The Story of Soundgas...
Want to know who we all are? Read the facts here.
And peerless gear marketplace Reverb did a great spotlight article on us (because we're one of their favourite stores on the site (obviously)).
Meanwhile...
A long time ago, in a shed far, far away...
Nestled in the Derbyshire hills on the edge of the stunningly beautiful Peak District you’ll find Soundgas - home to a veritable Alladin’s Cave of vintage studio gear and instruments.
Like many studio owners, Soundgas founder Tony Miln’s knowledge of historic recording gear came from hard-won experience (and plenty of errors amongst the trials). The 25 years spent sourcing equipment, initially for his own studio and latterly for the Soundgas List, informed what has become an established business supplying serviced and guaranteed gear worldwide.
The business grew out of Tony’s love of vintage and unusual gear: initially buying and selling on a voyage of discovery deep into the realms of the weird and wonderful (and sometimes not so wonderful). We've been trading on Ebay for over twelve years (most notably as Ainternational, now trading as SoundgasLtd), with 100% positive feedback on over 1,200 transactions. This was initially to satisfy our own GAS* for old/unusual gear to fill the studio, and latterly to pass on the surplus elements of an extensive collection when we downsized the studio in 2007.
Tony’s accidental discovery of a battered Binson Echorec for sale in the local ads paper about 20 years ago (he was expecting to find an Echo Dek) began a fascination which eventually led to Soundgas becoming the UK’s Binson Echorec specialists - after Eric Snowball closed the doors of ESE Music (Binson UK). Eric was always on hand with help and pithy Binson advice and is much-missed following his passing away a couple of years ago; we are happy to carry on bringing these wonderful machines back to life.
The heart of the business remains curiosity and discovery (new finds are thoroughly road-tested in the Soundgas studio), combined with a commitment to customer service. The Soundgas website, together with the Soundgas List and social media feeds are a treasure trove of studio classics and esoteric rarities.
The Soundgas List – a unique curated collection of vintage equipment and about which none other than Pete Townshend said: "Your list is one of the best, it really is. I just want everything on it" – is sent out monthly to gear-hungry subscribers who get an early look at new arrivals.
We have a wealth of experience in sourcing and sending delicate and precious equipment worldwide. Our approach stems from having broad tastes in music and a fascination in engineering and production techniques - and the instruments and equipment - used to create great recordings past, present and future. What started out as a passion and sideline has evolved into a business with a client list that reflects our commitment to good old-fashioned customer care and attention to detail (and a love of cool, strange and oddball vintage gear).
We find good examples of interesting, rare and classic gear and ensure that our customers receive them in as perfect working order as possible - and back that with our guarantee that ensures we take the risks out of buying vintage gear online. We have a network of excellent independent service engineers and technicians who ensure that everything we sell is operating as it should.
We appreciate fine, unusual, quirky and well-engineered recording equipment and instruments: that appreciation shines through in everything we do. First and foremost we are musicians, engineers, collectors and customers: we've got GAS* ourselves, and we aim to ensure our customers get good GAS* too.
The business expanded in 2014 to four permanent members of staff. In September 2014 we moved out of Tony's cramped shed/studio/office into new premises in The Old Vicarage in Crich (home of the 'famous' Tramway Museum). Since then we've expanded to a team of ten (including five techs headed by two incredibly skilled and experienced engineers in the form of "Dr" Huw Williams and James Walker. Read more about who we are here.
Soundgas celebrate a genre-defying passion for music and recordings - from early blues to contemporary electronica - and this has lead to an inventory that attracts a wide customer base ranging from Grammy-winning producers and musicians, to top studios, engineers and cutting-edge artists. However we haven’t forgotten our roots and will always try to accommodate customers’ requirements whatever their budget. See who some of those customers are and what they say about us here on our feedback page.
We operate a hassle-free worldwide commission sales service for customers with gear to sell and our Gear Wanted service helps unite new owners with that elusive vintage piece. Servicing is performed by some of the best techs in the UK and all Soundgas gear is guaranteed not to disappoint.
And the future? We're excited about beginning to add information pages to the site - sharing in-depth insight into some of our favourite pieces of equipment, so there will be a lot more of that. Plus we are now close to getting the studio completed, operational and making music; and from there we are working on ways to make that collection of gear and the sounds it makes accessible to as many people as possible. Oh, and Tony's writing a book about vintage effects which will come out around the end of 2018. And more weird and wondrous gear - there will definitely be more of that...
*G.A.S. - Gear Acquisition Syndrome
(And "Super Sonic Gear"? While scratching our heads and bouncing around ideas for a pithy tagline for Soundgas, Tony’s 5 year-old son Thomas - at that point in the thrall of a certain blue hedgehog - suggested 'Super-Sonic-Gear'...)
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BASIC COMPANY INFO:
(Note that we are not a shop and visitors are strictly by prior appointment. See our FAQ section for more information and use the Contact From if you need to get in touch.)
Soundgas Ltd
21c Coasthill
Crich
MATLOCK
Derbyshire
DE4 5DS
United Kingdom
Company registration number: 8449098
VAT number: GB 164906295
EORI number: GB164906295000
