The Hawkins Sound Ranch just outside of Prince George is looking to integrate a piece of rock history into its modern system.
According to Corey Allan Hawkins, Owner and Operator of the Hawkins Sound Ranch, they’re putting the finishing touches on integrating a Trident 80B recording console into their system
Hawkins said the console was designed by Malcom Toft, who worked with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Elton John.
“The first one he came out with was called the Trident A Range, and there’s only about 13 of those left in the world right now,” Hawkins explained.
“One of the most common things that studios around the world started asking him was if they could come up with a cheaper version, but still had the same sound and tone that would colour a record. He then created what is known as the Trident 80B.”
According to Hawkins, other artists to record on a Trident 80B include Green Day, Queen, and Frank Zappa who owned the console that Hawkins possesses.
“I was looking for sort of a higher end console, I had already had a Trident 24A, which was made for the home studio use,” Hawkins said.
“I knew about the Trident series and their reputation and what records were made on them. I came across this auction at Julian’s Auction in Los Angeles in November of 2023. I think the minimum bid was only about $10,000, which seems ridiculously low for not only the history and provenance of who owned the board, but just the fact that most of them go for $30,000 without having that provenance.”
Hawkins put in a bid after talking to his wife, thinking he wouldn’t get it. He was having dinner with a friend when he received the email informing him he won the auction.
“It didn’t come with the cables or the power supply, so I ended up reaching out to Malcom Toft who invented the board, and had actually built it,” he said.
“He was creating power supplies, so I ended up buying a power supply off him, fired that up for the first time actually just a few weeks ago.”
Hawkins said they’re working on custom cabling to wire the board into their modern system, at which time they’ll be able to determine what works and what doesn’t.
He added they’ve started a GoFundMe with a goal of $5,000 to help cover the costs of the cables and the work.
“By this time I’ve already spent about $25,000 of my own funds to get the board here, paid for it, to get the power supply and everything else,” he said.
“I’ve got a technician here in town who has worked on my studio from the get-go and he’s absolutely amazing and probably the only person in Prince George that can do this kind of work.”
Hawkins estimates the cables will cost $3,200, with the rest going to restore the board.
“I don’t imagine it will be much, the lights on the VU meters don’t work, there’s a few pods that are kind of frozen,” Hawkins explained.
“Generally the board is in immaculate condition, but we won’t know until we get those cables and actually do some recording and find out if they can work or not.”
Hawkins said he wants his studio to become a destination studio.
“We want to give back to the community,” he said.
“I think it’s just such a cool piece of history, but it also sounds great, and I think that will attract a lot of bands.”
The GoFundMe can be found here.
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