Pultec History

8/10/2019 Pultec History

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The Pultec Family

With UAs new plug-inrelease of the Pultec-

Pro, I thought it would befitting to delve a littledeeper into the history ofthe company and productsthat brought theburgeoning audio industryof the 50s the innovative

technology which is stillwidely used and copied.

The original tube EQP-1A fetches around $4000- $5000 on the used market,

and several companies have adopted the technology for modern recreations ofthis revered studio icon.

UAs new Pultec-Pro Combines the two most widely used Pultec EQs; theEQP-1A Program Equalizer, and the MEQ-5 Mid Band Equalizer, which

when used together, give the user a well-rounded EQ palette. This

combination is still standard fare in recording studios and was once widelyused in mastering sessions.

HistoryIn 1951, Pultec introduced the first passive program equalizer, the EQP-1. TheEQP would see many iterations, but this basic design would be the companysflagship product until the companys folding in the late 70s/early 80s. The

company was neither bought nor sold; Pultec simply closed its doors.

Founders Ollie

Summerland and Gene

Shank (no, not a familyrelation to me) made up

the famous two-manoperation of Pultec (the

formal name being Pulse

Techniques Inc.), who made every item to order, all by hand. The two mencomprised the engineering, marketing, sales and production staff for the entire

history of the company! The Pultec storefront was located in Teaneck, New

Jersey (although the formal address was West Englewood, NJ), the same townwhere Les Paul built his first home studio and incorporated the first eight -track recorder.

The new Pultec-Pro plug-in combines the

Pultec EQP-1A and MEQ-5

The original EQP-1A program Equalizer


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An interesting note in the Pultec design legacy, the passive EQ circuit designs

were licensed from Western Electric. Pultec combined the passive design witha tube gain make amp to overcome the typical 16 dB insertion loss of a

passive equalizer. So this made the Pultec appear to be "lossless."

The build qualityand design of allthe Pultec

products wasunparalleled. A testimony to this is the numerous working units still availablein the audio production world. It is said the men were very secretive about

their designs, and very few were ever allowed to visit the facility. In addition

to the famous tube EQs, Pultec also made solid-state versions of these units,

which were the silver-face variety. Perhaps less known, Pultec made filters,small mixers and preamps, one of the most intriguing products being theMAVEC, an early channel strip that included a mic-pre, eq, and simple

compression all in a 2U rack mount design.

In UseThe Pultecs are known as magical tools that improve the sound of audio

simply by passing signal through them; by who wants to leave it at that? ThePultecs have long been a choice of recording and mastering engineers for their

ability to bring out individual frequency ranges without significantly alteringother frequencies; so extreme settings are no problem with the Pultecs.

If youve never used a Pultec EQP-1A, the grouping of controls might be alittle confusing. The EQP-1A can control three frequency ranges

simultaneously, using three groups of interacting controls.

Original MEQ-5 Midband EQ


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Cool TrickIn the documentation supplied with hardware version of the EQP-1A, it is

recommended that both Boost and Attenuation not be applied simultaneouslyto the low frequencies because in theory, they would cancel each other out. Inactual use however, the Boost control has slightly higher gain than the

Attenuation has cut, and the frequencies they affect are slightly different. The

EQ curve that results when boost and attenuation are simultaneously appliedto the low shelf is difficult to describe, but very cool: Perhaps the sonic

equivalent of a subtle low-midrange scoop, which can add clarity. A great

trick for kick drums and bass instruments.

With the MEQ-5, handy upper and lower midrange frequencies are nowaccessible for boosting, as well as the highly useful midrange parametric cut.

Straightforward in operation, the MEQ-5 is divided into three groups ofcontrols.

All groups are fixed Q parametric. In general the Q is medium, but can besubtlety different depending on the frequency selected in each band. Total

boost or cut range is 10 dB.

Control grouping within the Pultec EQP-1A

1.

The first group controls the low

frequencies and has three controls:

boost, attenuation, and frequency

select. This section is a shelving

EQ.

2.

The second group controls the highfrequencies and has three controls:

boost, bandwidth, and frequency

select. This section is a parametric

boost EQ.

3. The third group also controls the

highs and has two controls:

attenuation amount and frequency

select. This section is attenuation

only shelving EQ.

Control grouping within the Pultec MEQ-5

1. The first group controls the lower

midrange frequencies and has two

controls: peak (boost) and frequency

select.

2. The second group controls the mid

frequencies and has two controls:

Dip (cut) and frequency select.

3. The third group controls the upper

midrange frequencies and has two


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1951 Pulse Techniques Pultec EQP 1 Program Equalizer

Pultec founders Gene Shenk and Ollie Summerland unveiled the first passive program EQ in 1951. This

EQP-1 was based on filter circuits licensed from Western Electric and sounded great, but suffered the

gain insertion losses typical of any passive filter, so the duo upgraded their original unit to the EQP-

1A, which followed the EQ section with a gain makeup stage using a push-pull design with 12AU7,

12AX7 and 6X4 vacuum tubes. Designed for broad equalization of program material, the EQP-1A had

four low boost/cut frequencies, three high-cut frequencies and a choice of seven HF boost points,

along with a bandwidth control for shaping the high boost curve.

Like many boutique entrepreneurs, Shenk and Summerland built every unit to order by hand in their

true two-man operation. Other Pultec units included the EQ-H2 high-frequency equalizer, the MEQ-5

mid-band EQ and the EQP-1A3 (an EQP-1A in a two-rackspace chassis), as well as solid-state

versions, which had silver-face front panels. The company folded decades ago, but its spirit lives on in

products such as Manley Lab's Enhanced Pultec EQP-1A, an updated version with improved sonic

performance.

controls: boost and frequency select.

Documents

Pultec History