BREXIT YESSSSSS!

Hi.

As a longtime lover of music who has obsessed over the minutiae of recording technology and legendary stories from the history of record making, I have come to desire certain parts of that history. So many of my favorite stories have revolved around one company: Solid State Logic. Solid State Logic, or "SSL", for those in the know, is a manufacturer primarily of high-end mixing consoles based in Oxford, England. They began making consoles in the 1970s, but their star really began to rise in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The advent of digital technology allowed for numerous new possibilities in the design of recording consoles, and SSL was early to recognize these possibilities. SSL's utilization of digital technology towards allowing engineers to automate and recall their mixes was a game-changing innovation in the history of recording technology, and these features, along with superlative sonics, flexible signal routing architectures, and the industry-standard master bus compressor (heard on literally thousands of singles) caused numerous high-profile studios to choose SSL consoles for their mix rooms. SSL became an industry standard in the 1980s and continues to be so today. It could be argued, at least to nerds like me and lovers of great pop music everywhere, that SSL is the finest and most important company operating in England today, a company that embodies all of the best traditions of British small-scale manufacture: creativity, innovation, attention to detail, reliability, and a certain sense of style and luxury. An SSL console is a true wonder to behold, the engine behind popular music all around the world, and still made in Oxford.

My love of SSL comes from numerous sources: Hugh Padgham's (mis-) use of a an SSL console talkback compressor to develop Phil Collins' drum sound in the 1980s, the glorious widescreen productions of Trevor Horn for Frankie Goes To Hollywood and, of course, the greatness of Timbaland in the early 2000s, whose innovative hits were engineered and mixed mostly by Mr. Jimmy Douglas on, you guessed it, an SSL console.

Unfortunately, great gear comes at a great price. I've always wanted an SSL console, but life has gotten in the way. Rent, bills, food, records, etc.; even when I spend very little, it all adds up anyways.

I do, however, have a little plastic container where I keep my spare change. Quarters get used for laundry, so the container is filled with dimes, nickels and pennies. 

I've been too lazy to take this change into the bank. My bank doesn't have one of those machines into which I could just drop all of the change and get credit in my account. I would have to count all of the change manually and bring the change over to the bank and then wait for them to count. Truly, a hassle. However, thanks to Brexit, there may be a solution. 

With the impending collapse of the GBP, my change may be worth more than I thought. Currently, I am working to sort all of the dimes out of the mess of change, and, soon, I hope to place them in an envelope (I'll pay postage). When that envelope arrives in Oxford, I hope to receive shipment confirmation on what I have always dreamed of owning: my own SSL console.