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Kelsey Mixer


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Hey all... i "inherited" a VERY old kelsey 8 channel mixer about a year ago and i've been using it for my keyboard setup for a while now. The only problem with it is that the left channel's fader is dead. I know for a fact that is the fader because i've taken it apart and examined it and all that. I switched the broken fader for channel 1's fader so i could have left and right channels and just be without the first channel.

 

Finally, my question is: Does anyone know where i could find replacement parts for it. I think its considered vintage so i know for a fact that the parts aren't made anymore. Any ideas?!?!

 

Kelsey 8 Channel Mixer (the ones that were a box and you take the cover off and its a mixer)

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I've probably got them in stock. I was involved with Kelsey (Crest Audio) at the end, so I have a fair stock of parts. I'm not sure if the fader tang on my stock matches yours, but that can be improvised pretty easily. They are pretty cheap parts.

 

e-mail me (agedhorse@aol.com) and I'll check. I am assuming that it's a pro-club 3 series that does NOT have wooden (generally mahogany but a few were oak) chassis frame.

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Welcome to the family, yamaha135. I've got a Kelsey 16x3 that still pulls bar gigs like a champ. Sure it's a bit outdated and noisy but hey, no sense in being snobby. The one you have a newer design than mine so probably with some more modern features (mine doesn't even have insterts or balanced outputs). If I've got a national/international touring artist to provide SR for I use the A&H GL3300 out of my project studio, but the Kelsey just chugs right along for anything else. If you can fix it up it should be just fine for ya!

 

You're in good hands with Andy, I've discussed Kelsey with him over a bunch of emails (BTW Andy sorry I never got back to you about those Kelsey parts, after I got that GL3300 the Kelsey kinda got the backseat...I still need a road case for the damn GL)

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i really doubt that mine is a better/newer one than yours... it doesn't have inserts, no groups, nothing. Just gain, 1 reverb send and 1 efx send and 1 monitor send, three band eq and pan. Two band eq for the main channels and thats about it. I'm not sure about the balanced outputs thought (i haven't really studied the thing, i just use it!) I still love it and it fits perfectly with my setup. Like i said, i own mostly vintage equipment for sound and i love it all. Especially my amp... 200 PURE watts, not those new fangled fake things. Turned the thing on to test if it worked on an old spare 35watt speaker, making sure i had the gain way down so i didn't blow it...well, i pushed the huge power button and it blew the speaker!!! This thing kicks butt!! (its a heathkit AA-1640)

 

anyways... i got off the subject. My kelsey pretty much sucks monkey balls. It needs some work on the knobs. They all are soo scratchy, even after i cleaned them with the strongest cleaner out there. This things really old! lol

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The Pro +3 has a 3 band eq, 1 monitor, 2 effects (switchable 1/2), and solo-on-mute switch, and is actually a "better" board. The pro club series was built into the flite case (no seperate chassis) and was a bit simpler. Neither had inserts.

 

The strongest contact cleaner may have ruined your pots. Generally contact cleaner is the worst things for pots.

 

Kelsey was a very high quality mixer for it's time, kicked butt on Tapco, Peavey, Tangent etc. RickJ probably has some experience too since he's from the East Coast where Kelsey was based. Kelsey (parent company was Dallas Music Industries) became Crest Audio about 1982 or so.

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My two effects are "switchable". I dont have a mute/solo button either.

 

The contact cleaner helped alot actually. What do you recommend i use to clean them next time i open it? Its not exactly the strongest anymore; they banned that stuff (wow was that stuff good). I used QD Contact Cleaner.

 

I wish i had a digital camera so i could take a pic of the mixer so you could see it. Its not the Pro club series for sure.

 

Heres the serial number: PC9069163049

 

Thanks

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Very small amount of Caig De-Oxit (red-5). Other solutions will (or at least may) destroy the carbon element and disolve the shaft bushing packing. I may have a complete set of pots for your board.

 

The PC in the serial number designates the "pro club" series, there were several models in that series, I'll bet that yours was a "pro-club +3" but it should have a reverb and a post fader output and no switches between them. If you plug into the reverb sent, it disconnects the internal reverb. It has led meters on the outputs with some meter assign switches, and an internal power supply, the entire console was a bit "wedge shaped". It was originally built for release in September of 1980, and it has transformer balanced inputs. Restored it should be a pretty sweet (though vintage) console.

 

If that's it, I have lots of parts including input transformers, all IC's, caps, and probably all the pots and maybe even new knobs (depending on if they were "D-flat" shafts).

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Originally posted by agedhorse

The PC in the serial number designates the "pro club" series, there were several models in that series, I'll bet that yours was a "pro-club +3" but it should have a reverb and a post fader output and no switches between them. If you plug into the reverb sent, it disconnects the internal reverb. It has led meters on the outputs with some meter assign switches, and an internal power supply, the entire console was a bit "wedge shaped".

 

Here is what there is on the panel in the order from top to bottom, left to right

 

Channels 1-8:

 

(1)Clip LED

Gain Knob

High

Mid

Low

Rev

Effects

Mon

Pan

Fader

 

To the right of the channels:

Top Right:

Two analog volume meters

Blue V.U. button below that

Left/Right Channel two band EQ

Monitor Send Volume Knob

Tape In/ Program Switch

 

Bottom Right:

Reverb Return

Reverb Return Pan

Effects Return

Effects Return Pan

 

Main Left Fader

Main Right Fader

 

 

That is it! Nothing more. Pretty much nothing you described

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  • 1 year later...
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I owe most of what I know about SR to a Kelsey mixer.

 

My band opened up for Ray Price (back in the early 80's) and their Kelsey mixer had been taken to the shop. They swung by to pick it up for use that night, plugged it in, and it didn't work. So, they borrowed our mixer and I spent the next two hours with the sound man while he explained why he gave so much gain to one channel and not another, why you don't boost a smiley face on every eq, why more speakers means a much better sound at a much lower volume, etc. If their Kelsey board had been repaired, I wouldn't be on this board because the guitarist would still be running our sound. :D

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  • 4 years later...
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I have 2 used ones in stock.

 

One is a test bench supply for servicing the consoles (up to 16 channels) and the other is a custom rack mount supply that we built for some customers when we were servicing these consoles.

 

The smaller test bench supply is $125, the rack mount pro supply is $200. PM me if interested.

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Ahhh, memory lane. My first mixer was a Kelsey 12+3. Got it used for $100 in an off-white/yellow hard case. Had the beautiful wood sides.. The back had the 12 inputs marked with three different colors of electrical tape, I figured the previous owner had done it, and just left it on there..

 

So at the time, I was working at a gas station and one of the delivery drivers for the gas tanker was also a bass player. I told him about my purchase and he said 'My old band used to have one of those... Heavy little thing, had this ugly yellow case, and the back was marked with Red, Yellow and Green electrical tape, so each guy knew where to plug his stuff in.....'

 

So I thought it was a pretty cool coincidence. He was a cool guy, brought his Alembic with him one day, was the first time I ever saw/touched an Alembic.. what a beauty!

 

Best of luck with the board, man!

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The wood was dark mahogany on the earlier ones and on the very last units they were oak.

 

They were a real transformer coupled input console, very high quality and compact at the time, for it's position in the marketplace anyway. Not very expensive either given the era... about $100/channel street price.

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The wood was dark mahogany on the earlier ones and on the very last units they were oak.


They were a real transformer coupled input console, very high quality and compact at the time, for it's position in the marketplace anyway. Not very expensive either given the era... about $100/channel street price.

 

 

I had one of those for quite a few years, and it was a big step up from any of the Peavey mixers that I had. I traded a CS800 for it. The transformer "was broken" - all that it needed was a wire to be resoldered, and the thing worked like a champ for years.

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