M55 Stablizer Solution
The vintage Musser M-55 is a superb vibraphone. I own both a 1978 M55 that I purchased new and also a 1960s vintage M-75. Both are excellent instruments, but they each have their own personalities. The M-75 has a slightly darker and silkier sound. The M55 is brighter, projects more strongly, and sustains the sound longer. The M-75 frame is very solid and stable, but because of all of the parts and pieces, moving the M-75 is difficult. My M-75 lives in my studio and my trusty M-55 is my gigging instrument. The trade-off for the M-55’s portability is that the M-55 frame is less stable and is prone to wobble a bit. You can see that, over the years, Musser has tried different types of cross-pieces on the M-55 for triangulation to provide improved stability. Here is a fix I devised to make my older M-55 frame more stable without resorting to additional crosspieces. The locking arm cross pieces came with spring clips that snapped into place when the legs were put into playing position. The problem was that the clips tended to vibrate and caused extraneous noise. The clips also did not hold the cross piece tightly enough and the frame wobbled a bit. I removed the spring clip mechanism. In its place, one inch carriage bolts nicely fit into the square holes where the former clips lodged. Plastic washers and three-lobed knobs securely hold the arms tightly in place. This has eliminated any vibration and the frame is much more stable. You could use wing nuts, but the three-lobed knobs are easier to use and work very well. The other thing to do to improve the M-55 frame stability is simply to turn the wheels so that they parallel the sides of the instrument. I hope you find this helpful. Gary Miller
Comments
Great Idea Gary, and have you ever swapped bars?
IndianaGlen Mon, 10/06/2014 - 09:48
Gary,
Elegant fix. gotta hate the wobble :)
Have you ever swapped bars from your 75 and 55? I've been surprised more than once how different frames really do sound different with the same bars. Of course the bars are responsible for the fundamental pitch, however, the frame plays a significant role in a lot of the more subjective sounds. e.g. richness, brightness, darkness etc.
--IG
Hi Glen and Gary, I have a
piro Mon, 10/06/2014 - 11:57
In reply to Great Idea Gary, and have you ever swapped bars? by IndianaGlen
Hi Glen and Gary,
I have a 1953 Century and a 1970's provibe. Often to gig I will put the older bars on the M55 frame (and resonators) which sounds great. But lately I have been taking the M75 to gigs (in one piece in the back of a pickup strapped down) and I have to say the old M75 with its own resonators sounds so damn good that it is truly a different instrument. The warmth and presence of the old instrument is unreal and the way the upper partials stay the hell out of the way in deference to the fundamental pitch makes me play better. I have gone back and forth putting the old bars on the newer resonators and while the old bars sound good no matter what, there is some special mojo when the instrument is just the way it was made.
Further, I really like the shape of the pedal on the M75, the flat fan shape just feels better to me (my M55 has a custom M brace from Nico with a wide square pedal) which works great and the M brace is so strong that I took off these brackets on the M55 (although now with your design I might just put them back on for extra stability....)
Whatever Musser did in making the old Century (with the shiny mirror bars) I have not heard ANY other vibe even come close to. I do not understand how all these new vibes get designed and made and yet that benchmark is not even approached?
Anyway Thanks for the very cool very inexpensive design solution innovation, Bravo.
Great Info piro
IndianaGlen Fri, 10/10/2014 - 10:17
In reply to Hi Glen and Gary, I have a by piro
Great info Piro.
I remember seeing some marketing/sales description on the Century saying basically that the solid sides helped direct the sound to the player. I don't know if it's sales hype or not, but interesting. The front resonators are a little longer on the M75, maybe that adds some to the heft of the frame. I have some shiny bars on my rebuilt M75 and I like them too, they are painted rather than anodized, and to my ears are a little brighter and more sensitive than anodized bars. I think many of us vibe players underestimate how much the frame can affect the sound.
I started thinking it would be really interesting to put together a bunch of vibe nerds, frames, bars, and mallets all in one place and assess the following (The bars a are interchangeable with the frames below).
Sound to the player, vs. sound in the audience
Different Frames M75, M48, M55, Omega
Different Bars (same as above)
2-3 mallet types (hard, medium, soft)
Then I got a headache thinking of all the possibilities, discussions, and argument :).
--IG