Rudy Van Gelder's cutting equipment and EQ curves — what the equipment records and his own testimony tell us

What equipment did Rudy Van Gelder use for cutting?

Question answered on this page: What equipment did Rudy Van Gelder — the engineer who cut records for Blue Note and Prestige — use, and what EQ curve did he cut with? And how does this relate to the debate over EQ curves?

An engineer who controlled everything from recording to cutting

Rudy Van Gelder (1924–2016) was the engineer behind decades of recordings and lacquer cutting (mastering) for jazz labels including Blue Note, Prestige, and Impulse!

What set Van Gelder apart was that he handled everything from recording to cutting himself. Most labels farmed out recording and cutting to different studios and different engineers, but Van Gelder controlled the entire chain — from microphone selection to lacquer cutting — under one roof.

Originally a practicing optometrist, Van Gelder began recording to 78 rpm lacquer discs at home in the 1930s. Around 1950, he transitioned to tape recording (purchasing an Ampex 300-C in June 1951), and in 1953 he acquired a Fairchild 523 cutting lathe to begin mastering in-house. This move into self-contained cutting was what led him to secure Blue Note Records and Vox Records as clients (RVG Legacy).

Producer Bob Porter noted that Van Gelder could "put more level on an LP than anyone else" in the business.

The evolution of his cutting equipment

Before Grampian / Gotham (1953 – early 1955)

When Van Gelder acquired his Fairchild 523 cutting lathe in 1953, he is believed to have been cutting with the AES curve. Before the Van Gelder years, Blue Note's cutting had been done at WOR Studios, whose chief engineer was a member of the AES standards committee (→ Pt.17). It is likely that Van Gelder initially continued with the same AES curve.

Grampian / Gotham system onward (early 1955–): the switch to RIAA

Van Gelder then turned his attention to improving his cutterhead and cutting amplifier.

He adopted the BBC-standard Grampian B1/AGU cutterhead, but found the companion Grampian RA4 cutting amplifier underpowered. He asked Rein Narma, an engineer at Gotham Audio in Manhattan, to develop a more powerful cutting amplifier. The result was the Gotham PFB-150WA — a 150-watt cutting amplifier with built-in RIAA recording equalization (RVG Legacy).

A frequency measurement graph of this system dated March 11, 1955 (measured by Jay McKnight, verified by Rein Narma) is available on the RVG Estate website.

That same year, Van Gelder invested in a Scully 601 cutting lathe ($8,500 — roughly $80,000 in today's dollars). In 1962, he acquired a second unit, enabling simultaneous dual-master cutting.

For details → Pt.18, Pt.19

The stereo era: Fairchild → Westrex (late 1950s–)

With the arrival of stereo, Van Gelder adopted the Fairchild 642 stereo cutterhead — co-designed by Rein Narma, the same engineer he had worked with since the Gotham days. Although the competing Westrex system became the industry standard, Van Gelder continued using the Fairchild for several years.

Around 1965, he finally transitioned to the Westrex 3D II cutterhead. This system remained in use for decades (RVG Legacy).

Both the Fairchild 641 system (which included the 642 cutterhead) and the Westrex system were designed around the RIAA recording characteristic (→ Pt.19).

Van Gelder's own testimony

In a contributed article titled "How Quality Of Old Discs Is Brought Up In Standard," published in Down Beat on October 19, 1955, Van Gelder described the process of remastering older recordings. Regarding cutting, he stated:

"Incidentally, these remastered recordings should be played back with the same reproduction curve as any new records. In my case, I use the standard RIAA curve."

— Rudy Van Gelder, "How Quality Of Old Discs Is Brought Up In Standard," Down Beat, October 19, 1955, p.20

The equipment records and his own testimony are consistent. The Gotham PFB-150WA introduced in early 1955 (RIAA recording EQ built in), the Fairchild 641 from the late 1950s (RIAA recording EQ), and the Westrex system from 1965 (RIAA recording EQ) — all were designed around the RIAA characteristic.

For details → Pt.20

Connection to the EQ curve debate

Van Gelder's cutting equipment and his own testimony both point to the use of the RIAA characteristic.

From these objective facts, it follows logically that Van Gelder was cutting with the RIAA curve from early 1955 onward.

Blue Note and Prestige records bear different label artwork, but the cutting was all done at the same Van Gelder studio, using the same equipment.

→ Are all U.S. stereo LPs on the RIAA curve?

"Reissues sound different" is not about the cutting EQ

You sometimes hear the argument: "If the original LP and a modern reissue of the same recording sound different, doesn't that mean the original was cut with a different curve?" But the difference between the original LP and a reissue can be explained as a difference in the mastering stage, independent of the cutting EQ.

Van Gelder himself, in a November 1995 Audio Magazine interview, put it this way:

"Reissuing is nothing but post-production."

— Van Gelder, interview by James Rozzi, Audio Magazine, November 1995

The mastering done at reissue time is a separate process from the cutting EQ.

The perceptual difference of "the original sounds different from the reissue" can be explained not by a difference in the cutting EQ curve, but by mastering-stage sound shaping (centering, compression, and low-end reduction newly added at the RVG Edition CD 1999 stage), as demonstrated in a 3-way LTAS comparison of the 1958 Somethin' Else recording.

→ Where is the RVG sound made? A 3-way LTAS of Somethin' Else

Further reading

• RVG Legacy — A comprehensive site on Van Gelder's equipment and recordings, built by Richard Capeless from primary sources with the cooperation of the Van Gelder Estate. Includes previously unpublished photographs and technical documents
• Pt.18 — The Grampian B1/AGU cutterhead and the Gotham PFB-150WA
• Pt.19 — The Gotham PFB-150WA, Fairchild 641, and Westrex 3D II in detail
• Pt.20 — Van Gelder's 1955 Down Beat article

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