Recording - May 2015 - 58
B Y PA U L V N U K J R .
Based in North Collins, New York,
Lightning Boy is the very definition of a
boutique audio company. A still better
description might be an artisanal audio
company, as it reminds me of the pro
audio version of a small batch spirits distillery or cheesemaker. In the past few
years Lightning Boy has brought to market
products such as the Limited Edition Optimu Prime compression pedal, the Ghost
Box phantom power distributor, the
Gravitone 30 plate reverb driver/guitar
amp head, and the 1401 Stereo
Microphone Preamp.
Each Lightning Boy creation is a tubeonly affair, and is handmade one at a
time by company founder Mike Congilosi
II. Every box features point-to-point wiring
and vintage construction techniques;
there are no printed circuit boards or IC
chips on board. Going back to the artisanal craftsman ideology, Mike uses his
own blended silver-based solder, all
wiring is silverplated, and he even makes
his own paper-in-oil capacitors, a design
that he has dubbed the "Flux Capacitor".
This month we are looking at his
newest creation the Flux Bender, a Pultecstyle stereo program equalizer.
Tubed, transformed, and all juiced up
The Flux Bender is a 2U rackmount
device finished in a light vintage gray
with etched nomenclature. All of its large
white knobs and chickenhead selectors
have a vintage Bakelite appearance, as
does the matching Lightning Boy logo. All
of the pots are made by Alps and PEC,
along with Alps-designed rotary switches.
Around the back this is one of those vintage designs where the tubes are open
and exposed, hidden only under metal
screw-on caps. There are also balanced
XLR ins and outs. There are six tubes in the
Flux Bender: a balanced and matched
pair of cryo-treated New Old Stock
12AT7, a matched pair of cryo-treated
NOS 6X4, and a pair of NE-2 tubes.
58
RECORDING May 2015
Lightning Boy
Flux Bender Passive Equalizer
Boutique sound doesn't get much more boutique than this
Internally the Flux Bender uses a combination of Sowter input transformers coupled with Jensen interstage transformers,
finishing out with Cinemag output transformers and inductors. The unit is a passive EQ design and makes use of a makeup amplifier of Lightning Boy's own
design, which I would guess contains elements of the company's 1401 amp circuit.
There is no internal power source in the
Flux Bender; it is powered by the company's external Juice Box power supply. This
hefty beast is a far cry from your average
"line lump" power supply-it's essentially
a large exposed power transformer with
a switch and a purple jewel light to indicate power-on. It's not often I can comment on how cool and artsy a power supply looks, but this is one that you might
want to keep in view!
Going on a Bender
The Flux Bender is a 2-band stereo
program EQ with simultaneous low and
high frequency cut and boost shelving,
designed primarily for use on the master
mix bus. It is not a dual mono or 2-channel unit per se, offering only a single set
of controls which control the left and
right channels simultaneously... with one
exception that we will come to in a
moment.
Signal flow starts on the left with an
Active/Bypass switch. This is a buffered
rather than a true bypass; this means that
while the EQ section can be removed
from the signal path, audio will always
flow through the transformers and amplifier circuit. This way you can still add some
transformered analog goodness to your
signal without EQing it. This has long
been a favored trick of engineers-using
vintage-flavored gear such as this helps to
shave off some of the digital edges in
modern day recordings.
The Low shelf starts on the left and, as
with all passive EQ designs, there are individual and simultaneous controls for both
boost and cut. The Low Shelf Boost has frequency choices of 35, 65, 80, 110, 160,
and 220 Hz. The Low Shelf Cut frequencies are 35, 100, 200, 320, 380, and
470 Hz. Both the boost and cut have a 5
dB/octave filter slope, but the amount of
boost/cut isn't given anywhere.
Moving to the right, the high side starts
with the High Shelf Cut, again at 5
dB/octave, at 3.5, 5, 6.8, 10, 22, and
25 kHz. The High Bell Boost features frequency choices of 4, 4.8, 5.2, 11, 15, or
22 kHz. The High Bell Boost has one additional control labeled Flux Interaction, with
markings of Focused on one side and
Wide on the other. This control alters the
Recording - May 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2015
Contents
Recording - May 2015 - Cover1
Recording - May 2015 - Cover2
Recording - May 2015 - 1
Recording - May 2015 - 2
Recording - May 2015 - 3
Recording - May 2015 - 4
Recording - May 2015 - 5
Recording - May 2015 - Contents
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