02 Aug Ken Schaffer To SoloDallas Comic (SVDS)
While the most pleasing email exchange continues on between Mr. Ken Schaffer and myself,
he just wrote me yesterday – I am without Internet connection where I am right now: back from Spain to my seaside house, Telecom has a broken cable there and it’s taking 10 days to repair it – and I found a way to post it for you all today.
It is a 1978 Comic published on Guitar Magazine. An AD, likely.
Besides the fact that is purely lovely, please take a moment to read and discern who were the stars that were using the Schaffer Vega DIversity at the time
(I will list it here for you in case you can’t see it well: The Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Steve Miller, Mahogany Rush, Peter Gabriel, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, Johnny Guitar Watson, Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills & Nash), Boston, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bay City Rollers, AC/DC, Chic, America, Bob Sieger, Kiss, Thin Lizzy, The Beach Boys, and lots more: fascinating find, I’d say, don’t you think?).
[singlepic id=522 w=1024 h=768 float=none]
We love you Mr. Schaffer!
SummerTime Fil 
PS
mbstone
Posted at 08:33h, 01 MarchDid you know that the Grateful Dead tried to use SVDS units to wire the Great Pyramid of Giza as an echo chamber for their September 1978 Egypt shows? True story (I packed the equipment myself). The idea was to have the band members play through the transmitters (Bobby Weir was an early SVDS adopter) and have the (presumably echo-ey) music played back through amps located in the pyramid. The music would then be captured by mikes and fed (also through SVDS equipment) back to the stage. Alas, the experiment didn’t take place: I was told the distance from the stage to the interior of the pyramid was too great for the amount of antenna wire we provided. Or maybe there was some other reason. But it was a good idea, wasn’t it?
Mike Stone
Senior Technician Emeritus
Ken Schaffer Group, Inc.
(Comments are my own and not that of KSG.)
More cool stories to come….
banane
Posted at 08:36h, 01 MarchWow, thats awesome! Do you have any photos of this? Or maybe even any other SVDS related photos? We would love to share them here, if possible
mbstone
Posted at 08:50h, 01 MarchI brought a 35mm camera along on the GD Spring ’78 tour and doggone it, the camera jammed leaving me with exactly one double (or maybe triple) exposure of the band. I have this amazing 35mm Ektachrome slide but I don’t trust the drugstore to digitize it, if you know what I mean, so no one has seen it….
currentpeak
Posted at 12:00h, 01 MarchThese stories from the road are priceless! Big thanks for them!
rjofig
Posted at 15:46h, 01 MarchThat’d have woken up the ancient spirits and have them dance
Nice story, thanks for sharing!
mbstone
Posted at 02:28h, 08 MarchP.S. I have inadvertently, through writing my reply in this thread, discovered a (recursive) corollary to Cheops’ Law (originally written by Robert A. Heinlein).
Cheops’ Law states, “Nothing ever gets built on time or within budget.”
Stone’s Corollary to Cheops’ Law is, “If you attempt to wire the Great Pyramid of Cheops, it will take more wire than you brought with you.”
OldSchoolRocker666
Posted at 17:01h, 21 AugustDid Gary Moore use the Vega Schaffer back in the days?
Considering what he says in the interview they bring up on this forum? http://www.marshallforum.com/marshall-amps/3345-gary-moore-signature-marshall-1959-a.html
I cannot confirm any of what’s written to be true, but just a thought since it’s mentioned he wanted a boost ”with just enought gain to give a lift to solos”, maybe he used boosts in past?
Lemmiwinks
Posted at 18:04h, 09 AugustHappy birthday Bon!
Devil'Fingers"
Posted at 21:55h, 09 August? 😉
Lemmiwinks
Posted at 23:50h, 09 AugustCrap! Im a month late aren’t I?…
Ant
Posted at 13:12h, 10 Augustlol
SGStandard68
Posted at 15:36h, 11 AugustYes he was born on 9th of July 1946
depuis1899
Posted at 10:11h, 07 AugustOff topic now, sorry too…
Fil, your signature SG, where did you buy it ?
Was it possibly in the Gibson Boutique in Rome ?
Ant
Posted at 14:46h, 05 AugustNews Flash (sorry of topic)
Guitar Rig 5 is out!!! looks awsome it has specifice mic positioning in the advanced controle room…. interesting
i will be trying this baby out tonight!!!
Ant
SoloDallas
Posted at 14:52h, 05 AugustDon’t worry about the topic. Going to get the update too 😉
Ant
Posted at 14:03h, 06 AugustDAM!!!!1
ah well might be worth the wait 
Emplexador
Posted at 18:08h, 04 AugustFil, you saw what EVH told Guitar Player in 1980?
GP: Do you use wireless transmitters?
EVH: Yeah, I always do because I bounce around a lot. My first one was a Schaffer-Vega. It took me a long time to get it working right with my system because at the time my amps were so powerful that the thing was overdriven and wouldn’t work. It was too much power. Then when I got weaker amps I could use it. If you use it with too high of an amp it will just freak out; you get the weirdest feedback noises you ever heard in your life. And then I got a Nasty Cordless. Now the Schaffer-Vega is tuned to a fixed frequency, and one of the advantages of the Nasty is that you can dial in the frequency, just like a radio. The Schaffer-Vega has a built-in compressor in the transmitter, which is kind of cool, depending on what amp you use it with. I think that the Nasty is weaker. Like with the Schaffer-Vega I’m always reaching at my knob, trying to get 11 out of it instead of 10. And with the Nasty, I’m reaching for 14, so I use an equalizer to boost it. But it is actually a cleaner sounding system. When we played the Budokan in Japan I couldn’t use either one because there were heavy radio signals everywhere.
Emplexador
Posted at 18:36h, 04 AugustI think Nasty refers to Nady
OldSchoolRocker666
Posted at 19:10h, 04 AugustInterresting! 😀
OldSchoolRocker666
Posted at 14:55h, 05 Augustand by the way , http://www.nady.com/timeline.html .
SoloDallas
Posted at 14:54h, 05 AugustThank you yes, I knew this. Actually, this was the sole source of info (until I got the first working Cetec Vega) that confirmed to me that there was a compressor.
Angusrocks
Posted at 19:15h, 03 Augusthttp://www.woodytone.com/2011/07/26/wireless-boost-angus-secret/#more-2877
SoloDallas
Posted at 19:25h, 03 AugustDanke for that mate. It also pleases me that Woody tone mentions me!
Angusrocks
Posted at 19:31h, 03 Augustyees, i thought i inform all about that.
That made me happy to read, the world keep us in her eyes
A friend of mine sent me the link today.
I didn`t know about that article.
Lemmiwinks
Posted at 19:24h, 09 AugustThe clip in that link! Man thats the tone right there http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtWrArkvrsA&feature=player_embedded
I will never buy a wizard… phil? hihi
Angusrocks
Posted at 20:46h, 09 Augustisn`t that sound awesome !!!?
If i had the money, i would buy one, this is ABSOLUTELY sure !!!
Lemmiwinks
Posted at 23:48h, 09 AugustBut this is really what a good marshall should put out too, in my opinion like wizard themselves say the juice is in the trannies
OldSchoolRocker666
Posted at 16:46h, 03 AugustI think it is weird AC/DC doesnt seem to have made an ”song about bikes”, you know, there are a certein cathegory of songs about bikes, life on road and stuff like that, being a Rock’n’roll band, i would early on expect them to have released some sort of biker song, Motörhead did Iron Horse, then we have Born to Be Wild and other classic songs like that, if AC/DC would have made an song with a biker theme but can’t seem to find any song about it, it would fit so perfect with their style of playing, at least in my mind
Guess they’re not into bikes, early on when i saw pictures of them i saw pictures of Brian wearing an tshirt with the Harley Davidson logo, so that’s why i was thinking about it.
headwhop26
Posted at 16:50h, 03 AugustI totally understand your thinking, Ive thought about it too. Bon was too nice to be a biker though 😀
OldSchoolRocker666
Posted at 17:01h, 03 August”Stallion of Steel, riding mile after mile, running wild tonight, i got a stallion of steel , gonna glide it fast burning line, Stallion of steel, we ride!” 😀
nitroangus23
Posted at 17:58h, 03 AugustI don’t think Bon was too nice to be a biker,well ok, he was no Hell’s Angel,but he could have been a biker
He almost died in a motorcycle accident before he joined AC/DC.Knocked a few teeth out too,
Didn’t get’em fixed til’ around the Let There Be Rock era.
I’ve seen pics of Brian and Bon riding motorcycles too,although Brian’s more of a car guy.
Angusrocks
Posted at 18:08h, 03 AugustI can remember, early in the eighties when i was in a rockergang, we had the song Highway To Hell as our hym, but by this time the song was almost for every biker “The Hym” !
OldSchoolRocker666
Posted at 00:42h, 04 AugustWho cares ! 😀
rpatzelt
Posted at 09:46h, 04 AugustHa, ha:
“Oh baby you sure looked sweet
Cruisin’
A leg either side
Of my motorcycle seat”
… from Little Lover
btw, nice to see you back guys!
HagusYoung
Posted at 01:28h, 03 AugustAwesomo!
musicman2242
Posted at 00:29h, 03 AugustAwesome comic!
Welcome Mr. Schaffer!!
Devil'Fingers"
Posted at 23:00h, 02 AugustI like that Comic!
Wow, and having such autorithies like Ken Schaffer here is great thing, now we should get Young brothers , Slash, Page and so on.. 😉
headwhop26
Posted at 20:35h, 02 August:O Mr. Schaffer! Here?! This could lead to more discovery!
I feel like the SVDS is some big elephant in the room of great tone that we all had forgotten about or never known about. THAT MANY artists use it, but its not a household name like Gibson or Fender or Marshall or even Ernie Ball. Boggles my mind….
Angusrocks
Posted at 18:05h, 02 AugustGreat Warm Welcome to you Mr. Schaffer
Woooow, that comic open our eyes for the understanding of these famous sounds of so many bands in the seventies !! And, of course, the success of so many bands !!
Thank you Fil for sharing this with us !!
I`m sooo happy that the SVDSstory goes on with this replica what reproduces the sound exactly !!
This thing give Classic Rock a rebirth
banane
Posted at 14:11h, 02 AugustOh, and a big “Hello here and thank you for that” to Mr. Schaffer
Ant
Posted at 13:27h, 02 AugustCoooool update Fil!
Hi Mr Schaffer! ^^
Aaron
Posted at 12:47h, 02 AugustMy thoughts exactly. Mr. Schaffer joining this community is pretty cool, anyone know Angus’ email address? haha
jubaluba
Posted at 11:50h, 03 AugustWe know where he live doesn’t we?
And a great big welcome to Mr. Schaffer.
banane
Posted at 12:33h, 02 AugustHehe, what a cool ad. Nothing of the modern stuff can compete with this. And it’s fascinating that all out heroes from back then used a SVDS. There must be plenty of them sitting around in storage rooms and basements…
jakesg61
Posted at 09:47h, 24 AugustI have just been thinking that myself! there must be many left that are not know to be there, that people have forgotten they have, I bet theres loads
SoloDallas
Posted at 09:50h, 24 AugustA total of circa 1000 were produced over the years.
I think actually most of them got destroyed/broken.
Very few original working ones remain… 😉
OldSchoolRocker666
Posted at 16:36h, 25 AugustSorry for double posting, but did Gary Moore use one as well?
jakesg61
Posted at 00:18h, 05 SeptemberIts good that you have the ones you have, must have been nice for Ken to hear when you told him you were interested, I love how this old, and ‘anologue’ gear creates such a rich an beautiful tone, ive played many solid state amps an modern high tech floor pods an they all seem to give out this (pardon my basic way of describing this), what i can only describe as a 2D sound that is very fake an flat, an these old basic amps an equipent seem to have a 3D and rich sound that surrounds you and has a depth to it, fantastic
For the first time today i took my amp and cab to an industrial unit an turned it to 10, im going to hospital tommorow to make sure the bones in my face are still in the right places LOL! never heard or played anything as oud in my life, but like i expected, i didnt get the ac/dc sound i was looking for, i could hear the angus tone in there but obviously it wasnt how it should be, i dont have to output in my pickups to over drive the amp and also i dont have to boost he uses what you have being experimenting with, it did over drive but sept to have an ‘overly’- clean ring on the lower string, I know the ring is distinctive in acdc but this was clear that it wasnt over driven like it should be, i need to send more signal to the amp i believe.