I now have 3 LA-3A's on hand here. Got one- had to have more. Hoping to start a thread of discussion on these boxes- possible points of interest:

• favorite uses
• variants- (incl. the various front panels)
• mods, good and bad
• DeMaria optos: OK? (I have two in place as it turns out)
• stereo linking

Thanks...

How does the ADL O/S/L 1600 compare to the La-3a?

I'm in the market for a pair of La-3a's and this would be about the same price and i was wondering where my money should go.

Any thoughts?

This is a pretty cool article right here:

http://www.tangible-technology.com/d..._dynamics.html

There is some cool info about maintaining and upgrading the La-3a at the bottom.

The 1600 is really sweet and fat! Optimal for tracking vocals etc. Very warm tone.

I would get bummed out when I would show up at a place that didn't have them, so i bought a pair to keep with me! I use them on vocals, acoustic and electric guitar mostly. I've seen a lot of different ones over the years -- some have moved the -30/-50 and the comp/limit switches to the front panel, others have the HF contour pot moved to the front panel as well. Mine are stock, except for a low noise mod which is done by replacing the resistor in the R14 slot with a 47K ohm resistor. It changes the gain structure a bit, but itmakes it quieter in operation. Mine do not have the original opto's in them either, but I don't hear a difference in the tone -- my attack/release seems to be slower than some I've run across, and faster than others. I have also experimented with the suggestion in Eddie Ciletti's excellent article mentioned above that uses a resistor in parallel wiith the output, that in effect changes the output impedance. But i dug the tone the way it was. It is an interesting thing to check out nonetheless...

Have fun!

-John

It's starting to be a rare treat to run across a pair of LA3As in good condition and still relatively in-spec, at least here in my neck of the woods.

Like John, I like them on vocals and guitars.

Wish I had a pair.

Same as everybody vocals and guitars. I like it a lot after another comp.

The most popular mod I know of is the "Clearmountain mod".

The Clearmountain mod being the one changing R14 to 47kOhm?

Anthony DeMaria Labs makes a great replica, the 1600. I´m repeating my self = It´s awesome on vocals and gtr´s.
http://www.adl-tube.com/products.html#ADLOSL1600

the mod i had on mine was a 15K resistor across r14. and i made sure that i had
a fresh t4b ( or whatever it was) for fast release times. absolutely one of the best
lead vocal compressors ive ever used.

I bought one of the first LA-3as just a few months after they came out after hearing what it did on a vocal at a friend's. It actually says Teletronix on the front panel in addition to UREI. I bought my second after I left Motown in 1972 so that I'd have a stereo pair. The action is pretty different between the two but I still use them all the time and haven't given much thought to buying anything else other than an RCA BA-6.

"It actually says Teletronix on the front panel in addition to UREI. "

One of my three has that screening as well. I'd kinda like to know how many front panel variants there were. I think I know of 3...

Tech info from here and elsewhere led me to believe that the best R14 mod involved putting a 15K resistor in parallel, with the rear panel switch set to "50", which bypasses an internal pad. I have done this- honestly I haven't seen any change in the threshold settings. Odd

On another note, while talking with JBL parts about stuff to refurbish my units I learned they had a small stock of NOS faceplates (last style made) on hand! So I was able to refurb a pair to as close to as-new as could be imagined.

It's my understanding that a speculator has bought out the remaining faceplates to resell at a profit.

Anyone know where I can get new knobbies?

One of my moments of deepest regret is the day I ebayed-off my pair of Teletronix/UREI LA-3As in a moment of beancounting despair.

They had the switches up front, and were very, very nice. Went to a guy named Kidoh Taki in NYC...



I hope he's showing them a good time

If I didn't have a pair of Distressors to make something like their flavor (or so I tell myself), I'd be even sadder.

-dave

Dave don't sweat it,

2 weeks ago I tried the prototype for a brand new compressor, sounds sort of a cross between an LA3A an 1176.

But with a little more clarity.heh

I put it through its paces and I discovered in places I would use the LA3A(mixing vocals and guitars)it was awesome.

And the great thing for everyone is that it will be cheap or not too expensive.

I think when its released its going to be a hit.

There is no name for it at this time, but as soon as I hear something I will post it.

I have a chance to buy a pair in very nice condition with the Clearmountain mods for $2k.... anyone know if thats a good price? I'll have them tomorrow to check out before I have to pay- so thats a big plus.

That's a very good price these days. I saw a pair go on eBay for $2850 not so long ago. I recently paid $950 for a single unit and $2300 for a pair a few months later.

Thrill,

You've got me excited about it already...please share more info about this mystery machine when you can. Thanks,

Jon

Jon,

Absolutely!!

What I do remember about it is that it gave some really cool sounds at the extreme ratio settings(or i think they were extreme there were no markings on the unit at all).heh

I made a couple of suggestions to improve on it and I hope they listened.

Since its a mono unit, I suggested that they make it competive price wise with a used LA3A...between $700-750.

Thrill,

I'm wondering if this comp ever came out and if you can share any info with us?

Thanks.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by thethrillfactor

What I do remember about it is that it gave some really cool sounds at the extreme ratio settings(or i think they were extreme there were no markings on the unit at all).heh
------------------------------------------------
if i remember correctly from back in the day , the thing about the la-3-a is that it starts around 2 or 3 to 1 ratio , but as you start to go over 7 db gain reduction , it starts to level off to a ratio like 10:1 , but in a really smooth way.
i too had to sell mine off for rent $$. they were teletronix la3a's that i bought for
$200 each. can you imagine.
s

p.s. : i believe the powerstaion mod was done by ed evans , one of the techs there. it was very complicated - or am i thinking of the very complicated mod they were doing at a&m ?? like i said earlier , mine were just with a 15K resistor across r14. it allowed me to turn up the gain knob stright up to 5 ( they way bc ran them. i believe the reason they were set up with the original gain scheme is that they were originally designed for radio and you could plug a microphone straight in with no mic pre ( although i could be wrong).

Click here for Ed Evans' LA-3A mod document .pdf, which he sent me a few months back.

Any news on this?

I'm about to buy a broken La3a and I'm wondering who you recommend i send it to to get repaired? Is Anothony Demaria Labs the place to go or should i look somewhere else?

Click Here.

thank you!

You might also want to try UREI which still very much exists!

http://www.jblproservice.com/repairs.htm

I'm also a bit surprised to have never heard of the technician mentioned during the nearly 30 years that I lived and worked in the San Francisco bay area!

That's right, and they still make alot of stuff, including mixers, and broadcast oriented limiter/compressors.

I would LOVE to see THEM re-issue the old urei stuff.

Check out:

http://www.jblproservice.com/navigat...0Limiters.html

Wow, they are making these currently? Have you used them, Bob?


Have you ever used that jbl/urei comp called a 5770 (I think that is it). It is this black 1RU comp, that is just so aggressive and cool sounding. Uh, oh, watch the price go up If anybody knows what I am talking about, tell me if that is the actual model #, or just something like that.