Los Angeles, CA (May 7, 2018)—Two-time Grammy winner Erik Zobler, who has been using Manley gear for decades, most recently has been mixing FOH for Kenny Loggins tours, recording Romanian X Factor participants, mixing music for the 2018 film The Little Mermaid, and mixing a new funk/jazz album for Byron Miller.
After doing a sax session with Everette Harp, Zobler decided to buy the stereo Pultec EQP-1A, Manley’s modern interpretation of the Pultec Equalizer originally produced by Pulse Technologies.
“Soprano sax can be difficult to get a good sound on,” he recalls. “I had been trying different things at the studio, with marginal results. When I put the Manley Pultec on his sax, it was an instant winner. By the end of the session, I said, ‘I love it so much that I am buying one of these.’
“A few years later, while working at George Duke’s studio, I told him we needed a high-quality mastering EQ,” continues Zobler, who was Duke’s studio engineer for 34 years. “He asked me which one I wanted. I told him, Massive Passive Stereo EQ. I showed up at the studio the next day, and there it was.”
That Massive Passive became an integral part of his recording chain, which generally centered around tube components: “I would go through a mic pre, a Massive Passive, then a limiter, to tape or converter,” he says. “I did a ton of overdubs and vocals that way; it was a big part of my tool belt. When I was working with George, I used it almost every day.”
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