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Golden Bear Grabs Preamps

Bryan Vanderpool recently outfitted Golden Bear Records, the studio he runs with partner Sarah, with AMS Neve 1073LB 500 Series preamps.

Bryan Vanderpool recently outfitted Golden Bear Records, the studio he runs with partner Sarah, with AMS Neve 1073LB 500 Series preamps.
Bryan Vanderpool recently outfitted Golden Bear Records, the studio he runs with partner Sarah, with AMS Neve 1073LB 500 Series preamps.

Des Moines, IA (July 14, 2020)—Iowa-based folk pop act The Well Pennies recently updated its 500 Series rack with a trio of Neve 1073LB microphone preamplifiers for the group’s Golden Bear Records, a studio and record label.

As the Well Pennies, husband and wife duo of Bryan and Sarah Vanderpool, recorded two albums in Los Angeles, before relocating to Iowa in 2016 and founding Golden Bear. When they’re not recording their own material, they’re working with artists in the region. “We moved here with the sole purpose of building a recording studio away from the chaos of Los Angeles,” Bryan Vanderpool says. “We originally built the studio just for The Well Pennies, but Des Moines has such a vibrant art and music community that after a while our calendar started filling up with all sorts of local bands and songwriters. Today, whenever we’re not working on Well Pennies material, we’ve usually got some great local artist in here recording or mixing new music.”

Radar Stays True to Analog with Neve Genesys

With that happening before their eyes, the duo opted to get the 1073LBs, which sport the unique sonic characteristics of the original 1073 Classic microphone preamplifier, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. “A 1073LB preamp was one of the first things we bought for the studio when we moved back from Los Angeles,” he says. “These preamps help us get that warmth and harmonic drive that is missing from so many modern recordings. They can turn what would normally be a sterile recording into a rich and complex piece of art.”

He adds that one advantage of the Neve 1073LB preamps is their ability to deliver a unique sound. “The real problem with modern workflows is that everyone is using the same plugins, the same preamp emulators and the same reverbs,” he says. “Everything sounds the same. Whenever we add a unique piece of analogue gear to the chain and use our real Neve preamps, it sets the sound apart and makes the recording sound unique (better). The 1073 units helped us sculpt our sound from the very beginning of The Well Pennies music.”

Golden Bear Records • www.goldenbearrecords.com

AMS Neve • www.ams-neve.com

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