraces/digico desk is pretty much outdated so the truck imo would need substantial investments
- the largest european provider of broadcast trucks currently has about half of its fleet in stand-by (pandemic-related) so one can very easily get far more modern trucks including cameras for very attractive prices.
- anyone running a truck has to compete stated-funded, national broadcasters and (some of) their trucks are state-of-the-art
- also, they far too often offer to do things for free (sic!) if they get to broadcast things first...

i've been considering getting a vehicle myself (so thx for the link) for quite some time but decided against it; i will keep on hauling my rig in r'n'r fashion around the continent - i'm still in the process of re-designing all my racks for easy connectivity (via madi) and fast setup (once i'm done, i'll start a new thread).

Very similar to what I stated to my friend in Ireland.

Buying this vehicle, then turning it into a more modern approach would have been to only logical way to go about it.

This is NOT a "turn key" opportunity. Much time, effort, and money would need to be invested into this project venture.

That said, not a bad idea, if you have the money and a good forward thinking mindset and such.

It's a nice looking truck. And certainly much more space than my tiny thing.

Maybe some of the infrastructure is worth keeping, the patch bays and MADI interconnects. And if the truck is mechanically sound and working and doesn't need more than a tune up it might be worth it for the right person depending on the price. Other than the speakers I don't see much audio gear worth keeping. The Mac G5s are boat anchors, the Protools systems are ancient and not compatible with anything close to a modern operating system. And the Protools HD color scheme would have to go.

Any idea how much they are asking for it?

Back in May of 2020, the truck was in northern Italy and going for relatively cheap. $20,000.00 plus whatever it takes to get it to where it needs to go.

wow!

i'm not tempted nevertheless: it's so much more fun to invest into audio gear than into cars (unless of course you are nick mason) - to illustrate: on average, i got my studer vista1's for that amount! also worth noting that they are way less heavy and consume vastly less energy...

Curious, where did you grab your Studer Vista 1s for that amount?

i got three vista1-32 desks: two i got from broadcasters (one which went out of business, one which changed desks of the entire fleet to lawo), one from an european distributor...

...and my latest addition, the vista v-42/infinity core400 (which is much more powerful but was also more expensive; still way less than new though) from the largest theater in town which went with a desk that is a bit more popular.

i might get rid of one vista1-32/i try finding someone with a vista1-22 who might wanna swap desks...

So the ad said it did scoring sessions. Post-COVID, scoring will be in high demand I think and if the new owner could find a nice venue to park it behind, well, there might be a business in that.

A man I work with took a lease on a large deconsecrated church and did (and will do again) scoring sessions. Lots of them, mostly for video games. When he isn't shut down by a stupid pandemic, he does good business. He built a control room, and then added gear. He probably spent more than $20k on the room and can't move it if his lease runs out. The gear is the same for either the room or the van.

You'd still need a huge investment in mics, a necessary upgrade of the recording system, etc, but the interior (well, and the exterior) of that truck looks pleasant enough.

If I were 30 years younger and lived in Europe. . . .

If wishes were fishes, we'd have trout for dinner.

D.

Oh, and I'd need to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road. Did that on some tiny highways in Ireland a few years ago. Truly, some of the most terrifying days of my life. Rock fences on each side, no berm and high-speed lorries. I was fearful for my life and only scuffed the tires a few times. Cursed aloud often.

I keep forgetting about the sub-forums! I'm not surprised to see that truck is still wafting about on the market. It looks nice but really isn't a bargain for any kind of commercial operation - maybe fun as a hobby piece or plaything but not viable commercially.

Apart from the investment of money and work needed to get the equipment up to the kind of level that would be expected in a modern mobile of that size - bearing in mind that much smaller vehicles with far greater capabilities are now generally preferred and readily available - the running costs are high and it's a 20-something year old chassis cab which isn't going to get cheaper to maintain.

Also, parking (and even manoevering) something that size in most cities can get pretty expensive compared to something like a Transit or Sprinter sized panel van. If the venue doesn't have it's own dedicated parking, fees will be a multiple of parking a smaller vehicle and, in some locations, will require special parking arrangements and pre-arranged permits, or getting roads closed (been there!), rather than just parking in a normal parking space. And then there's the challenge at some venues of actually fitting the thing into the available space! Not so much of a problem at large concert halls or stadia but potentially really tricky at smaller club and pub type venues and city centre venues like theatres, clubs or churches. And as for those rural music festivals and classical gigs in country churches or stately homes, with narrow lanes, weight limited bridges, low overhanging trees, arches over gateways, etc., etc.!

The real nail in the coffin, though, is that with a vehicle that old, it's going to be nowhere near meeting modern emissions standards so driving it into major cities which have Low or Ultra Low Emmissions Zones is going to incur fees, which can run into hundreds of pounds or euros per day. And in some places, if your gig finishes late enough for you to be driving in the LEZ after midnight, you pay again. If you're paying £300/day to take your old truck into the LEZ, a couple of those payments can really eat into the profitability of the job, or price you out of the market if you pass the costs through to the client.

If I were looking for mobile these days (and having once had two trucks at my disposal (a 3500kg VW van conversion and a 14,000kg purpose built mobile) I do think about it sometimes), I'd be looking for something around 3500-5000kg (definitely no more than 7500kg!) with the ability to do surround monitoring and handle at least 3 MADI streams on a decent digital desk - preferably Lawo or Studer, or maybe Digico or Calrec - with double, or preferably triple head recording. All installed in a practical, comfortable, and aesthetically pleasant environment with some useful isolation and reasonable acoustics (and air-con!), based on the latest low emission specs or maybe even a hybrid or electric base vehicle.

Lets face it, if it's just a track capture job from MADI, an RME MADIFace XT and a decent laptop can hoover up three MADI streams and there'd be no great difficulty carrying two or three such systems in a rucksack! Add a little UPS for a few minutes backup for the RMEs, a MADI capable headphone amp, and a drum or two of multicore fibre and it's still not too bad for lugging around on the train in maybe a rolling case or two. OK, if you want to do a live surround mix or the kinds of things that a mobile can accommodate, or carry a load of mics, stands, cables, etc., etc., then a mobile is probably the way to go but a lot of the bread and butter tracking with a rough monitor mix type work no longer needs truck loads of fresh air and heavy gear.

A 20 year old truck with 20 year old gear really isn't going to be a fun option. One would probably make more money by installing a massive flat screen, a PlayStation, LF heavy surround sound system, some sofas and a stripper pole, bar and lighting rig to pick up the party group work. Or put a big door in the side, install some hot plates and fridges and go into the food truck game at festivals.

Maybe if it came with 3 mint M50s…