Moonshine RecordsPhillips on early blues recordings before he upgraded
his Sun Studio to an RCA 76B console and Ampex
350 tape machines. Krüger’s personal favourite is
a 1950 Ampex 403, which was used on numerous
early-50s tracks by Les Paul. Moonshine also has a
collection of more than 30 US-made microphones
from 1930 to 1956, including six RCA 44 mics from
all periods of production and an Altec ‘Coke Bottle’
mic, also used at Sun Studio.
Krüger has schooled himself in operating all of
the equipment in his studio and doesn’t yearn for
modern-day tech: “I’ve never been interested in
digital sound recording. In my opinion, there’s
a very important point missing – it’s the warmth
and dynamics of a tube-operated recording.
“Digital is almost totally clean, there are no
imperfections. Most of my clients here say that the
sound is honest and true, the music has a heart.”
The studio specialises in working with rockabilly,
hillbilly, blues, singer-songwriters and jazz bands.
“Personally, I prefer 50s country music with steel
guitar, or jazz or swing combos,” adds Christian.
“But I also like rockabilly if it’s authentically played.”
Many studios provide a mixture of vintage
gear and modern digital equipment, but Krüger’s
uncompromising approach means he’s one of a rarebreed who provide a vintage approach all the way
down the line, even at the fi nal record-cutting stage.
Moonshine Records owns a Presto 6N mono record
cutter similar to the one used by Sun Records.
“The Presto 6N model was started in the early 40s
and was very popular for fi eld recording or in radio
stations and smaller studios,” explains Krüger. “Sam
Phillips used it to make an acetate for the record
pressing plant. That means that the artists were
recorded on tape fi rst. After the recording session,
Sam checked the tape for the best track – I heard
Johnny Cash needed around 30 takes for I Walk The
Line. Then he copied the master track from tape to
disc. The acetate record went to the pressing plant,
where the single was fi nally pressed.”
Christian’s motivation for the studio is in part the
knowledge that bygone recording techniques aren’t
lost for eternity: “I want to keep these old ways of
recording alive. Nowadays, you can only read about
it and only a few people in the world off er these
techniques. I have lots of discussions with musicians
who record live at the studios and I tell them,
‘Hey, you’re human. You can make mistakes while
you’re recording. It’s charming, it has character and
shows us that you’re not a machine in these digital,
futuristic times’.” 97) An Ampex tape
machine and 1930s
RCA rack-mounted
microphone amplifi ers
8) A 1930s remote
microphone box from
radio station WQRW
9) A collection of
microphones –
RCA 44A, Altec 639A,
RCA 44B, Shure Fatboy,
Shure 55S, Western
Electric 633A, RCA 77C
10) A general view
of the studio11) A circa 1945
Radiotone RA116
professional record
cutter machine
12) A 1940s Radio King
drum set with 1956
Gibson GA-6 amp
and 1956 Magnatone
Mk III, designed by
Paul Bigsby
13) A 1952 Gibson
ES-295 guitar with
authentic Scotty Moore
specifi cations and
1952 Gibson GA-40
Les Paul amplifi er
14) Original photos
from Hank Williams’
Fiddle Player &
Song Book7
8
9