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NEWS UPDATE ... from Hayne Davis ...
October 28, 2025 ... ... November 30, 2025 ... ... December 1, 2025

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PAGE INDEX:
January 21, 2025 - DaviSluggish DaviStart for 2025 I February 4, 2025 - DaviStretching to DaviSoapBox ! I February 24, 2025 - DaviSelling !
March 30, 2025 - DaviSurplus ! I April 30, 2025 - DaviSummers ! I May 30, 2025 - DaviStrolling I June 30, 2025 - DaviSelling Again ! I July 31, 2025 - DaviSkipping and DaviSkinned ! I August 31, 2025 - DaviStalled I September 28, 2025 - DaviStrolling AGAIN I October 28, 2025 - DaviStillStrolling I November/December '25 - DaviSummary '25


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'' DaviSeason's Greetings! ''


November 30, 2025 December 1, 2025

'' DaviSummary '25 ''

PREAMBLE- It is always important, when viewing this site, to PLEASE turn your mobile device sideways to landscape view since it is almost impossible to read and display properly otherwise! This is especially true for Android users since Google updated Android Chrome browsers so that they no longer automatically format the screen for a phone display. You will still, likely, need to ''pinch and zoom''. Thank you! (I also apologize for using the Christmas color scheme [font color changed below on 12-6 addendum] for this long read since the red on green doesn't make reading very easy. I must also apologize in advance for the, likely many, typos since I type in Windows notepad with no spell check and can't catch all of them on proofreading! Hopefully you will find this one worth your while ... it has taken quite some effort!)

ADDENDUM 12-6-25 -
I have had a couple of suggestions, regarding my ''NEWBERRY INFLUENCE'' section below since my original posting of this News Update back on the 2nd. I also thought of another talented Newberrian I neglected to mention that should have been included. I also followed the suggestion to change the font color to make it a bit more readable and, hopefully, easier on the eyes! Thank you for the feedback I have already received on this effort and I welcome all future comments and suggestions as well! Anyone interested might want to keep an eye on that section since, I imagine, there will likely be more updates/additions down the line.


I started this little update on November 30th but wound up posting it on December 1st so, in view of the busy holidays and the repetitive nature of the ''news'' around here at year's end, I have decided to let this ''holiday edition'' be the last News Update for the year 2025. I hope that 2026 will somehow be a better year for all of us, particularly my fellow U.S. citizens who have suffered along with me throughout this historically LOW political situation that has marked (and marred) 2025 in the United States!

One reason for the delay was an all afternoon visit to the hospital yesterday to check on our son who had been hospitalized with some unusual symptoms and an ultra-low platelet count. We had all been quite alarmed about this revelation but, thankfully, by late afternoon his body had stopped rejecting the platelets infusions and started to stabilize. All other tests had been normal and the hemotologist determined that he had a rare, but treatable, blood disorder caused by autoimmune dysfunction. Needless to say, what had been a scary Thanksgiving weekend turned out to be a MOST thankful one after all! He was released this afternoon and headed home.

Even our moving/hauling efforts, described here all fall, have slowed to a standstill the past couple of weeks with all else that has been going on on the homefront. I have had SOME little time to sort through and organize just SOME of the haul that has made its way here but there is still a mountain of items to go through and sort out. At least I can walk around a bit better in my workroom and get to the bench!

I have had a few emails and a text or two this past month commenting on some of my finds that I have talked about herein and I appreciate the fact that I have not been boring ALL of you, at least, with my recollections of relics from the past and the memories of bygone times that they inspire. Since we are coming to the close of another year (all too soon!), and since I don't plan another post until January of 2026, I thought some more year-end reflection might be appropriate. So, allow me to call attention in this summation to some of my prior, eventful, news happenings especially for all the many newcomers who have turned up on the site in recent months who have seen little else besides ''moving/relocation news''.

First, however, I have a couple of more ''relics'' to call your attention to!



This recent find culled from the last storage shed on our old property remaining to be depleted of contents is our very first, original telephone installed at the first MCP-DaviSound office in 1970 (Yes, I save EVERYTHING which is why the prior property vacating/relocation process is taking FOREVER!). This phone was later moved to the radio production room and custom modified with the switches at the bottom corner. The left toggle (with green LED indicator) placed the phone on hold while the right toggle (with red LED indicator) fed the phone line to the mixing console for recording purposes. We had the same number- 803-276-0639 from 1970 until the building was closed circa 2014. I guarantee that this phone would still work if plugged into a land line connection somewhere!


And... speaking of relics ! ...




This is a rare copy of the SECOND ever Mother Cleo Records release and one of only two of my own, solo efforts WAY back in the day! This particular copy is a ''collector's item'' in more ways than one. Notice the center hole was slightly damaged on one side by the stamper which caused it to be a pressing plant cull. I recently discovered this in an old storage box of plant culls, signed this copy, and offered it for sale as a unique collector's piece.

For several reasons, I was never particularly fond of the overall finished product of this effort including the performance, the production and the overall result in general. This was one of my first serious efforts utilizing my, then recently acquired, Ampex 400 4-track. At the time, I only owned a VERY cheap little flat-top guitar which I utilized in multiple overdubs, as well as for most of the percussion which is me banging out rythms on the guitar's back side. This cheap guitar, and its sound, or lack of it, was the main reason I didn't care for the resulting overall sound! But, for whatever reason, this record became a ''cult classic'' among collectors and many copies have turned up for auction on eBay by numerous sellers over the decades some selling for phenomenal prices. It has also been placed on YouTube by several different users over the years.

I never bothered to file a copyright dispute for any of it. However, earlier this year it was discovered, and the rights picked up to it by The Numero Group and they released it on their 2025 compilation album ''Motel California''. This release is available in both CD and Vinyl on their website if you care to check it out. They also released it as a streaming single, along with the B-Side, ''She'll Come Around'' (originally recorded as a demo for Lee Hazelwood) and they are each available on all worldwide streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Music.

Then, recently, I got a random email from an inquiror who had heard the song and tracked it to me at the DaviSound website. This inquiror informed me that he had heard the song ''on TV'' and wanted to know where he could get a copy of it. It turns out, that the TV show he heard it on was the new FX series, ''The Lowdown'' which is streaming on Hulu.

Here below is my ''repost'' of good friend, and former co-worker, Carole Murray's Facebook post about this unusual record that won't go away.



That ''awful'' photo of me she included, with my weird facial expression which looks to me like ''the fox eyeing the hen house'', was taken by her during a visit to radio station WKDK back in 2021 just a week before my heart attack and open heart surgery. In any event, as I have said - for WHATEVER reason - this old record has certainly made some noise (and some may conclude that NOISE it IS! 😉 ) around the globe in recent years and particularly this past year!


''THE NEWBERRY INFLUENCE'' ... ... ...
Since I have been reflecting on things a lot lately, I thought I would close this edition, and this year, with a few more reflections in this ''DaviSummary' 2025"! I really believe many of you will find these Newberry, S.C. connections that I am about to present most interesting and kind of fascinating to ponder, considering Newberry to be such a small, ''laid-back'' southern town.

SInce the beginning of this website back in 1998, I have presented just a bit of the MCP-DaviSound history starting with our DaviSound Origins web page. There I mention some of the many contributors to our recording studio and production company over the years. However, with THIS edition, I would like to explore the Newberry entertainment/music scene a bit more since many will be amazed at just how many influencers in the music/entertainment industry had either Newberry roots or connections!

Newberry County established a museum a few years back in our old post office location at 1300 Friend Street. This museum, naturally, focuses on the agricultural heritage of Newberry County while including several other areas of interest about the county and its history. However, to me, quite naturally since I have been a part of it all my life, I am somewhat perplexed that they have not thought about including at least SOME mention of the rich musical/entertainment heritage of Newberry.



Now, I admit that haven't actually been to the museum myself but some who have been have confirmed to me that this is, in fact, the case. Since the restored Newberry Opera House has become a huge attraction in this region since its restoration and reopening in the early '90s, I would imagine they include quite a bit about that Newberry legend. But, while the Opera House is magnificent and brings in many performing ''legends'' from all over the world, there are a few other ''legends'' in the music/entertainment industries that hail from right here in Newberry County (and also adjacent counties) that I feel should be honored and included as part of Newberry's historical past.

I am somewhat hesitant to begin this little recognition section for fear that I might just have overlooked someone. Hopefully, that will not be the case but, if I do happen to fail to mention someone, I do apologize and certainly will ammend this section if it is ever called to my attention!

I will start with those I mention on the Origins page of this website. Tommy Funderburk is one of the, currently, most noted musicians/vocalists to hail from Newberry. While he was actually born in North Carolina and lived in the Charlotte area during his early childhood years, his family later migrated to Newberry where he grew up and graduated from Newberry High School. His mother was a talented artist and a good friend of mine whom I kept in touch with throughout her life. Tommy got his earliest studio experience in my studio doing demo and jingle work for me on many occasions. To say he became a ''musical legend'' is quite the UNDERSTATEMENT. You can check out his numerous accomplishments here on his website - Tommy Funderburk.com. I also feature him on our mini documentary about our little Newberry studio, The Mother Cleo Story .

Another internationally known musician who has spent his entire adult life in Las Vegas, backing and touring with some of the biggest names in the music business, is Bruce Wallace (NOT the Bruce Wallace of the Little River Band- seems there are QUITE a few Bruce Wallaces in the music industry!). Our Bruce Wallace is a native Newberrian, having been born and raised there, who got his start as a studio musician playing keyboards on sessions and jingles at our studio eventually arranging a few sessions. He moved to Las Vegas soon after high school and shortly after found his way to the Las Vegas stages and its musical culture.

Another talented native Newberrian performer mentioned on our Origins page is Brantlee Price. While not a household name internationally, her voice has certainly been heard wordlwide on HUNDREDS of broadcast stations through our productions! Brantlee was well known in her own right as a former Miss South Carolina (1969) and WIS-TV (Columbia) television personality. She was also an accomplished actress and very active in little theater productions.


Brantlee Price Circa 1977


Brantlee worked with me for close to seven years and was one of our most featured vocalists on jingle sessions, doing voice-overs and also performing backup vocals on many other musical sessions. She was often multi-tracked to form our ''female chorus'' for radio station jingles and promos throughout the 1970s. After spending most of her latter adult life as a wife and mother in Texas, Brantlee left us all to soon, some years ago, as a victim of cancer.

Two of my lifelong close friends are also talented musicians who, as of this writing, are still performing in their eighties. Lloyd Brigman, who grew up right across the road from me, and later owned and operated a very sucessful construction company right down the road from our studio, played steel guitar on many sessions over the decades. Lloyd's best friend, and my friend and early guitar mentor, Newberrian Wayne Golden also contributed on many sessions over the years and is, himself, a guitar virtuoso. Wayne has made a name for himself throughout the industry over the years and has his own home studio with an extensive collection of vintage recording gear and musical instruments. He has been featured in national music publications and was a regular participant at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention in Nashville over the years. Wayne was also instrumental in bringing his friend, Tommy Emmanuel for a performance at the Newberry Opera House and I had the pleasure of visiting with them back stage that night as Tommy played and admired one of Wayne's treasured Chet Atkins' Gretsch guitars in the dressing room before his performance.

A little ''footnote'' to that backstage visit ... When I was first learning to play guitar, like most aspiring guitarists, I became fascinated with the infamous ''Chet Atkins Finger Picking Style''. Around that time is when I first met Wayne and heard him play. The first song I ever heard him play was the Chet classic, ''Trambone''. Well, that made the biggest musical impression on me that I had ever experienced until then. I actually heard Wayne play it before I ever heard the Chet version. Naturally, as I developed, I tried to play the song and emulate the Chet style myself with the help of Wayne's coaching. While I eventually came pretty close, I never quite mastered that technique exactly as Wayne had and I always did my own little ''cheater'' version, I guess you would call it ( for one thing, I always played ''bare finger'' never liking the obligatory thumb pick).

Anyway, that night backstage at the opera house, when Wayne handed Tommy his guitar, the first thing Tommy started playing was, you guessed it, ''Trambone''. I laughed and said that I had finally come full circle! I suppose every guitarist that Chet influenced (which is probably most in one way or another) had first started trying to duplicate his style with his classic, ''Trambone'', even Tommy Emmanuel! Of course Tommy Emmanuel is musical perfection exemplified with whatever style he plays and Chet himself, who honored Tommy with his ''CGPdegree'' (Certified Guitar Player), once jokingly made the comment that Tommy played his ''Chet Atkins style'' better than he did ...''He sounds more like me than I do''! 😉

And speaking of local guitar virtuosos... there was another fabulous Chet Atkins style guitar player from Newberry named Bill Clamp. Bill and Wayne were sometimes in friendly competition and, while their styles were somewhat different, both could duplicate the famous Chet Atkins finger style to perfection! Bill played on several recordings at our studio over the years. Bill was left handed which made it difficult to follow and ''borrow'' ideas from him! I once played bass with Bill for a wedding reception and didn't know ANY of the songs he was playing that night. Then, trying to ''eyeball'' his chords was next to impossible because of his ''lefty'' position (one of my most EMBARRASING attempts ever- it was a LONG night!). Bill was another Newberry guitar legend who is greatly missed and, he too, occasionally participated in the Chet Atkins festivals in Nashville playing along with ''Mr. Guitar'', Chet, himself.

Now, as we reflect ''further back in time'' there are several other Newberry ''legends'', albeit possibly not so well known, who definitely deserve a mention for their contributions. The first I want to mention is so obvious to me, personally, that I almost forgot to mention him! I'm talking about another neighbor of course who lived just two doors up from me. The name of this talented musician was Gene Boland. Gene was one of the best rythm guitar players I have ever heard (when you could coax him to play) and who so generously loaned me his classic old Gibson flat-top when I was first learning to play guitar back in the very early sixties . Gene was a former member of the Silver Dew Boys and he was also guitarist for the famous country artist George ''Candy Kisses'' Morgan. As such, he appeared often on the Grand Ole Opry stage and toured with many musical legends of the day. His son, Tommy, was one of my best friends growing up and also the talented drummer for my first band, The Citations, in the late sixties.

Then, there was another Newberrian ... Tommy Wilson ... (Yep....they just keep on coming!). Tommy grew up in Newberry and was a familiar voice on WKDK back in the 1950s. He also owned a small record shop in town for awhile and he and his brother were widely known all around as two of the best musicians to ever come out of these parts. Tommy, an excellent guitarist and vocalist, migrated to Nashville early on and became a studio musician, engineer and even an arranger/producer on occasion. He worked with co-producer (and former drummer for the ultimate legend, Elvis Presley) D.J. Fontana and had a couple of minor hit, chart records as an artist which Fontana produced. When I was setting up my studio early on, Tommy sent a second generation, direct tape to tape dub from the RCA master tape of Elvis's ''Suspicion'' to me to provide a reference when setting up my EQ to try and duplicate the old ''Nashville Sound''! Tommy was the first I ever heard to use what I call the ''tinkle effect'' for recorded guitar whereby you record a high strings part at 7 1/2 ips to be played back at 15 ips for the resulting ''tinkle sound''.

I certainly don't want to overlook the black artists and groups who hailed from the Newberry area! One of those little groups was very close to me in many ways ... The Swinging Kings. The Swinging Kings included various talented musicians over the years but the key nucleus was always the two Lyles brothers, Leslie and Elliot. Leslie was the ''leader'' of the group, played bass, and his younger brother Elliot was the guitar player ... and man, WHAT a guitar player. I can remember going to their house when I was about fifteen and asking Elliot to show me some of his guitar licks. He could play Junior Walker and The All Stars' ''Hot Cha'' with a guitar ''finger styling'' like nobody else and I swear it would give me chills to hear him play it!. Needless to say, Elliot became a big influence on me as I was struggling to learn the guitar in my youth.

While the Swinging Kings were well known and popular around South Carolina back in the very early sixties and beyond (we also shared the same manager for awhile when I had The Citations), Elliot ultimately left and became widely known in national music circles finally settling in as the lead guitar player for Peaches and Herb! Unfortunately, Elliot passed away this past year while residing in the J.F. Hawkins nursing home in Newberry after suffering a severe stroke. A touching, ''full circle'' epilogue to the Elliot Lyles story ... Lloyd Brigman, mentioned earlier, learned of Elliot's situation at the nursing home and purchased a guitar for him and took it to him. Although he could no longer play it as well as he once did, it kept him pleasantly occupied and it is reported by his family that he cherished it and that it was buried with him.

Another well-known black group at the time (late fifties-early sixties), was Willie Cromer and The Clouds. Willie was from the Newberry area and while I do not remember, or know, much of the history about them, or never had the chance to see them in person, I did hear a lot ABOUT them and heard one of their records on one occasion. From what I recall they were very professional and Willie was a significantly talented arranger/vocalist. They had at least one minor R&B chart record back in the day.

ANOTHER native Newberrian who contributed to legendary musical history is Townsend (Towny) Wessinger. Ironically, since Towny was involved in the sound engineering side of the business, I am not certain that I ever even met him. Someone told me that he once came to the studio with Bruce Wallace but I honestly don't recall ever meeting him. He is quite a contributor to the international music industry having been the live sound engineer for numerous legendary rock groups over the years. He was the live sound engineer for Kiss for most of their performances over the years as well as Van Halen (example- live sound - Van Halen ''Women And Children First'' LP) and others also having worked through the well known SHOWCO organization .

Awhile back, I also mentioned and included a little historical piece about Jim Dandy records, the FIRST Newberry recording studio operated by Jim Price back in the fifties and very early sixties. You can find that ''snippet'' right here (below). Jim Dandy Records definitely should be recognized as a significant piece of Newberry's Musical heritage as it saw the likes of country music legend Ernest Tubb record a demo there, several Grand Ole Opry gospel groups recorded there as did nearby Union's Bill Trader who wrote and recorded the hit ''Now And Then There's A Fool Such As I'' there. This song and recording was later covered by none other than Elvis Presley who made it a huge hit. The Ideals Combo of Columbia also recorded the original version of ''Double Shot Of My Baby's Love'' there which was later covered by neighboring Greenwood's Swinging Medallions and turned into a huge hit and ''beach music'' classic on the Smash label. You can read my little piece about Jim Price and Jim Dandy Records here - News Archives November 2022 Jim Dandy .

The associated region was rich in musical heritage and full of musical ''legends'' also, especially Union and Spartanburg counties which turned out numerous Nashville studio musicians over the years. Some of those were Union's Don Reno (Reno and Smiley) and Freddie Vanderford. Arthur ''Guitar Boogie'' Smith was originally from neighboring Clinton, SC, 20 miles up US Hwy 76 and the previously mentioned Swinging Medallions (Double Shot Of My Baby's Love) were from western neighbor, Greenwood. Of course, the Marshall Tucker Band was from Spartanburg and Hootie and The Blowfish from Columbia. Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs (''Stay'') were from nearby Lancaster County. Whenever I mention that the Swinging Medallions were from Greenwood, I ALMOST forgot to mention that they had a vocalist member in that group from Newberry, Jimmy Perkins!

But... this was to be about Newberry specifically, which one of my friends once jokingly referred to as ''the hub of the Universe'' due to all of these coincidental universal connections (we even had a Nobel Prize winner resident! - Dr. Clifford G. Shull was a physicist who won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics for his development of the neutron diffraction technique. He is currently associated with Newberry through his son, Bill Shull, who still runs a hardware store there, and his wife, Martha-Nuel Summer Shull, who was from Newberry. While he lived in Massachusetts for much of his career, he later resided in Newberry and is buried in Newberry alongside his wife. The hardware store is a local landmark and was featured on the History Channel's "American Pickers". Mrs. Shull was a close adolescent friend of my mother, Maggie Lee Franklin Davis).

Here's yet another example of that ''universal connection'' of ''little ole Newberry'' ... another Newberry resident and Newberry High School graduate who had an unusual ''claim to fame'' in the entertainment industry is Gary Parsons. Gary has left one of the most significant ''footprints'' in the industry of anyone, no doubt. Gary is THE one who gave the world satellite radio! This article will tell you something of Gary's accomplishments Gary Parsons XM Satellite Radio, Founder and Chairman (Former) !

Ironically, here we find some more of that weird synchronicity that I am known for. I was the one who coached Gary through his very first job in radio! Yes, he too, started at WKDK in Newberry as a high schooler. I, who was a year or two older and doing afternoons at the time, stayed around for the night shift to show Gary the ropes and help him learn to ''run the board'' as we called it in those days. You want to hear some REAL IRONY here? The principal at the high school wanted to (and possibly succeeded, I can't recall for certain) strip Gary of his class presidency simply because Gary wanted to become a night-time ''disc jockey'' at the local station! Nonetheless, Gary stayed and became an excellent radio personality with his natural ''radio voice'' and personality ... and the rest is RADIO HISTORY! I have to wonder what that high school principal would think about his narrow-minded decision today!

I have talked many times about my close relationship with old friend and band-mate Lee Atwater. While Lee was from Columbia, he went to Newberry College (where he and I met) and Newberry certainly had a strong influence on him. It was Newberry College Political Science Professor (and my neighbor at the time), Finnis (spelling?) Johnson who influenced Lee to go into politics and we ALL know how that story turned out all too well. Needless to say, his ''bad boy'' style of political influence, which was innovative at the time, is still, unfortunately, currently blown all out of proportion as it still affects us today.

For those newcomers who might have missed it, i am bringing my little piece from last year about Lee here again. I think it deserves to be a part of my ''Newberry reflections'' this year, especially his ''apology'' to the world for what he had created!

RECAP-
I also mentioned how, in the early seventies, I ''coached'' my old college friend, and band mate, Lee Atwater in some of the manipulative advertising techniques I had learned during my early broadcast advertising career. Of course, Lee later became the ''godfather'' of ''bad boy'' style ''dirty politics'' and, no doubt, spawned much of the ''fear/hate'' propaganda tactics we have become infiltrated with today (but as I hinted at in that piece, I think even Lee would be appalled by some of what he would see today). He always felt that you could not run on policy in the south, but that you had to paint the other candidate as the ''bad guy'' in every way possible. He did that effectively ... and it usually worked.



Lee performing at the Bush inauguration in 1989.




And, with the president elect himself.



Lee with fellow South Carolinian, James Brown
whose custom demo studio console I built.
(Humorous side note- Everytime I was
around James, he always called me ''Haynes''
with an ''s'' on the end. I would correct
him and he would say ...
''Oh yeah...Haynes'' ! )



Lee really was a talented guitar player. Even though we only had three instruments in our little group, Lee, a drummer, and me on bass along with a vocalist, I always said it sounded like we had TWO guitar players because of Lee's stylings! Sometime, in a lighter vein, I will have to tell the story of how we managed to play TWO Christmas party gigs, a couple of miles apart, on the same evening via Lee's creative manipulation! He recorded an album in 1990 with B.B. King and others on Curb Records, entitled Red Hot & Blue. The title track from the album earned Lee a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Recording at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1991. He also performed with Paul Shaffer and his band in an episode of Late Night with David Letterman.

When I was driving home through Washington from an installation in New York in 1982, I was supposed to stop in at his Reagan Administration office in the White House that night for a ''jam session'' with some of his musical buddies of the day. But, I had to call and decline since I had been up all night the night before (NOTE- working ...NOT partying!) and was suffering from one of my worst ever migraine headaches that evening. I guess I am the only person in history to decline an invitation to a jam session at the white house!😉

The last time I spoke directly with Lee, he called to thank me for defending him in a newspaper letter to the editor about a recent column that had been written against him. I remember he said he was calling me from ''Bush's boat'' and that they, laughingly, still thanked me for passing along the term ''sheeple''.

But, as time went on I became more and more aware of what was actually going on in American politics and the more I learned, and the more I saw, the more I disassociated myself from the GOP. As others have said, I didn't leave the Republicans...they left me. I had already become impressed with the Bill Clinton administration and became a true convert when the Supreme Court actually did ''steal'' the 2000 election from Al Gore!

Truthfully though, I think all of those ''dirty politics'' tactics were mostly ''just a game'' for Lee, something he just enjoyed playing to the hilt. He was a born ''showman'' and manipulator and knowing him like I did, I really don't believe he ever considered the seriousness of what he was doing, and the legacy he was creating, until he was facing his own death bed. Then when he did, he shared the following statement and apology to America via LIFE magazine, around his birthday and shortly before he died, in 1991.


In a February 1991 article for Life , Lee Atwater wrote:

My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood. The 1980s were about acquiring – acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn't I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn't I pay for an evening with friends? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don't know who will lead us through the '90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul.



So, as I ponder this election and reflect, I wonder just what my old friend would actually think of his beloved GOP as it has evolved today. I won't speculate too much but, based on his own words and death-bed apologies to many of those he offended, I have to believe that he would also be SADDENED, as I am, as to what is now unfolding, and likely dismantling in the future, in our mutually beloved, USA! This current incoming crowd of power hungry, self-servers will most certainly NOT be ''speaking to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul.''

END RECAP

UPDATE- 12-2-25 - Yep...it is a day later and I am ALREADY having to update! As I have emphasized all along, when you do a tribute like this you run the risk of overlooking someone. And, boy, did I! It's not because I don't recognize and appreciate them but only because when you are an old guy like me, you tend to focus more on those of the more distant past with whom you interacted with directly in some way. However, in recent years, one of the more famous and successful bands going have their roots in the ''little musical metropolis'' of Newberry S.C.. Just as soon as I woke up this morning, after posting this first effort in the wee hours the ''night'' before (actually 4 AM!), it dawned on me!

I am talking now about the superb group, A Thousand Horses. Newberrians Michael Hobby and Bill Satcher formed the beginnings of this group while growing up in Newberry and later put the finishing touches together when they moved to Nashville. My wife knew Michael especially well when she was a secretary at Newberry Middle School many years back (it seems he was always forgetting his lunch money ...😉 ). She became fond of him and had always mentioned to me that Michael Hobby had a band that she had heard was very good. Man, was that an understatement. She became an intense fan after their first hit ''Smoke'' climbed the charts so, the other year when they made a hometown appearance at the Newberry Opera House, I gave her tickets as a Christmas present. I honestly wasn't expecting it, but it turned out to be a present to me as well! I can tell you that in all my years of involvement with music, sound and musical talent, this bunch was a good as it gets...PURE PRECISION! It was one of the more enjoyable concerts I have ever attended. So, hats off to Micahel, Bill and the group ... I did NOT forget you ... I was just a bit slow in sparking the old memory bank in the wee hours! You can further explore this world famous act here- A THOUSAND HORSES .

Then, after I told my wife of my omission this morning, she reminded me of another of her old friends and schoolmates, Rocky Morris. Rocky was also a talented musician and had recorded at my studio on a couple of occasions. He later became a touring pro specializing in modern Christian music and was well known around the southeast especially. Unfortunately, he was another who left this life all too soon as he was found dead in an Alabama hotel room when he did not arrive for his scheduled performance. One of Rocky's early sessions can be heard on The Mother Cleo Story with a ''snippet'' cover of the song, ''Green River'' in the montage section of some of the recordings made at the MCP-DaviSound studios.

I certainly can't forget my old, close friend, Willard Brown who is an accomplished guitar and bass player. Willard has also played professionally having been a member of various groups over the years and toured for awhile with the Kingston Trio among others. Ironically, Willard grew up on the corner of the same street where Wayne Golden grew up right behind him.

Then, there is Stevie Fuller. Stevie is another native Newberrian who is an exceptionally talented drummer. Stevie was the original drummer for Sledgehammer, the Percy Sledge band. However, he had left the band by the time they started working with me at our studio so I never got a chance to work with him personally.

There was another talented young, Newberry vocalist who I worked with a bit in the studio when he was a teenager, Dwane Abney. Dwane has worked professionally in various professional circles over the years and is just one more exceptional Newberry musical talent that we need to add to the list.

I should point out, here, that I could not possibly list all the exceptional musical talent who have performed locally in local choirs, theater groups, churches etc. etc. Believe me, there are a lot more, Newberry is full of them, and a lot more who contributed to our studio over the years as well. I just had to limit this particular tribute to those who had acheived some professional, regional or nationwide, recognition.


There is another Newberry figure I should mention for his contributions to the motion picture industry...the late Forrest Carpenter (a Google search has revealed there are a LOT of Forrest Carpenters out there but NOT relating to the Newberrian I mention). Forrest was a local eccentric of sorts from a long, well established, Newberry family. There is not a whole lot that is known about his Hollywood connections since he kept most of his work and activities to himself. However, it is known that Forrest went to Hollywood and was involved in the production of many movies and TV shows as an art director or set decorator. While I had known something of him and his activities through heresay over the years, I first met him when I was participating in an interim film making course/seminar at Newberry College in 1971. The instructor of the course had learned of Forrest Carpenter's motion picture connections and had managed to get him to come speak. It so happened that Forrest was involved at the time, or was trying to get himself involved in some way, with the production of the movie Deliverance that had just begun location filming near the northwestern Georgia-South Carolina border on the Chatooga River. He had come home for the weekend and was planning to go back the following Monday ... this was the Friday before the weekend.

The instructor and I took him to lunch at a local eatery near the Hub Theater in Newberry, which was being used for screenings for the seminar. He related how he was working with a (then) skeleton crew and was temporarily involved with the sound crew, which I, of course, found interesting. Now, while he is nowhere credited with anything for this movie, I KNOW for a fact that he was involved in the very beginning just as he had told us and was probably let go for the very reason he showed us in the trunk of his car when we walked him out to the parking lot after our lunch meeting. Believe it or not, there in his trunk was the company's Nagra recorder loaded with the sound takes for that week's efforts. I also saw a copy of the script so this was no ''fairy tale'' he was telling. To hear him tell it, this was a ''low budget B movie'' starring some little known new ''heart throb'' or other who he thought was Chad Everette (Forrest obviously didn't know one ''heart throb'' from another back then!), which of course was actually Burt Reynolds! Keep in mind, no one had any reason to doubt it since, what became the classic Deliverance was unheard of at that point. According to him, he had scuttled away with the company's sound takes as insurance since he was afraid that the whole thing might implode without the crew being paid before he got back since rumor was that further funding for the project was being withheld.

So, that is my one little anecdote about Newberry's ''movie mogul'' (tongue in cheek of course) Forrest Carpenter. I heard of other movies and TV shows he was involved with over the years but, honestly, I cannot recall any of them now. However, I did not want to leave Forrest Carpenter out of my little tribute to Newberrians who were in some way involved with the entertainment industry. He most certainly was a known, frequent participant for some time during the sixties and early seventies.

I guess, I should also mention here that I, too, was once an uncredited participant in a Burt Reynolds movie. Very early on, a ''man in black'' type showed up at my little studio one day shortly after I had just started. He told me he was a location scout for a movie company and that he had been looking at ''car chase'' location possibililties at a training ground somewhere around Fort Jackson. He said they were going to be making a movie about the fictitious ''southern moonshine'' industry that involved a lot of fast cars, fast women and fist fights and that most of it was to be filmed in Georgia but that some of it may be shot in the S.C. sandhills. He had gotten my studio information from the Billboard Recording Studio Directory and was wanting to connect with a studio in the area that had Ampex recording machines in case they may need to do some on-site post production. The whole thing sounded a bit ''fishy'' to me at the time but, as he was about to leave, he turned and asked me if, by the way, I might have some pre-recorded instrumental tracks on hand that I would be willing to sell him outright, royalty free. Naturally, as a new young studio owner I was anxious to sell ANYTHING royalty free!

It so happened I had been experimenting with my new (to me) Ampex four track and had made a few instrumentals using overdubs with me playing drums, bass and multiple guitar parts. One was a standard ''rock and roll'', Chuck Berry style three chord instrumental that sounded pretty fair so I put it on for him. He said ''That's perfect'' and pulled out a contract from his brief case and wrote me a check. Believe it or not, I honestly can NOT recall if it was $200.00 or $500.00 but I believe it was the latter that I was paid for the track outright. Those two figures both seem possible in my fading memory but I can't be sure which was the correct one (and, NO, I do not know where my copy of that old signed release may be located at this point). In any event, to me, it was a STEAL and a nice little sum in those days!

I actually didn't think anymore about it and never made any connection with him or any later movie until ...
One night MANY, many years later, around 1993 I THINK it was, I happened to have HBO on in the background while I was doing some late night soldering and, low and behold, something caught my ear and my attention. I quickly put my soldering iron down, grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. There in the background of this movie scene I could hear my old instrumental recording! It was supposed to be coming from the jukebox of a beer joint that had semi-clad girls dancing to it on stage while Burt Reynolds and his partner were making a moonshine delivery, later getting into a fight with this music in the background! The movie was ''White Lightning'' and that obscure, crude little instrumental piece was the same one I had sold the ''man-in-black'' some twenty-something years prior! Imagine my surprise on that one!

I could not end my little tribute to the many talented Newberrians who impacted the entertainment world without mentioning three educators, all of whom touched my life in some way. Dr. Milton Moore and Charlie Pruitt, were both local-legendary, widely known/respected music department heads at Newberry College- Moore the choral department and Pruitt band/orchestra. They were stalwarts there for most of my young adult life and long before that. Dr. Moore would steer some of his singers to me for studio work over the years and even come out and tune our old upright piano on occasion! Each was widely known amongst their peers nationally and even worldwide to some extent. Charlie was acquainted with legendary drummer Buddy Rich and even managed to get him to conduct a regional drum clinic at Newberry college once. I was told that I had ''the makings of a great drummer''. Naturally, I was ''insulted'' by that comment back in those days since I thought I was already a ''great drummer''! 😉

Then, in conclusion, I certainly can NOT forget one of the greatest musical influences of my life, Newberry High School band director, Lorraine Paris. Miss Paris was also known and respected nationally by all her peers and always saw to it that the Newberry bands were not only among the finest in the state during her tenure, but also among the finest in the nation! She had one simple standard ... PERFECTION and she taught everyone associated with her to aim for no less! Lorraine Paris Honored Posthumously

Well, I think that's about enough ''DaviSummarizing'' and ''reflecting'' for this month and the remainder of 2025! I think maybe, now, some of you can understand why I sometimes think I am the ''Forrest Gump'' of my area since it seems that I am, in some way, associated with, or accidentally connected with, so much of the history and happenings of my lifetime. If you read further into past events and entries published in the News Archives you will likely be more amazed at many of the coincidences and synchronicities that have surrounded me all of my life!

Once again I deeply apologize if I have overlooked anyone (it is highly possiblle as I ALMOST overlooked one of my biggest influencers, Gene Boland, only dawning on me as I was writing this!)! If I do recall anyone else, or anyone reminds me, I will update this again at that time!

12-6-25 ADDITIONS-
It was pointed out to me that, while including Newberry College educators, I should have included the late Professor Darr Wise as well. This is certainly true since Darr was a musical icon for Newberry for many, many years. He taught music in and out of the college classroom and was, for many years, the organist for The Lutheran Church Of The Redeemer in Newberry. Darr was also known, and honored, regionally and nationally for his musical accomplishments. In honor of his memory, the Newberry College music department established The Darr Wise Piano Competition The competition is in honor of Professor of Music Emeritus, W. Darr Wise, who taught at Newberry for a near-record 42 years.

It also later occurred to me that I had neglected to mention another old friend and, in fact, one of the more talented members of my own original band, The Citations! I mentioned previously that sometimes the ones we overlook are the most obvious. In this case I am talking about keyboard specialist extraordinaire, Will (Willy) Gilfillan. ''Willy'', as he was always known to us, grew up living right next door to my grandmother on College Street Extension in Newberry and eventually joined my band as our piano player. And, man, WHAT a piano player! He could play ANY style required and he could duplicate that of legend, Jerry Lee Lewis to absolute perfection! While I didn't keep up with all of Willy's activities after he moved to Columbia as an adult, I do know that he represented a major piano/organ company there for many years. He also has his own YouTube channel that displays some of his special talent - Will Gilfillan Piano.

So, again, that's about it ... FOR NOW. Perhaps there is still another (more?) that I should have included. As I have pointed out, there are so MANY talented Newberrians that I could spend pages trying to mention them all. I tried to confine my listings here to those who have had some direct connection to the professional music industry, particularly as professional performers or recording artists.




As I close this final edition for 2025, I once again THANK all of you who continue to join me here each month for my ramblings relating to DaviSound. I hope that you may have gotten something from these extensive ''reflections'' in this ''DaviSummary'' and I sincerely hope you all have a great holiday season and will join me again here in January for my first ediition for 2026!

Most sincerely,
Hayne Davis



October 28, 2025

'' DaviStillStrolling ... ''



Yes, the ''stroll'' continues and likely will for some time as we now tackle the extensively cluttered attic at our old location. I thought about including a photo of that mess so that you could all see what I am facing but, then, thought better of that idea. That might be a little too scary for you even for Halloween! 😉

If you happened to miss last month's edition and have no idea what I am referring to, PLEASE SCROLL BELOW (or use the above link) to review last month's ''DaviStroll'' down memory lane and the discussion as to why it is happening and why it is taking us ''forever''. I've moved ''tons'' more of similar ''junk'' as posted last time and, while no photos were taken this time (you've seen one box of junk you have seen all the dozens!), we're still ''DaviStruggling and juggling'' what goes where...and how we will get it there!

We delayed that attic chore until the weather became cooler and, with that happening just a bit last week with some cooler temps, we decided to ''take the plunge''...or rather, make the climb. Believe me, climbing down pull-down attic stairs with heavy boxes is no fun for a 77 year old with arthritis and bad knees. But, I may as well get used to it since there will be QUITE a bit of climbing ahead! I did devise a makeshift ''dumb waiter'' with a basket and ropes so that smaller things could be loaded and lowered to my wife, Annette, in that fashion thus speeding things up a bit and saving some of that climbing.

I realize that many of you are probably becoming somewhat ''disgusted'' with me since you come to this site looking for pro audio news and related content etc. rather than ongoing details about my personal life and my daily chores. But, as I said last time, that IS the bulk of the ''news'' in my life these days so it's about all I have to report. And, based on the couple of emails I got last month, at least a few of you seem to be enjoying looking at, and hearing about, some of my old relics that we keep discovering during this process. So, it is either follow me on this journey or skip these particular updates as you wish ... but, all in all, I feel it is better to ''DaviShare'' this than putting up just a few lines saying, in effect, ''nothing much going on this month so check with me again next month''. So I suppose it is ''To 'stroll' (with me) or NOT to 'stroll' ... that is the question'' ... and your decision! But for those of you who do join me here until we get all of this somewhat settled, I do sincerely thank you for your interest and I thank you for your patience!



BUT ...
Before we continue our ''stroll'' (which will be somewhat brief this time) ... let me interject that I did manage to get in a few hours/days on the assorted DaviSound projects although my workroom is now quickly becoming about as cluttered as that attic ...with things on top of things on top of other things! So, working around all that clutter has not been easy (believe it or not, I actually DESPISE ''clutter"" and normally have to clean and organize my work space before every session). It is the proverbial, ''Catch 22'' ... we can't put a thing where it belongs until we move the other things in its place, and we can't move the other things until we find/decide on a permanent place for them. So...on and on it goes (seemingly to perpetuity). But, the segue into the fall season has been nice and the weather conditions have improved so, at least, that provides SOME relief and inspiration while speeding the work up some in all directions. I WILL have some SPECIFIC details on some of this progress coming in the near future so, PLEASE ''stay tuned''!

SO...what did we uncover of interest this month?
Well, quite a bit actuallly but I only have a few little pieces of nostalgia to share with you this edition. The first relates to our recording studio days and it did NOT come from the attic. Instead, I was going through the last remaining boxes and items stored in one of our, more dilapidated, old outside sheds. I found a file folder stacked on top of some boxes and, wouldn't you know, it was exactly in the WRONG spot where the shed roof had leaked over the years and so it, and it's contents, had been greatly water damaged ... my old friend, Murphy of Murphy's Laws fame sneaking into my life again I suppose. It contained ''masters'' (original typed pages) that were used for printing our studio literature that was distributed to inquirors over the years.

The damaged page that I tried to photograph for you, and present below, was from our RECORDING STUDIO INFO PACKET and, this particular version was from around the early '80s when we decided to include a PARTIAL client list. Since the list is fairly unintelligible, I have copied it here since I thought it just might be of some interest to some of you. We have always mentioned a few of our past clients on our DaviSound ORIGINS page but, since this list is far more extensive (although, also, far from complete), I thought it might be of interest to some of you to see some of the many musicians, groups and related clientele who utilized the various STUDIO services of MCP/DaviSound in some fashion or other, whether it be recording sessions, demo work, duplication services or whatever.


This was the water damaged folder I found.



Inside, along with general info about the studio and our rate structure, was this section entitled ''You're In Good Company With MCP/DaviSound'' which was a (STUDIO SERVICES) partial client list from (up to/through) the early '80s taken from our files. Keep in mind this does NOT include the over 1200 broadcast stations that utilized our in-house production services, nor does it include our industrial film/video/assorted media clients. These were all separate files/lists. While some of these clients may have also used the DaviSound audio electronics products/services on occasion, it is also NOT inclusive of that extensive and separate client list. This is ONLY those musical artists who used our RECORDING STUDIO services in some fashion over the years.

HERE BELOW IS THE RE-CREATION OF THAT LIST
In approximate alphabetical order.

AMBER   THE AMICKS   ATLANTA   LEE ATWATER   AUBURN   THE B TEAM  THE BELIEVERS   BILLY & THE KIDS   BILLY JOE ROYAL   BLACK VELVET   BLACK WIDOW   CURT BRADFORD   THE BRITTONS   THE CIMMARONS   CHOCOLATE BUTTERMILK BAND   CLASSICS IV   DOOR JAM   SHARON DIMMERY   THE EXPRESSIONS   FRANK JAMES & THE ELDERADOS   TOMMY FUNDERBURKE   VANESSA GAYE   GINA & REMINISCING   THE NEW GLENN MILLER BAND   GODFATHER   HAMILTON, JOE FRANK & REYNOLDS   HIDEOUT   HIGH COTTON   RENEE' HAYES   RONNIE HAYES   JOEY & THE HEARTBREAKS   THE JAMES GANG   J. TEAL BAND   JAY & THE TECHNIQUES   JUICE   THE JUBILEE SINGERS   THE KARRS   KIKI   TOBY KING   LIGHTWOOD BAND   LITTLE RICHARD   LONESOME RHODES   LUKE   MARSHALL TUCKER BAND   M G FUNK   MARGI   JAMES MEADOWS   MELISSA   MARK ANTONY   MELANIE   LISA MILLER   MOBIAS   NAMEDROP   NOVAS NINE   PARADOX   PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS   PERCY SLEDGE'S SLEDGEHAMMER   BRANTLEE PRICE   PICKLE   PROWLER   RAW MATERIAL  THE ROYAL FAMILY   DON RENO   THE RIVIERAS   ROCKY MORRIS   THE RONDELLS   BRENDA RODRIGUES   JOHNNY RODRIGUES   ROUGH MIX   MARVIN PRINCE   PLASTIC ONO BAND   PRINCE & THE PAUPERS   OVERLAND EXPRESS   ANDRE' KERR   BARRY KEEL   REVOLUTION   SALT & PEPPER   SANCTUARY   SHA NA NA   SHEENA   MARGO SMITH   STARGANG   STEAM   SOUTHEASTERN BLUEGRASS EXPRESS   SUGAR & SPICE   SWAMP FOX   TRICK ALLEY   ICE & THUNDER   LUKE   THE U.S. ARMY BAND   UNIVERSAL CHILDREN   VANN   FREDDIE VANDERFORD   VICIOUS   THE VILLAGERS   BRUCE WALLACE   WINDFALL   WINDSTORM   WHISKY ROAD   DEAN YATES



As mentioned, this is only a PARTIAL client list since it was pulled from a particular file box at the time that did not include each and every participant to record, or utilize services, from Mother Cleo Productions and, later, MCP/DaviSound. Therefore, I apologize to any of our past clients who were omitted from this particular list ( or to any of you who wish you had been) ! 😉

I just noticed that I suppose I also need to apologize for getting some of the names OUT of alphabetical order during the text transfer although I doubt anyone else besides me will likely notice (unless you were looking for a particular name maybe).

Last time I mentioned that I had found just a couple of badly worn relics relating to the MIX-106 FM radio days. Well, this attic journey turned up a couple of more including a MIX 106 bumper sticker as well as a perfectly preserved copy of our old advertising rate card. Here below is a photo of the cover of that card.


I don't know how ''readable''
this may be but I included it anyway.

So that's about all the ''DaviStrolling'' down old Memory Lane I have for you this edition. Hopefully it was worth your time to keep up with me here for this month's little update. If you made it this far then I do thank you! Please join me here again next month to see what may turn up and to see if I have dug my way through the clutter enough to make any worthwhile progress on all the pending projects.

Until next month, ''same station'',
Hayne

PS- I know that many of you, those of you in the United States, are ''DaviStruggling'' in your own way with what continues to be happening to our country. As one lady I saw so eloquently put it to the MAGAS ... ''No, I do NOT hate you but I am as mad as hell at you ... for you have taken at least 70 per cent of the joy from my life by seeing and hearing what you are doing to our country every day!''. Observing the destruction of our once great country by the authoritarian regime that has now taken over affects me in much the same way. I definitely struggle with it all on a daily basis as do the majority of my other fellow Americans albeit, sadly, still a very narrow majority. One of the ways I try to cope with what I see happening is though my little website - DaviSoapBox.com where I document, and comment on, the illegal and immoral atrocities that I see happening day after day. Those of you who have followed me there from this website, and who have reached out to me in support, mean more to me than I can ever convey! Please know that I sincerely offer you my heartfelt thanks for all of your encouragement!




September 28, 2025

'' DaviStrolling ...AGAIN ... ''

Yes, the ''DaviStroll'' (more like a LIMP lately!) down ''Memory Lane'' continues on since the (seemingly never ending), once-in-a-lifetime major project of relocating ALL our possesions from our old residence to our current location 17 miles away (or to Goodwill or the junk heap) also continues on (and ON and ON and ON and ON)!

As my wife and I continue to go through the closets and the old storage sheds trying to sort it all out...what to keep in our new limited space and what must go...old memorabilia just keeps turning up, as does old odds and ends from the early days of Mother Cleo Productions - MCP/DaviSound. Since that has been the dominant ''news'' around here this month, I thought I would share a couple of more photos of these old meaningful items with you as we did with the other ''stroll'' back in May.


This was my VERY FIRST electronics build project! It is an old Eico kit microphone preamp from VERY early 1970. After years of off/on studying/reading about electronics, this was the first actual little piece I ever built. This was VERY early integrated circuit technology and this integrated circuit based amp was so noisy that it was virtually unusable for anything other than hobbyist applications. Naturally, I was very disappointed in the performance but, thankfully, I had only ordered one to test before committing to it as the mic amp in my first mixer project. More research followed before I finally decided on the Fairchild uA739 as documented in the earlier update about mixers (''DaviSummers'').




This is the rear view of the circuit board of the first preamp. Since this was also my VERY FIRST attempt at soldering something after just a little practice before hand, I'm pleased to see that it really wasn't bad at all ... pretty good in fact!




This poor quality photo shows (kinda) the very FIRST fader panel of that very first mixer build back in 1970. It was a bit crude compared to subsequent efforts but workable nonetheless. I just couldn't bring myself to take this little piece of DaviSound history to the ''junk heap'' even as weathered and worn as it is.






This was one of the early (mid '70s) ''BRITE BOX'' series of custom hand-made effects units. Besides this ''vocal eliminator'', they also included headphone amplifiers, mini compressor, instrument direct boxes , and assorted preamps. My ''prized customer'' for one of these ''BRITE BOXES'' was John Lennon in the Apple Records days (he ordered my first guitar to console ''direct box'' interface)!




This is just one of DOZENS of old boxes of ''junk'' (treasure?) containing similar old gear and circuits that I have to go through and sort out. You can see why this ongoing ''relocating everything'' project seems never ending with just so many hours in the day to work with it along with everything else going on. These many dozens of similar boxes were hurriedly tossed together when we vacated the old DaviSound building back in 2014 and just all quickly stored in a shed at our prior residence until this current move this past year. Now they MUST be dealt with!




Here's an old classic piece for you. The legendary Fisher ''SpaceXpander'' reverb unit. Back in the '60s (and well into the '70s) almost every studio would have, at least, one of these units as a reverb option as did many Top 40 format radio stations for on-air reverb. This one was mounted underneath our control room console and used for our sole reverb until I started designing and building the ''Lower Plate'', plate reverb systems, the prototype which was mounted in the attic and used at MCP/DaviSound studios. I will likely just put this little gem on our Unique Items sale page ''as is'' so, if any of you are interested in it, let me know. The tubes have been removed (12 AX7 and 12 AT7 I believe) but this unit was working when removed (circa 1976) and would likely fire right up with no issues if retubed. Here again, another little piece of our history that I just no longer have any need for, or storage room for, and hate to see go to waste.




A couple of boxes of these old 45 RPM record mailing envelopes also turned up. I hadn't laid eyes on one of these since the 1970s!




Tattered and torn, this is the ONLY surviving old business card of mine, that I have found so far, from the MIX 106 radio days. Stored somewhere, I know there is a box of these never utilized which I haven't come across as of yet. But, it was nice to find this old one, albeit badly beaten up, stuck amongst some paperwork that was discovered.




And speaking of the old radio days ... here is something from the EVEN OLDER radio days! Awhile back, I did a little piece here about Fidelipac tape cartridges as featured in a Radio World article (in the News Archives from last year, I believe). Well, amongst the items stored in the back of a cabinet that I went through the other day, I found this treasure! This cartridge (carts as we called them) belonged to me personally (yes some of us in radio bought our own instead of relying on management!) and it contains the ''drop-in'' voice bits (soundbites as they are called today) for one of my on-air characters I called ''UGH The Super Wonder Indian'' (I know, you couldn't do that today! What a shame.) This was basically a bunch of one liners, mostly variations of one word-UGH, lifted from Tonto comments on the old Lone Ranger TV series. The routine would be simple...I'd say something, or ask a question, and UGH would reply in some variation of ''Ugh''. You could get a lot of mileage out of that routine if you played it right.

These UGH bits were given to me by Steve Green of WKYB Hemingway, S.C. at the time, circa 1968. I used them, on this cart, at WIXE in '68 and then on my return to WKDK in late 1969. The cartridge (along with all my other carts with taped routines) then followed me to WPCC from 1971-1978 and then back to WKDK 1979-1986 (yep, both my WPCC and WKDK morning stints each lasted seven years...guess I always got the ''seven year itch'' afterwards and changed course!). By the time I put WNMX, MIX-106 on the air in 1989, I pioneered the use of leaderless cassettes for our control room and we employed four, modified for remote relay instant start, Teac cassette decks for all our on-air recorded productions. So, all the old cartridges were retired. Nowadays, of course, it's all digital in some file form or other.
So...we come to the end of another of my little ''DaviStrolls'' down memory lane for now. If things keep turning up that I feel may be of some interest to you, or some value, I will likely ''limp along'' (with my increasingly bad knees!) with another one. I have not found as much old gear that I feel would be worthy of offering on our Unique Special Items page, so far, as I originally thought would be turning up. I have about seven old classic oscilloscopes in various conditions but I doubt anyone would be interested in them in this day and age. I also have a very classic collector's piece, an old Hitchcock VTVM (vacuum tube voltmeter) but, again, I haven't felt inclined to list these old pieces not knowing their condition or whether there is anyone out there left interested in this kind of vintage analog gear (with each passing year now I am realizing that it is getting to the point that there are not too many active, ''old-school'' audio folks still around older than me 😉 !).

I guess I'll go ahead and pull out the old ''sign off'' cartridge now and tell all of you, before we go, that I greatly appreciate you ''tuning in'' for another monthly update! As always, I remind you that I always welcome your personal emails and texts and that I hope you will join me again here next time, ''same station'', for another DaviSound News Update. As I said last time, I DO expect the productivity to pick up some as we move into the cooler fall and winter months, traditionally my most productive periods. So, maybe the ''news'' on the audio front will pick up some as well (if our country does, indeed, continue to survive! DaviSoundOffs on DaviSoapBox.com ).

Until next time,
Hayne



August 31, 2025

'' DaviStalled ''...

I have never cared much for the month of August for some reason. By the time it gets here, I'm typically WELL past ready to see the heat and humidity come to an end - I always felt that summer, from that perspective, was one month too long. This year has definitely NOT been an exception for sure.

I am pleased to report that the news, on the personal front, is good and that my wife has FINALLY pretty well healed from her skin cancer surgery that I mentioned last month. On the ''DaviSound front'' , the ''news'' is still pretty ''stagnant'' without much change in the waning weeks of summer thus - ''DaviStalled'' once again.

I do have things starting to stir again in the workroom that I plan to update on by the end of next month and I did get some interesting new email that I need to address and comment on, which I will also hold until the next update. All this as it is, I will definitely keep this one brief ... perhaps the shortest update of the year so far (ever?) ... and ask you to please join me again here next month when I play ''catch-up'' under, hopefully, cooler and dryer weather conditions.

Meanwhile, I thank all of you for checking in and I hope you have a pleasant September as we anticipate a much more productive fall to come!

Best efforts,
Hayne
PS- Thanks for the bit of feedback I got about the ''DaviSighter'' piece that I mentioned in last month's update (directly below)! I hope I answered your questions appropriately in my replies and I hope to address some of them here in the next edition as well.



July 31, 2025

'' DaviSkipping and DaviSkinned ! ''...

Yes....for a variety of SWELTERING reasons ... I almost decided to just put up one line this month saying that I was ''DaviSkipping'' an update entirely until the end of next month. That's because, other than some new challenges on the personal front, there has not been a lot of ''news'' around the little DaviSound work room this month (aside from truly ''inching'' along my mile-long path full of unfinished projects ''still in progress'' at limited opportunity along with the ''DaviSweltering'' RECORD HEAT engulfing us!).

But, then I got an email ... which I will get to momentarily ... a critical one which I guess needs to be addressed publicly.

As for the ''DaviSkinned'' topic...
 My wife decided, a few weeks ago, that I had a couple of suspicious looking growths on my old 77 year old body (the whole thing is most likely ''suspicious'' looking 😉 ) so she booked an appointment for both of us with a dermatologist. When we got examined, it turned out that my ''suspicious'' growths were nothing to be concerned about (the doc told me what they were but the name she gave them now escapes me). But, ironically, she found two little, barely noticeable, red spots on my wife that turned out to be malignant. So, it was my wife who had to endure the ''DaviSkinning'' whereby they did some significant surgery on one of the areas and some more minor work on the smaller one. The doctor also said that the small, crusty rash-like areas on my forehead, which I have had since shingles healed years ago and I assumed were scar tissue, were ''pre-cancer'' so she froze my entire forehead with liquid nitrogen and said that ''cured it'' (the sprayer felt like a blow torch!).

So, now my wife, after over two weeks, still has two open wounds that bleed and ooze and won't seem to heal (they say they cannot be allowed to form a scab and must heal from the inside out). We are concerned since we don't see much progress and we know that the fact that she is diabetic is contributing to the slow healing. So, needless to say, this has set back (stopped) our, already behind, 3 day a week work schedule whereby we continue to remove stored items (junk?) from our prior house as we try to have it vacated, and be through with it once and for all, by summer's end. There is no way she can endure that environment and fairly dirty work in these record breaking summer temps we're having here in South Carolina. We still have three closets left, the attic(which will HAVE to wait until cooler temps prevail), and two outside sheds to deal with. The only priority, now of course, is taking care of her and getting those surgical wounds to finally HEAL !

As for the ''critical email''...
 Aside from the emails and texts that I typically get from regular correspondents, this was an ULTRA-SLOW email month this month ...meaning NONE from any new inquiror...until yesterday. So, here is an excerpt of the email that I received from a new inquiror (who shall remain nameless) -

I have been following your Tech Reports web page for over two years now waiting for that big coming soon update! I have been hoping to obtain the new edition of this if it is ever completed. After some review of your News Archives it seems to me that the theme of your whole operation is ''coming soon''! I also see that you have managed to find time to start a new political commentary website. I wonder if you ever thought about spending more time on your audio business and less time on the political commentary. I see that this seems to be where most of your effort is being applied these days.


It was signed ...''Respectfully'', (name withheld)

I've said many times that I always like to hear from ALL of you so, even if you have criticism. I assure you that I can take it...when It is valid. And, in many respects, this one IS valid. I guess I should use what little available computer time that is accessible to me working on the ''DaviSecrets'', and other audio related activities rather than take on another computer required activity (believe it or not, I HAVE TO LIMIT my computer writing and activity because of migraine auras and migraine vertigo [along with double vision issues] associated with long periods looking at a computer screen). I can deal with email on my phone to a great extent (although I much prefer the laptop desktop when possible) but all work related to storage and exisiting file backup must be on the computer of course. The same goes for all ftp and website work.

So, yes, while I have ALWAYS been known to ''run behind'' on my projections and time estimates for projects, I have to cut myself some slack and say that I have also ALWAYS been overly optimistic in terms of estimating time requirements for any and ALL work projects no matter the type. Furthermore, as one of my correspondents puts it, ''sometimes life just gets in the way''. How true that is. It is especially so the older you get. I certainly NEVER want to use age as an ''excuse'' but I must be honest, the older you get the faster the time goes and the slower you go! It's just a fact of life! In recent years my life circumstances have certainly gotten in the way of all aspects of my DaviSound endeavors. I don't have to recap all of it again here for all you regular followers and clients. But, suffice it to say that three years of major health issues combined with an obligatory ''once-in-a-lifetime'' major move/relocation event does take its toll on your productivity in all other areas.

Let me sum this up by saying that, as hard as it may be to believe for inquirors like this one, as well as some of my LONG awaiting clients for projects on hand, I DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! There are many REASONS, NOT EXCUSES, why my work seems perpetually slowed but, so far, it has ALWAYS come through in the end! Again, believe me or not, I AM ALWAYS AWARE of, and often even find myself WORRIED about, all of the assorted DaviSound projects on the bench or in the queue! I am ALWAYS squeezing in whatever limited time is available that I feel may be appropriate for any given project at any given time block, no matter how short the available time block might be.

In closing this one (which wasn't so ''DaviSkipped'' after all)... let me actually, again THANK this inquiror for her suggestion (yes it was a female name on the signature!) and assure her that I sincerely appreciate her interest (I have already done so once in answering her email). I hope that she, and any of you who are interested , will continue to be patient until I can FINALLY put the wrapping on the new ''DaviSecrets'' (Tech Reports)! Furthermore, it makes me EXTREMELY happy to know that there are still those out there who are seriously interested in ANALOG AUDIO DO-IT-YOURSELF which makes my offering of this rewrite worthwhile! Also, I appreciate this person caring enough to call me out and urge me on with my lingering efforts in finishing up this project!

As for the time devoted to ''DaviSoapBox'', I can't be begrudged for that since it is something that I feel I HAVE TO DO during these terrible times in America that I never thought I would see unfold in my lifetime. I don't spend as much time with it as some might think and it often shows up in the results of my, ''dashed-off'', hurried writing 😉 ! The situation now in this country is SO SERIOUS that , in my view, we ALL HAVE TO make time to pay attention and speak out against this insanity that has engulfed our society . These efforts of mine are NOT seen by me as ''political commentary'' since this is not about ''politics'' any longer! This is about the very survival of the rule of law in this country as well as preserving and protecting FACT, TRUTH and HISTORICAL ACCURACY from those whose agenda is to destroy it all!

I thank all of you who take the time to read this DaviSound ''News Updates'' edition each month and for visiting the other site areas as well. The traffic overall has slowed, along with me, over the years but there is still some interest out there and I want you all to know that I do appreciate every one of you. And, as long as I am able and as long as there is interest, I will continue to offer select DaviSound projects for you in the years ahead!

One final AUDIO thing for you ... another ''blast from the past''! I just ran across this web page when scouring files on our web server and I honestly do NOT recall who I built this for and in conjunction for what specific purpose. But...it is a pretty piece of work if I do say so (and I do!). Since it is a rare one-of-a-kind piece, I thought you might like to have a look! -
''DaviSighter'' 8 Channel LED VU Display

So, until next time, same ''station'' ...
My Best Efforts,
Hayne

PS- If you would like to review my unprecendented concerns about the unprecedented tyranical takeover of our nation, please see my alternate ''DaviSoundOff'' website where I pull no punches in chronicling the ongoing atrocities of the current regime (we ALL need to fight like never before to try to save what's left of American Democracy! If not, NOTHING ELSE is going to matter much in the end!)...
WWW.DaviSoapBox.com
Thank you all!



June 30, 2025

'' DaviSelling Again! ''...

I hope this finds you all surviving another summer of record heat as well as surviving the record turmoil happening within our country!

This one will be BRIEF and, largely. to just call attention to a few updates to our UNIQUE SPECIAL ITEMS section...which will be ongoing as often as I can find the time to locate, photograph and describe the various items to be listed there.

I just recently listed some esoteric items that may not be of wide interest (anybody out there still interested in tape machine motors?) but which will be of rare find to that special person who has been looking for those special items!

I have also relisted some of my old, personal electronics books and, while I rejected offers to break up the pictured lots last time they were presented, this time, while still shown in ''lots'', I will consider offers for them on a select, pick and choose, basis in any quantity (with a minimum purchase of at least three, please!).

I will keep this update ''DaviShort/DaviSweet(hopefully!)'' and direct you, instead, to the Unique Special Items page linked above. Meanwhile, I hope you have as good (and cool) a summer as is possible under the circumstances and that you will join me here again next month while keeping an eye out on that UNIQUE SPECIAL ITEMS area as well! I continue to look forward to your personal emails and texts so, please, let me hear from you anytime!

Until next time, same ''station'' ...
Hayne

If you would like to review my unprecendented concerns about the unprecedented tyranical takeover of our nation, please see my alternate ''DaviSoundOff'' website where I pull no punches in chronicling the ongoing atrocities of the current regime (we ALL need to fight like never before to try to save what's left of American Democracy! If not, NOTHING ELSE is going to matter much in the end!)...
WWW.DaviSoapBox.com
Thank you all!



May 30, 2025

'' DaviStrolling '' ...

Before I take you with me on another brief little ''DaviStroll'' down memory lane, I want to mention that LAST MONTH'S News Updates (scroll just below) has generated the most email ''feedback'' that I have received in quite some time, for whatever reason. That being the case, I thought I would call attention to it again here, in case some of you missed it, and invite you to please review IT while I keep this month's edition rather abbreviated.

It seems that ''good ole'' analog audio mixers are still a popular topic even in this digital age and I was most glad (and somewhat surprised) to learn that my little ramble last month generated so much interest. Here is one of the several emails I received commenting on ''DaviSummers'' ... ... ...

You probably won't remember me (Actually I DID remember! - HD) but I ordered one of your early custom mixers, a small portable, and it is one of those you have pictured on your DaviScenes Archives web page. Another thing you may not believe is it still works and I still use it! It will be 43 years ago this August since I ordered it from you. I also bought your Tech Reports and that started me venturing into my own attempts at building mixers. I made a few simple little rigs using your designs and methods taught in the plan sets. They all worked pretty well. It also gave me the know how to replace the potentiometers in the mixer you made for me many years later when those became worn.

I haven't written to you in all these years but I have kept up with DaviSound and checked your website from time to time. I have always enjoyed your News Updates section. When I saw your write-up about mixers in this month's edition I told myself I just had to take time to send you a note telling you about one of your old customers that you inspired in many ways. I especially enjoyed reading your history of the IC op-amp. I still dabble in recording and although I use Pro Tools along with a lot of digital gear, I also use analog preamps. I still haven't found anything to equal the quality of your mic preamps anywhere after all this time! My little mixer had no direct outs but I was able to go in and tap the mic preamp outputs and I use them to this day.

I was sorry to learn about all your health issues the past few years but I am so glad to know that you are much better and still at it! I hope to be reading your news updates for many more years to come!


Obviously, this is the kind of email that I really enjoy and cherish. I don't get as much email these days as I used to , period, let alone one this special. It is always especially nice to hear from an old client and so gratifying to learn that a mixer I made almost a half century ago is still in use. I also want to thank the others who took time to comment on last month's effort ... yours were just as special, believe me, although I am not publishing them here since they were each brief and essentially said the same thing to the effect of ...''enjoyed your latest ''DaviSummers'' post about mixers''. As I have said many times herein, I LOVE to hear from ALL of you ANYTIME you can take time to write....even just a note to let me know you are still there is nice. And, as I say, if you are an ''old client'' it is especially nice to hear from you and to learn how your old gear is performing years later. So, as they used to say in broadcasting in the ''golden age'' ... ''please keep those cards and letters coming in'' (texts and emails today)!

The ''moving operation'' for my wife and me, that I also mentioned last time, continues on and it seems that the more we accomplish the more we discover that has to be dealt with . So that endeavor does, and will, drag on for at least another month or more it appears. Part of the ''trouble'' with that operation is the ''nostalgia factor'' which slows you down quite a bit. As you sort through old papers and memorabilia you invariably discover something that you had forgotten about that brings back a flood of memories and sidetracks you in the process.

This past week I found a box that had some of the framed items stored which used to hang on the walls of the old DaviSound building and, being the ''nostalgia freak'' that I am, I naturally had to dig some of them out for display.


These are two examples of those old artifacts that I just ''had'' to mount on the inside of the door to my new workroom (Sorry about the angled photo...the frames ARE actually hung straight, I promise!). The caricature of me was given to me by my mom's first cousin (who was also a VERY special lady who ALWAYS supported and encouraged me in my musical endeavors from my childhood on). She had it done by the cartoonist for The Atlanta Constitution newspaper circa 1972. I cherish it in memory of her.

The frame below displays just a minuscule of the more than 1200 broadcast production clients we had over the years through Mother Cleo Productions and MCP DaviSound. Here again, cherished memories of a bygone era that I was fortunate to be a part of.



Here are a few more relics from the past ... this time from the outside of the doorway ... an old clapboard from a Dick Clark production I was involved with and two of a few of the old license plates from my radio days all hanging from the rafters of our out building. I have shown the door signs before which were from the various rooms of the old DaviSound facility. The ''M C P'' at the top were the old letters that once adorned the outside studio wall near the entrance.




This is the original calf skin drum head from my band's bass drum first utilized in 1963 (yes, for those of you millinneals and beyond, they really did use genuine calf skin for drum heads ''back in the day''!). It hung inside the drum booth at MCP DaviSound studios from 1971 until the building was vacated circa 2014... just one of those relics you can NOT bring yourself to part with.


In closing, let me report that I AM in the process of photographing/editing a few of those ''DaviSurplus'' items I have been talking about in months past and I will be listing some of them on our Unique Special Items page very soon as well as , in some cases, on eBay. I SHOULD be ready to point them out here by next month so, please ''stay tuned''!

I told you this one would be ''abbreviated'' and so it is...
Until next time, thank you for joining me here and, if you haven't seen last month's edition that drew so much comment, please scroll down to check it out (or possibly review it again if you already saw it! 😉 ).

Hayne



APRIL 30, 2025

'' DaviSummers ! '' ...

NO ... I am NOT talking about the seasons when I say ''DaviSummers''.

I wanted to have a big update this month that would include more of the assorted ''DaviSalvage'' gear and bits/pieces discussed last time. But, another month has rolled past without much progress being made there as my wife and I have STILL been active, for at least three days per week, continuing our clean-out and moving process from our old residence to our new location. This has been ongoing for almost two years now as most of you know, albeit not as steadily as this year. And, from the looks of it, this will be ongoing and ongoing and ongoing for some time longer although we are starting to see a big ''dent in the pile'' so to speak. We also do, at least, expect to be moving the last of the big furniture items this weekend with the help of our older son coming down to lend a hand and another truck and trailer (bookcase, china cabinet, shelves, etc).

Therefore, the ''DaviSurplus'' projects being offered, as mentioned last update, will have to wait a little longer. I have also had MIXERS on my mind quite a bit this month (''SUMMERS'' ... ''DAVISUMMERS''). This is because I continue to get at least one email per month asking about DaviSound mixers! It's really a shame that I can no longer offer custom mixers since that seems to be the main thing that the analog audio crowd is still the most interested in these days. I am serious when I say that I typically get AT LEAST one inquiry every month asking if I would consider building ''one more'' custom console. I have to admit, some of the offers, such as one that I received this month which got ''mixers on my mind'' (song title? 😉 ), have been quite tempting.

As most of you know, I made the decision way back in 2019 to stop large custom projects and that included mixing consoles of ANY type/size. I made the announcement on our DAVISOUND MIXERS web page but left the page up to showcase some of our past endeavors. If you are a newcomer to DaviSound, I would still like for you to check this page out since it showcases SOME of our many mixing board projects over the years even though I am no longer accepting these projects.


This is one of my all-time favorite mixer designs.
It's photo story can be found linked from the DaviSound Mixers page link above.


If I had not made the decision back in 2019 to stop offering custom mixers I would most certainly have had to do so after my heart attack and surgery in 2021 and my subsequent third heart attack and stent placement last May. I have come a long way back, health wise, since all of that but, at age 77 and having been reduced to about 40% heart function, I have definitely had to scale back somewhat (even though that ''back-scale'' has been pretty hard to notice recently!).

The other reason that I have had ''mixers on my mind'' this month is because I STILL have two remaining mixers in various stages of completion that have been ''works in progress'' for many years now. Fortunately, I have two VERY patient clients, one in Ireland and the other in Norway, who have been ''waiting it out'' for what has, jokingly, been referred to of late as ''LIFETIME PROJECTS''. As often as I can squeeze it in, I have been working on completing the final wiring for ''O'Tube'' little by little this month. Once it is completed I can then turn full attention to the other, final, mixer project still in ''limbo'' albeit with its circuit modules completed, ready and waiting.


As can be seen here, ''Mixer O'Tube'', the retro-styled console destined for Ireland, has been undergoing wiring and circuit assembly this month at every (limited) opportunity.


MANY, many years ago I began my electronics quest by trying to learn to build my own mixers. This desire was what sparked it all. I started out by studying Howard Tremaine's AUDIO CYLCOPEDIA which, to me, is probably the MOST VALUABLE source book ever written on the science and art of audio! Once I learned from it just what a RESISTOR was and how a few of them could be utilized to form a MIXER CIRCUIT, there was no turning back!




Shown above is basically all there is to a mixer circuit in it's simplest form. The resistors can be of most any value but are usually chosen to match the desired input impedance of the system. In the old days of passive ''summers'' the values would typically be on the high side, say from around 100 Kohms to as high as 1 Megohm (in the case of vacuum tube followers). The passive circuit combining resistors would each typically be preceeded by a potentiometer of the same value as the resistor. Then, the entire network would be followed by a medium gain mix amplifier to compensate for the loss of the resistive network. The combining resistor network followed by a ''buildout'' resistor at the output provides isolation between the channels connected to it and prevents interaction between the pots preceeding each resistor... ''audio mixers 101''.

As time progressed and mixer design became a bit more sophisticated, mixing amplifiers actually DID become SUMMING amplifiers. The first such ''summer'' was a single transistor, phase inverter designed with 100% negative feedback. This provided a ''zero impedance'', ''virtual ground'' at it's input, or summing junction, which actually mathematically SUMMED the inputs according to the value of the input resistors connected to this summing junction. This design came about for analog computers of the day and was subsequently borrowed for audio mixers as it allowed for higher headroom and lower noise/distortion in the mix amplifier. Typical values for a mixer using an ''active summer'' for audio would be 10 Kohms for each potentiomoeter and it's summing resistor. The ratio of the ''input'' resistor(s) to the feedback resistor provides the gain structure of the resulting ''op-amp'', or operational amplifier. For example an input resistor of 10K with a feedback resistor of 100K provides a loop gain of 10, or 20 dB.

Of course, soon after the discreet ''op-amp''was developed, the famed OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER (OP-AMP) integrated circuit was developed to perform these mathematical ''operations'' and it too found its way into most all audio consoles from its inception in the early '60s all the way until the latter generations utilized today.The first op-amp IC to reach the market was the Fairchild µA702, developed in 1964. This monolithic IC, created by Dave Talbert and Robert Widlar, established the foundation for the widespread use of op-amps in electronic circuits. Their 1965 successor, the µA709, is recognized as establishing the mass market for analog ICs. My first experience with one of these marvelous wonders was the further generation µA739. The ''739'' was the lower noise forerunner to the famed ubiquitous ''741'', both of which proliferated in most ALL pro audio products of the early 1970s. Of course, dozens more followed with many designed specifically for audio with high slew rates and ultra low noise/distortion. Perhaps the most famous for pro audio was the Signetics NE5532 / NE5534 series and the National Semiconductor LM351 BiFet series. We used both of these in our consoles until we had our own ''house IC'' custom made for us by Analog Systems, which was basically a slightly modified and improved version of the 5532 topology. This custom ''house IC'' is still utilized today in our MasterPiece modules as we have never found anything else to come close to it for analog audio performance! Fortunately, since Analog Systems (not to be confused with Analog Devices) is now defunct, we had a ''lifetime supply'' created that still provides hundreds in the parts bin.

Here, below, is the complete, simplified schematic, signal flow diagram for ''Mixer O'Tube''. The mixing amplifiers in this unit are Vacuum tube as are all other amplifiers. The mixing circuit, although utilizing a tube amp, is my own design for a triode stage functioning as a true ''operational amplifier''.



Well, I supposes that about ''SUMS UP'' this edition about ''DaviSummers'' and I hope you got a little something from it. Meanwhile, as I plod along on all the various endeavors at hand through the coming month, I will try and get to more ''DaviSurplus'' items by next edition!

Until then, thanks for ''tuning in'' and please join me here next month, same ''station''.
Hayne

PS- Of course with each passing month, the political situation in our country continues to further deteriorate keeping many of us fighting daily to ''keep the faith'' and try to stay as positive as is possible in order to function. If you would like to read my latest thoughts on what's going on you can find them here- DaviSoapBox.com . Thank you!

March 30, 2025

'' DaviSurplus ! '' ...

As we move to the end of the first quarter of 2025, my wife and I are finally narrowing the gap between ''moving a mountain with a teaspoon'' and being completed with our final moving efforts from our old residence. The ''mountain'' I refer to is the accumulation of a lifetime of treasures and junk for both of us.

As mentioned in my last update addendum, as a result of this ongoing move, and the lack of storage space at our new location in my new work space in the new out-building, I will be listing many items for ''clearance sale'' in the coming months. Most of these will ultimately be listed on ebay at auction but I will also be announcing many of them on this News Updates page first, along with, possibly, listing them on our Unique Special Items page, in order to give our regular clients/readers first chance at any they may find of interest.

While a lot of progress is being made with uncovering and transporting these ''treasures'', the available time to photograph and document them for listings continues to be scarce with only limited progress being acheived. One such TREASURE falls into the category that I hinted at in my last post ... an item that was created for a ''well known composer/arranger/producer'' which was later sent back for additions whereby we decided to just rebuild the unit with additions into an entirely new and different cabinet format. I knew this had been stored somewhere under wraps for close to twenty years but I just uncovered it in a closet this past week.



The unit was a specially designed mixer for which I still have to go through file cabinets to locate the paperwork. The original, personalized ''on-line manual'' (pdf format in this case) is still in place and the link will be revealed to any genuinely serious inquirors, by email, prior to purchase. A glance-over the other day revealed that while some of the parts have been pilfered, the unit as a whole remains in excellent, original condition. I can attest that it was in excellent working condition at the time of it's return and retirement. The power transformer has been removed from the power supply and I will replace that with a new, exact duplicate of the original. I can also supply pots for those that have been removed but the buyer may have to obtain appropriate knobs as it is doubtful that I still have matching knobs in my stock. The cabinet is in ''like-new'' condition and I would imagine, although sitting for some twenty years, the pots should all work with, perhaps, a little cleaning required.

In order to avoid the time required to fully go through this unit and recertify it for a new owner (at quite some expense demanding a much higher price tag!), I am first thinking of offering it as a DO-IT-YOURSELF PROJECT for any qualified buyer at a greatly reduced ''as-is'' price. So, if YOU happen to be interested in this unique, one-of-a-kind historical piece, and you have the minimal technical knowledge to follow signal flow and schematic diagrams, or know some one who does who could help, then please email me as soon as possible with an offer before I list it on eBay.




This unit was unique in that it was built into two separate rack mount cabinets with the two connected via ribbon cables/phone plugs from one to phone jacks on the other. As can be seen, some of the XLR connectors have been removed and will need to be replaced and reconnected (thus the required ''minimal technical experience''). The photos below (excuse quality please) were lifted from the pdf manual for further reference. Also as can be seen, there were a couple of additions to the rear panel AFTER the manual photo was taken, particularly the barrier terminal strip and the RCA jack pair. I will have to do a little research to determine exactly for what purpose/function these were added after the fact.






I will be glad to offer some minimal ''coaching'' and answer questions by email to anyone wishing to purchase and restore the unit as a DIY project. However, keep in mind, I do not want to have to spend too much time with it under those circumstances. Otherwise, I would just go ahead and restore/recertify it myself and offer it at full value! So, keep in mind that in it's present condition, at the present time, any immediate sale would be ''as is'' for DIY restoration by the buyer, with my supplied schematics and signal flow diagram. As already alluded to, the active circuitry, the DaviSound MP modules on board, were all working and functional at time of retirement.

If you have any interest in this special piece, please contact me by email for further discussion.


There are many other items to come but this is the only one that I have taken time to photograph and present so far. It is also, given it's history, most likely the most desirable (and valuable) ''used'' piece that I still have in my collection.

In closing, I thought some of you might enjoy seeing this other piece of history, photos below, which is NOT for sale! I found this in the same closet, stuffed in a cardboard box, where it had been placed circa 1980. Again, pardon my poor quality photographs snapped in a hurry under poor lighting conditions.



This was the output module from the very first ever DaviSound ''DaviSuperSystem'' console prototype! This was the first ''mother'' project for several more to come later.



This entire console circuitry was hand assembled entirely on prototyping perforated circuit board (''perf board'' in those days) and hand-soldered one component and wire at a time by our skilled craftsperson, Teresa M. in those days. Later units utilized the printed circuit boards described in a previous post last year and shown again here below.



Remember, that this ''relic'' is NOT being offered for sale, I just thought I would share a further bit of nostalgic DaviSound history with you in closing this ''hurried'' edtion of DaviSound ''news'' (please excuse any missed typos!). I hope to have more varied items ready for listing by the time of my next News Update and I urge you to, please, ''tune in'' here again next month for more to come!

All of this, of course, assumes that our country and economy are still standing as of next month under the new authoritarian government. If you would like to follow my ''humble observations and documentations'' regarding that tragic situation please do so here - DaviSoapBox.com .

Until next time...
Hayne



February 24, 2025

'' DaviSelling '' ...

Well, here is a RARE second News Update post for the same month. But, since I do have a ''little news'', I thought another ''little update'' was in order.

I know it seems to some of you that I go through this ''DaviSpring Cleaning'' attempt every year without much follow through. However, this year, I HAVE to get some things moved since I am definitely running out of storage space with our relocation. SO, this edition is to simply ''give warning'' that I WILL be listing some items that I believe just might be of interest to many of you. These will be, likely, listed on our Unique Special Items page first (nothing there yet as of this writing!) thereby giving my regular site visitors first opportunity before listing them on eBay.

Last year, my plans for doing this were ''rudely interrupted'' by my third, and most major, heart attack with my efforts to offer a few special equipment items, along with some of my personal book collection, thwarted until such time as I would be able to proceed. Well, hopefully, that time will be THIS spring.

If you, or anyone you know, may be interested in this DaviSound ''garage sale'' please keep watching both this updates page as well as the Unique items page linked above. I wanted to go ahead and give everyone a ''heads up'' in advance so... this is that! Please be watching for this in the months ahead throughout the spring and, possibly, summer as well.

These items may include unique DaviSound prototypes or experimental projects, equipment items such as mics, stands, cables, old antique patch bays and similar gear. I also encourage all the do-it-yourselfers (if there are any left these days!) to be paying attention as I may be offering quite a few, unique, working circuit modules that just need a housing and power supply. I also have a couple of rare custom items made for some well-known clients who sent them back for added modifications whereby I decided it would be best to just do a complete new rebuild for them using a new, different housing style. In that case the original version is still here, in storage. I will likely be offering everything from rare, audiophile speakers to vacuum tubes to rare control knobs and hardware.

Hopefully you will find these listings of interest or know someone who will. Meanwhile, please scroll down to my earlier February entry for the rest of this month's news and I hope to have more current project updates for you coming in March. Also, only IF you happen to be interested, please spread the word about my new website dedicated to documenting the illegal maneuvers of the current autocratic regime taking over our country and destroying our democracy. The site is also dedicated to ''deprogramming the MAGA cultists'' so, if you know any, please forward them a link! 😉 DaviSoapBox.com !

Since this is still ''late night radio season'', in closing I would like to recommend my special shortwave radio page to any newcomers who might be interested. If this is you, check out The Barndoor Receiver for some unusual homebrew radio circuits to build and enjoy on the long winter nights remaining. As ALWAYS...thank you all for your support and for ''tuning in''! Please join me here again around the end of next month. Until then ...

Best efforts,
Hayne




February 4, 2025

'' DaviStretching to DaviSoapBox '' ...

This is a very EARLY monthly update for a change ... and it may (or may not) be followed up with a second one around the end of the month. The main reason for this being so early is to announce a new ''DaviStretch'' that some of you may (or again, may NOT) be interested in hearing about. I have just launched another new little website. Since I have VOWED to keep most non-audio, or media, related topics OFF this DaviSound News Updates page from now on, and since I just simply can NOT sit back and watch what is happening to our country these days without comment (raising hell to try and call attention to the seriousness!), I decided the best way to meet both objectives was to simply start a new website devoted entirely to my ''editorial commentary''! Then, at the same time, concentrate on more appropriately relative content for the DaviSOUND news page henceforth.

The name of this new little ''DaviSoundOff'' website is DaviSoapBox.com and that link will take you right to it if you are curious enough (and brave enough) to check it out (and I truly hope most of you will be!).

I do NOT plan to let my occasional attention to that new project in any way diminish my efforts with DaviSound or this News Updates page. Why start something else when you already have a hard time making progress on what you are already behind on? ... I hear you asking. Well, let's just say that I do it mainly to, and this is sincere, to KEEP MY SANITY as I navigate through this increasingly insane world. The things happening to America now are just too serious to ignore and they affect me deeply, as they should all of us I believe! That being so, and being one who just has to ''do something about it'' when something affects me, documenting my observations and feelings helps me to get through it all with the hope that some of my insights just might inspire one or two others to be motivated to speak out ultimately creating a domino effect. Maybe, eventually, enough concerned Americans can collectively raise loud enough voices to actually help prevent the full destruction of American democracy, our constitution, rule of law and the United States Government in general. That is my hope and true motivation anyway and I think it important enough that ANYONE who can contribute ANYTHING needs to go into action NOW! It is certainly, as I see it, the most socially important situation to exist in my lifetime!

So... I will continue to pour all my energy and efforts that I can muster into DaviSound and it's various projects, including ongoing ideas and work for another written project - ''DaviSecrets'', the Tech Reports replacement - which I have been dabbling along on for so, so long but finally getting close to completion. At the same time, when I ''just can't take it anymore'' with the sabotage of democracy going on all around us, I will take an hour or so to dash off some relevant thoughts, and/or provide some new outside links/recommendations, as I ''DaviSoundOff'' on DaviSoapBox.com

Now, you will NOT be subjected to my ''editorializing'' about the political situation on THIS web page and, only if you are interested, there will be a dedicated place for you to check out from time to time (I will not be posting on a regular schedule but just as often as opportunity permits and/or circumstances demand).

So thats it...my new ''DaviStretch'' which I wanted to call to everyone's attention early on this month.

Most of you recall that I did a lengthy piece about ''A I'' (actually mentioned it in several posts) last year (you can find them in News Archives if you missed it). Naturally, being from the ''old school'' I am definitely NOT enthused about anything artifically generated taking the place of human talent in ANY way shape or form! I am TOTALLY and completely against it!

That being the case, naturally I was intrigued by this email received this morning from one of my news feeds from The New York Times. It was an opinion piece from Susannah Meadows, Senior Staff Editor and I surely hope that she won't mind me ''forwarding it'' here to all of my readers-

By Susannah Meadows Senior Staff Editor
One of the joys of talking to Hank Azaria is being talked to by Hank Azaria. In normal conversation, he’ll often burst into one of the over 100 voices he’s created for characters on “The Simpsons.”

In 2023, when we were working on his first guest essay for Times Opinion, I confessed to him that my kids made fun of me for doing a terrible Snake Jailbird impression despite having grown up in Southern California. He immediately offered me a Snake voice tutorial — in Snake’s voice. (As generous as he was as a teacher, I flunked “Simpsons” class.)

When OpenAI revealed its voice assistant last year and it sounded very much like Scarlett Johansson, I reached out to Azaria to see what he thought of A.I.-generated voices. As one of the all-time-great voice actors, he would know better than anyone what the new technology would mean for his art. We talked about what went into a voice performance and what audiences stood to lose if generative A.I. took over from humans.

In a new feature, Azaria argues that voice acting is more than a sound; it’s the sum of a lot of things, including an actor’s body and soul. And though Azaria can imagine some potential upsides to A.I.-generated voices — perhaps the ability to direct and fine-tune a re-creation of his beloved Bugs Bunny — he still wonders how machines could ever deliver the humanness that brings a character to life.

Nothing makes the human case better than seeing and hearing Azaria conjure his “Simpsons” characters. So we invited him to The Times to film his body — and perhaps glimpse his soul — at work. He performed all of our favorites — Moe the bartender, Chief Wiggum, Snake, Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel, Professor Frink, Superintendent Chalmers, Comic Book Guy, the Sea Captain and Duffman — so you can make your own conclusions about the difference a human makes.

At least for me, seeing Azaria at work makes it hard to imagine A.I. winning this fight. I just don’t see how something that can’t laugh could ever make us laugh.

Read, hear and watch more here:

Hank Azaria and his “Simpsons” voices vs. the machines

I thought some of you just might enjoy checking that one out. AND GOOD LUCK HANK!



Meanwhile...a few more ''DaviSouvenirs'' for you ...

Early last year, when I was posting a few photos of my new work room, I called attention to a few special ''antiques'' that are sitting atop my computer desk cabinet. Here is another look ...



This is the old ''side light'' kerosense lantern that I mentioned was from my grandfather's first car, which was the third car sold in Newberry County, SC.
I said that I would try and locate the photo of him in that car, a 1914 ''Model T'' Ford. I got a comment or two about that so I figured it was a good motivation to look for an old photo which needed to be located anyway. I found it but, unfortuately, it is VERY faded and difficult to reproduce. But, I did what I could and here it is ...



26 year old William HAYNE Franklin
in his new car, 1914.


And, while looking for that photo, I found another historic photograph, this one a bit better quality. This photo has been reproduced and located in various businesses around Newberry over the years including ''The Grill On Main'' and even as a large wall mural in the Newberry Pizza Hut.



This photo was taken in 1910 on Main Street in Newberry just a few blocks from downtown. You are looking east as they were heading west down Main to the Cam Davis Lumber Company (no relation) which was located at the far end of town, at the beginning of the West End Mill community, beside the old Newberry Depot (Railway depot- The lumber company was later moved up the railroad to Cline Street where it became The Newberry Lumber Company). My grandfather, then 22 year old William HAYNE Franklin, is driving the steam powered tractor (I once knew all new the details about the tractor but have, sadly, now forgotten this info. My mother did note on the back of the photo that it was a 1907 model).

Malcom Oxner is standing beside the tractor and Joe Carter is standing in front. It has been suggested, but not verified, that the little boy sitting to the front on the curb is Irvine B. Leslie, founder of Leslie & Leslie Architectural Associates, a Newberry landmark business for decades.

My grandfather was a partner with Mr. Mack Oxner in the sawmill/lumber business and they also built and ran a cotton gin as well. Unfortunately, he had a severe stroke, was crippled, and later died all too soon in his early forties. I never got the chance to know him. The steam tractor became a historical yard display by the Oxner family and remained with them, restored, throughout most of my lifetime until finally bought by another Newberry farmer who relocated.

To further ''pinpoint'' the Main Street location, the white street sign barely visible in the mid-upper left of the photo marks the intersection of Main and Glenn Streets.



Well, I didn't mean to imply that I would stop posting ALL non-media, personal stuff in these News Updates whenever I feel it is of some significance ... just no more ''political''! I do think most of you might enjoy viewing this little bit of my heritage and I look forward to your comments!

As I have mentioned in my ''DaviSummation'' last year, my first order of business, before finishing the last two big mixing console projects, is to get that rebuilt, rebuilt and rebuilt DS-1950-TB, fifty year commemorative Tool Box ...REBUILT AGAIN. I will likely present a photo or two of it as I hope to get it shipped somewhere around the end of the first quarter. I am also working on finishing the installation of my full test/proofing area and the first utilization of it will be to repair/upgrade a pair of DaviSnakes awaiting attention.

Since it is also ''Short Wave Radio'' season, I may devote some space to that topic next update also and revisit some of my original radio circuits. So, if you are at all interested in the ''magic'' of late night winter time radio reception (or know someone who is), look for a bit of that next time also.

As always, I THANK YOU ALL for ''tuning in'' (Stats are inching back up a bit by the way! 2,333 visits to this page so far as of last month's update !) and I hope you will continue to do so throughout the future! Don't forget to send me an email or text ANYTIME as I ALWAYS enjoy hearing from you and answering any questions or comments personally!

Best efforts,
Hayne

PS- And, please don't forget, if you share my VERY DEEP CONCERNS about the ongoing destruction of our country, please visit and SHARE DaviSoapBox.com ! THANK YOU!





January 21, 2025

'' DaviSluggish DaviStart for 2025 '' ...

''Ignorant voters elect ignorant politicians...it's that simple''- George Carlin



''Happy New Year'' ? ... ...

Well, I've started the new year off with ''long COVID'' (2nd covid bout in 8 months) working on me since 4 days after my last post ... and I have just endured the innauguration of a perpetual pathological lying, semi-literate, ego-maniacal, self-serving bully, convicted felon con man (I could go on although even one of those traits should have been deterrent enough) as the 47th president chosen by the majority (albeit SMALL majority- certainly no ''landslide'' as claimed) of mind-numbed American voters ... I didn't know a near 77 year old (next month) man could be so ''happy''!

Well, at least at this juncture, I do have about HALF my senses of smell/taste returning and I am breathing better with more energy the last few days- so, YES, I truly am happy about that for sure! I know, it seems you loyal readers have to spend WAY too much time reading about my assorted health issues month after month but, since that IS the ''NEWS'' as it happens, I have little choice but to post it as it affects everything else. It does seem to be one thing after another but they tell me that will be the ''DaviStruggle'' I will be dealing with from here on since my now 40 per cent heart ejection fraction will continue to make my immune system somewhat compromised and worsen with age. That's why I now spend a great deal of my time researching ''anti-aging'' therapies and supplements ( I take dozens daily!). I have always inherently practiced the ''new fad'' of ''intermittent fasting'' only eating twice a day- mid day and early evening. I basically adhere to the ''Mediterranean diet'' and I try to get a good balance of exercise and rest. So, no one can say I am not doing everything in my power to stay around for as long as possible and to stay as healthy and as active as possible along with it!

I know, too, that those of you in the seriously cold climates will scoff at my next comment that this ''ungodly'' cold winter (extremely cold for my southern location) has also contributed to nearly ''freezing'' (pun optional) any productivity on work projects , along with being extremely weakend by the bug. In regard to the extreme cold, I sometimes get a ''kick'' out of the ridiculously ignorant comments of the right-wing politicians using that as their excuse for further global warming denial. These shallow idiots don't realize that while we're enduring the extreme record cold, the other hemisphere is enduring the exact opposite extreme....record HEAT! But, then, that's the way it is with just about EVERY OTHER TRUTHFUL FACT that these morons never realize either!

As for my projections for activities on the DaviSound front for '25, I covered most of that in last month's post. That and all of the News Updates for 2024 have now been moved to the NEWS ARCHIVES area as we do at the beginning of each new year. This entry here is, of course, the very first post on a new ''DaviSlate'' for our monthly ''News Updates'' for 2025. Along with the plan for more substantive, current audio topics, I will also be linking to select past entries from time to time especially when a reader inquiry relates to a prior post topic that must have been missed. I just received such an email a couple of days ago asking about my ''DaviSnake'' microphones and whether they were still available. Of course the answer to that availability question is ''yes'' which is documented on it's own The DaviSnake Microphone site area (as well as in the CURRENT PRICES area). Then, in relation to the prior post topic which included the latest update info on the DaviSnake, you will find that post here- DaviSnakes News .

There is one small caveat to that general availability assurance however. The ''snakes'' are not IMMEDIATELY available since I am still setting up/wiring up the area in the new work room that will facillitate the thorough testing/matching of the new elements and the proof of performance testing after fabrication. This is on my priority list for the first quarter but still very much a work in progress.

I guess this will wrap up my first post for '25 and I do hope/expect that February will be a bit more productive (and warmer!) than January (although I have always enjoyed our, relatively mild, winters, these consistent lows in the low 20s and highs in the low 30s are NOT my thing!). As always, I thank all of you ''oldsters'' who hang in there loyally with me each month as well as the newcomers that I hear from each month! I look foward to working with all of you during the coming year and invite you to ''tune in'' here again next month for more ''News'' from DaviSound.

Hayne





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