MCI JH-16

[champ]

I was curious about what records were done on Electrical's MCI JH-16 1 inch 8 track machine. Are there any that come to mind?

Thanks,
Champ

[cowtown14]

I second interest in this topic.

I know that the transformers (I think that's the right word for the "goesintos and goesoutofs") are notorious for not being exactly spot on with these machines and are known to "color" the sound.

I seem to remember someone telling me that "analog" people love it and "digital" people don't. Don't remember who that was.

I know that Franz Ferdinand used a two inch 16 track version of this machine (I think) for their first record, but that doesn't give me quite as much context as I'd like.

I'd be particularly interested to know what Steve, Greg and Russ (or any other EA engineers) think about this machine. That is to say, I would hate to request it and then work with an engineer who doesn't like the basic idea of the machine.

I wait with baited breath.

[MTAR]

I sat in on a session here where Steve was tracking to the MCI in Studio B. The band was called The Living Things, and they were recording an EP. I think they also did a full length at Electrical after this, but Im not sure if they used that machine again.

[greg]

I had that thing in my dad's house for a while so there are a few bands I recorded on it.

Chestnut Station live at the Hideout, Ballydowse(Steve)
Plush (I don't remember who or what for)
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire: Swimming Hour- one or two of the songs (me)
90 Day Men 1/2 of that 1st ep that had their birth years in the title (me)

I'm sure steve has used it a few times, I just don't remember when.

[tmidgett]

Silkworm made part of Firewater, all of Blueblood, and all of You are Dignified on an MCI 1" 8tk. I used it to record an Ein Heit single as well, and a lot of demos.

They're quite good machines for the money.

The build quality on the electronics is not super-high, but they are dead easy to fix, in that you can get all the parts from Mouser and DigiKey. I found the mechanical parts to be pretty robust for the most part.

1" 8tk is a great format for basic recording of a solo artist or small group in particular. Low noise due to wide track width and few tracks. Very good low end, run at 15ips especially. Not enough tracks to get one in trouble with overdubs.

[MTAR]

Silkworm made part of Firewater, all of Blueblood, and all of You are Dignified on an MCI 1" 8tk. I used it to record an Ein Heit single as well, and a lot of demos.

They're quite good machines for the money.

The build quality on the electronics is not super-high, but they are dead easy to fix, in that you can get all the parts from Mouser and DigiKey. I found the mechanical parts to be pretty robust for the most part.

1" 8tk is a great format for basic recording of a solo artist or small group in particular. Low noise due to wide track width and few tracks. Very good low end, run at 15ips especially. Not enough tracks to get one in trouble with overdubs.

i want one. are you selling yours per chance?

btw, i got the new SKWM EP last night. It is great.

[Justin Foley]

i want one. are you selling yours per chance?

btw, i got the new SKWM EP last night. It is great.

UTFSF.

Ditto to everything Tim said. The JH-110 is the more common MCI 8-track. If you're planning on buying one, I'd recommend either a 110 B or C. These are identical machines, with the exception that the C configuration had the ability to be controlled with an autolocator. The electronics on the A configuration are not swappable with the B and C machines.

There are resources (such as poster ladewd and Blevins Audio/Steve Sadler) and parts for the 110s, and they were built later than the JH-16s. It's likely, then, that a 110 will be 5-10 years newer than a JH-16.

If you get a 110 and are totally stuck for a spare audio card, drop me a line.

Mike, if you do get another one, I'm happy to talk about it with you until you want to puke. We can start a club or something.

= Justin