Mom's Board

When I first read this question from Bill C., I thought it was a joke, a set-up, an ism-schism thing. But it it just goes to show you that audio truth is stranger than fiction, particularly when you delve into the counterculture of yesteryear.

Dear Old Soundman,

Do you remember the Mom's 2022 board? It was a little stereo live console built in Philadelphia in the late 70's. Any information that you have about it would be welcome.

Thanks,

Bill Coe

BILL, I WILL NOT MAKE ANY JOKES ABOUT THE MOM'S BOARD. I HAVE READ THAT, IN PRISON, THIS IS THE ONE UNFORGIVABLE SIN, TO MAKE ANY REFERENCE TO SOMEONE'S MAMA. INSTEAD, I FORWARDED YOUR REQUEST TO PSW FEARLESS LEADER KEN BERGER, SINCE HE IS A NATIVE OF THE PHILLY AREA. AND, BILL, YOU OLD CHEESE STEAK, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT KEN CONFIRMED YOU ARE NOT JUST TALKING OUT THE SIDE OF YOUR NECK? CHECK IT OUT! DON'T TELL MOOSE AND SQUIRREL, OK?

Yes, I worked on the Mom's Wholesome Audio's 2001AD board. It was made by Lance and Buff in Philadelphia (in fact, I think that they used it on the Springsteen tour, when Sound Specialties did them before Clair they used a pair of the Mom's boards together for the main house console.)

The story goes that Mom's made one of the first slide fader boards with two band EQ on each input, even! They sold the design to Gatley (who made recording boards in Philadelphia) and they brought the product to market around 1974? The boys at Mom's wanted to update it, and had a falling out with Gatley, so their next board could not use the Mom's name, as they sold it to Gatley. They showed the new board at AES under the name of 2001 AD, a future division of Mom’s Wholesome Audio.”

The original Mom's board had a slice of apple pie silks-creened on the top of each input. I think they were 16x2, with two aux/monitor mixes.

- Ken

CHECK IT OUT! FROM THE MAN HIMSELF!

HEY, AM I YOUR BUDDY, BILL, OR WHAT!

LUV -

- THE OLD SOUNDMAN