Saturday, February 25, 2023

Guitar Echo Units By Singapore 60s Music Maker Jimmy Chng: Part 2

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Hi Andy, 

Looks like there's still some interest in the article as new comments keep trickling in? Thought I'd add some comments regarding the Copicat Echo Unit. 

Vacuum Tubes Or Valves:

1. The electronics in use then was based on vacuum tube technology. This was followed by transistor (solid state) technology. There are several vacuum tubes (also known as "valves") used in the electronic circuit and one of which is the 6BR8A as depicted in the picture below.

2. Due to wear and tear, these tapes would sometimes burst whilst in operation. As replacement tapes were quite costly I had also resorted to make spare ones [like what Cedric Cork, the Vietnam War drummer, did], that is, cutting appropriate lengths from open reeled 1/4" magnetic tapes and splicing them.

3) As for the Schaller, it's true that the magnetic coated drum does get hot as mentioned by Michael Lee. Not only that. The magnetic coating on the drum would get worn out after sometime and a replacement drum is costly. What my dad did was to cut short pieces of open reeled magnetic tape and dissolved them in a solvent (acetone) and brush painted it over the worn part/s of the drum. Another cost saving measure.

Separately, a reader who's close to my heart commented that the article was an interesting read but kind of ended abruptly. I had indeed shortened the article by omitting a small part about DECIBELS' performing at hungry ghost festivals - i.e. Getai. Appended below is the part I omitted.

An example of a getai performance with the
guitar group accompanying a-go-go girls and singer.



The Decibels with Jimmy Chng 
on drums in the background.

Getai Performances With 'Decibels':

Getai [歌台] is a Chinese term which literally means, song towerstage or street concert. It is one of many activities to entertain the Chinese gods, with a related 'officer' from Hell and people who donated funds for the annual Hungry Ghost Festival celebration. It falls during the seventh month of the Chinese lunar year; around August.

From the recesses of my fading memory cells, I could recollect that our very first Getai performance was at Strathmore Avenue. The stage was on the open space between a row of SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust) flats facing the QSTS (Queenstown Secondary Technical School) school field. 

On another occasion, we played somewhere in Kampong Bahru. And on the third occasion I played (as stand-in drummer for the Wong family who were all professional musicians) somewhere off Bencoolen Street. I felt truly honoured to be invited to play alongside them.

Jimmy Chng 
The article is
Ⓒ Copyrights Reserved.

18 comments:

FACEBOOK CHATS said...

Andy Young
Thanks Mr Singh for support. Always from the heart and always one of the first to respond. Cheers.

FACEBOOK CHATS said...


Hiroshi Deguchi
I happen to wonder if their stage facing the Queenstown Secondary Technical School had some influence on the students who put together a band named The Quests.

Andy Young
Hiroshi Deguchi, hello. Most certainly! You know your Singapore pop music history well. The band follows the initials of the school's name with an added U and E? Thanks Hiroshi.

FACEBOOK CHATS said...

Andy Young
Thanks to ROSE, STEPHEN and PETER too for immediate LIKES.

HORACE WEE [LEGENDARY GUITARIST] said...

Hmmmm.
The subject of echo units opens up a can of multiple chapters on the subject.

From valves to transistors and the anatomy of the echo/delay. The blog article is about owning and using those early units. Let's leave it there.

Note: Valves - British Terminology.
Vacuum Tubes - American Terminology.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thanks my friend.
Your informative feedback is always appreciated.

And others too for your comments and for LIKING this post.

JIMMY CHNG [DRUMMER - THE DECIBELS] said...

Horace seems well-versed in electronics too?

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Yes, Horace is an expert in electronics and used to set up the sound systems in the cinemas arond Singapore. Also a perfectionist with the guitar and other musical instruments, he has nearly 3 dozen guitars, a Hammond, etic.

He is quite a guy!

JIMMY CHNG [DRUMMER - THE DECIBELS] said...

I guess he's also adept in constructing HIFI amps using both valves and transistors.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Yes, he is.

Very knowledgeable with music theories, having composed jingles, advertising scores and time chimes for TV news broadcasts some years ago.

FACEBOOK CHATS said...

Hiroshi Deguchi
I wondered if former members of The Quests, like Jap Chong, Raymond, Henry and Lim Wee Guan heard The Decibels perform and were inspired. I have no idea which band was formed earlier, Quests or Decibels?

Andy Young
Hiroshi Deguchi, there were many guitar groups in Singapore in the 60s and drummer Jimmy was willing to share his experiences as a band-boy. If you check the blog his stories are there and I am grateful that he shared them... Inspirationally, I cannot comment. It depends on the individual. Thanks.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Hiroshi Deguchi
Thank you Andy for letting me know. I should have read the blog.

Hiroshi Deguchi just fun and games; don't take too seriously. Thanks for supporting the blog and for your contribution to it. Cheers. 🙏

RINGO LEE [THE TRAVELLING FUN-FAIR EXPERT] said...

🤡❤️🎸

Love to see some of them play on stage again .
To most seniors, there is nothing more electrifying than listening to music of the 60”& 70”.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

You are absolutely right Mr. Ringo Lee.
YOU being in the entertainment business and saying it is proof enough; there's nothing like music from the 60s played by our own 60s music makers.

Thanks for visiting.
Appreciate that you like and shared the blog.

FACEBOOK CHATS said...

Freda Hanum
Interesting article from Jimmy Chng...
enjoyed reading it
👍thanks for the share Andy 😊

Andy Young:
Thanks Freda, hope to sing with the TEEPEES one day. Ha, ha.

FACEBOOK CHATS said...

Tee Si Ying
Hello, I really like what you share on facebook and have tried several times to send you friend request but not going through. I would be so glad if you would send me friend request so we talk more on messenger, pardon me if you find my message embarrassing

Andy Young
Tee Si Ying hi, thanks for the message. No, it's not embarrassing but it would be better if you write to me openly on this site because I hardly use 'Messenger' and since my topics are about 60s music why don't you communicate here? Or you can check the blog since there's so much to read from it. Again, thank you. 🙂

FACEBOOK CHATS said...

Freda Hanum
Rose Khoo
Stephen Han
Colin Colin
Martin Ong
Foo Jong Fook
Stephen Francis
Ann Rowena Lim
Hiroshi Deguchi
Jimmy Appudurai-chua
Tee Si Ying
James Kwok
Peter Lim
Joey Koh
Francis Anthony Rozells
Ser Kiong Tan
Anna See
Yip Dick
Moody Cash
Michael Fonseca
Chow Wen Hing
Lee Ringo
Peter Cheong
Roop Singh

THANKS TO THE ABOVE FOR LIKING THIS POST.
THE LIST IS ONLY A BEGINNING...

FACEBOOK CHATS said...

Michael Lee
Just for interest information. The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Company.

In 1932, RCA became an independent company after the partners were required to divest their ownership as part of the settlement of a government antitrust suit. RCA after becoming an independent company continued to produce "tubes/valves" using GE technology and equipment. Also some RCA "tubes/valves" were relabelled GE. What learnt from about 20 years of research beginning in 2003.

Andy Young
Michael Lee hey, thanks for this very informative and detailed piece. You are like CHATGPT, comprehensive and knowledgeable.

FACEBOOK CHATS said...

Michael Lee
Andy Young Just for clarification..
What I meant was GE tubes/valves were sometimes relabelled as RCA tubes/valves.

Andy Young
Michael Lee I understand yes, thanks again.