In short: the ingredients were ready and it took a resourceful mindĪpparently it paid off that Bill Putnam did so with his sound engineering expertise. The field effect transistor (FET) as a control element is used in the same place in the circuit as the optocoupler in the LA-2A (Bill Putnam had bought its manufacturer Teletronix in the mid-1960s), and the transistor output stage is based on the in-house 1108 transistor preamplifier.

The 1176 did not come out of nowhere: In terms of its basic layout, it is similar to the 175/176 Vari-Mu limiters from Universal Audio. That is only almost correct if you look at the achievements of German recording studio technology of the time, but from an American perspective it was definitely valid - and from a British perspective it was anyway.Ī resourceful mind with sound engineering expertiseīill Putnam's records, which are still in the possession of Universal Audio, a company run by his sons, show that the American entrepreneur was working flat out to find ways to make use of transistor technology in music production, which was still fresh in the 1960s. This happened around 1967/68, just in time to be able to advertise the 1176 as the 'first commercially available transistor compressor'. The all-rounder Bill Putnam, universal audio mastermind, studio designer and favorite engineer of the likes of Frank Sinatra, took the momentum of this zeitgeist with him when he brought the 1176 compressor onto the market. At that time, new territory was broken on all fronts, resourceful engineers staked claims. In the founding days of pop music in the 50s and 60s, a spirit must have wafted through the streets that brought amazing things to light. Extremely popular, even today they are a reference in form, function and, last but not least, sound, to which players and instrument makers alike keep coming back. The comparison is not bad at all: Perhaps there may have been a certain technical progress in the meantime and completely new musical genres also created completely different needs in terms of equipment, but the classic developments - for example by Leo Fender - are still enjoying today.

It's like classic guitar designs: developed decades ago, still a shining example today. With the 1176 from Universal Audio 1176-LN Amplifier

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